3 Ways to Make Math More Exciting

Do you want to make math class more enjoyable? Grab my tic-tac-math FREEBIE while you are here and you can use it right away in your math class.

I LOVE math. It is my absolute favorite topic to teach. But…I know that is not everyone’s idea of a good time. I meet plenty of teachers who dread the math block and shudder at the idea of starting a new topic. It can be hard and challenging to get students to learn all the new material that has to be covered each year – especially when we have major world shut downs ahem covid* – but we can do this. We can face challenges and teach our students to do the same. We can bring math to life and show students the real world applications while teaching them the skills. Here are three great ways to get your students (and yourself) engaged in math lessons!

1. Games Games Games. Who doesn’t love a good game! The competition, the excitement, the thrill of trying to defeat…okay. enough. but honestly, my students always loved a good math game that went along with the concepts that I was teaching. I would usually put them into the math menu for the week and students would get to a few games throughout the week. If we had a block of extra time or we finished a math lesson early, I always found that pulling out a math game was the way to go. Students needed to get rid of some energy…I wanted them to practice math…win.win. I created tic-tac-math and flip-for-math games to ensure that students have fun while learning and practicing new skills such as place value, decimals, and fractions. Once they know the rules of the game (and who doesn’t know how to play tic-tac-toe?!) the game pretty much runs itself.

Get your FREE Tic-Tac-Math Game here!

2. Support! I don’t know about you, but I always felt that there were so many students and so little time during the school day. Kids have such different needs! When we would transition from instruction and guided practice to independent practice, it was often clear that more than one student needed some additional help – and…there is only one of me. So that is a math problem that is easy to solve – I needed more help or more time. I created my how-to booklets to solve that problem. After the lesson was over, students could use the booklet to help guide them through the steps. This little support solved many a problem in my math classroom!

3. Boom Cards!
These quick little babies are great! Just click the link and off they go -practicing skills, getting immediate feedback, and learning a little something along the way. There’s not much more to say! They are cute, packed with good data, and easy to use. I love Boom Cards. Here are a few of my favorite ones!

So that’s it! My top three ways to help engage yourself and your students during math class. Make math a little less “ugh” and a lot more “ohhh.”

P.S. Hey teacher friend! I have a great tic-tac-math FREEBIE that you can use right away in your math class. This is a great review game for fifth grade! Grab it here!