Have you noticed that your students’ attention spans are starting to look like the dog from Up? You finally get everyone engaged and listening, then what feels like 30 seconds later a handful of students are focusing on anything but math.
In this blog post, I’m giving you my favorite strategies to increase student engagement and get all of my students to participate in class.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of reasons why your students are disengaged. Home stuff, anxiety, ADHD, you name it. This blog post is not going to give you a fix-all for these much deeper-rooted problems.
I’m sharing these tips with you to help you engage your “I don’t feel like it” and “I’m just not a math person” kids. If that’s what you’re looking for, keep reading…
Strategy #1: Change up your routine
One of the challenging parts of being a math teacher is the class structure norms. I have worked with so many teachers who have the same routine day in and day out. This is what it looks like:
- Correct homework
- New material lesson
- Start homework
- Repeat
What a snoozefest, am I right? Some days, this is definitely what classes need to look like to get through the content. You need to make sure students are explicitly taught a concept before they can effectively practice it.
With that being said, I know that I am the most engaged and excited about teaching when I have an AWESOME lesson planned. Trying something new can jumpstart the energy in your classroom and get your students to buy into what they’re learning.
When I’m looking for a change, I look to task cards, discovery activities, and group work to make my lessons more exciting.
Strategy #2: Positive reinforcement
This is a huge game changer for getting your students to be engaged. So many students say that they aren’t a math person and just don’t get it. Giving lots of positive reinforcement, both with their academics and effort.
Strategy #3: Start simple
Starting with simpler math problems can help boost a student’s confidence and increase their overall engagement. When students are able to solve simple problems correctly, they feel a sense of accomplishment, which can lead to them being more willing to try more difficult problems.
You can also use this strategy for introducing new concepts in a way that is easy for students to understand. This will help them feel more confident in their ability to learn math.
Here are a few tips for starting with simple math problems:
- Start with problems that are at the student’s level of understanding.
- Break down complex problems into smaller, simpler problems.
- Provide plenty of practice problems.
- Encourage students to ask for help when they need it.
Strategy #4: Relate math to real life
Adding real-world applications to math class can make learning more fun and engaging. When students see how math is used in everyday life, they’re more likely to pay attention and understand the concepts.
Whether they’re solving word problems about budgeting, analyzing data from the news, or exploring geometry in architecture, these real-world connections make math more relevant and interesting.
This helps students see math as a powerful tool that can be used to solve real problems, not just an abstract exercise. Take a look at these real-world applications for inspiration and ideas to increase student engagement ↓
Strategy #5: Gamify your lessons
Gamifying math lessons is a great way to increase student engagement. I usually don’t believe in rewards and incentives for good behavior, but it is a super fun way to increase student engagement and get them excited about learning.
This can be done by giving students points, badges, or other rewards for completing math activities. You can keep track of these either on an individual or whole class basis.
For example, if everyone gets at least 80% on their quiz, then the class won’t have homework that week.
For individuals, if a student completes X amount of assignments, then they get a point which can add up to a certain reward.
I know that there are many teachers who are against incentivizing learning, but this is a strategy that many adults use for themselves. Unless that’s just me?
I don’t jump at the opportunity to do the dishes after dinner, but I know they need to get done. What motivates me is knowing that once I finish the dishes, I will be able to relax on the couch with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.
Our students are the same and it’s alright to incentivize them every now and then.
There are also lots of free websites that gamify math practice. Some of my favorites are Desmos, Khan Academy, and Blooket. If you haven’t tried these yet in your classroom, I would definitely check them out!
Strategy #6: Use technology
When I’m looking to increase my students’ overall engagement, technology is my go-to strategy. There are so many different ways that it can be used in math class that it needs its own blog post.
Just using Google Suites alone, you can use graphing activities, self-checking games, digital escape rooms, and so much more. Check out some of my favorite activities below ↓
Looking for ways to increase student engagement that are premade and free for use? This blog post outlines five different free math websites that I swear by as a high school math teacher and that my students LOVE.