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You are here: Home / math / Motivating Math Ideas
math

Motivating Math Ideas

April 16, 2012

If you read my guest post over at Think, Wonder, and Teach last week, you learned a little more about my journey to love math. Math was always my favorite subject as a student until I hit high school geometry sophomore year. I’m great with numbers, but anything to do with spacial reasoning and shapes just isn’t my thing. As I look back at what when wrong on my education journey, I also realized that my geometry teacher wasn’t really excited about math either. When my weakness was paired with a less-than-enthusiastic teacher, my motivation to learn went out the window. Recognizing that, I’ve made it my personal goal this year to do more with math engagement in our classroom. Fortunately, I don’t have to reinvent the wheel every day because there are lots of fabulous teachers out there with motivating math ideas.

The first idea has been challenging for my students, but because I teach the highest ability class, I wanted to try it. Math Spies is blog set up as math puzzles. Students navigate through the blog as they solve the problems. It reminds me of the Choose Your Own Adventure chapter books and the format is extremely motivating. If you teach older students, I think they’d love Math Spies!



The second idea is one I briefly shared with you last week as I was gearing up for my Innovation series. It didn’t get its own post, so I wanted to touch on it again. Symbaloo is a free website that lets you turn your computer’s bookmarks into a game board. I saw Adrienne at Unless Teaching using it for her math workshop and just had to try it with my students. I was able to grab her board to get me started and then add and remove tiles to personalize the board for my students. My favorite tile is a free flashcard program called Xtramath.org. You can give each student a free account to practice their facts. The program tracks their progress to move them through addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The website will even email you when a student completes a level so you can print out a certificate. My students are LOVING the board. You can have them play from the Symbaloo website itself or you can copy/paste the game board onto your own class website. If you like my board, feel free to grab it for your class and make changes as needed.

Finally, I just found a new fraction lesson last week. Amanda at The Teaching Thief made fun Fraction Me people with her students. Students used colorful squares to create self-portraits. Then they used fractions to describe their creations. I plan to work with ordering fractions, equivalent fractions, and numerator/denominator review when I teach this lesson next week. I grabbed one of her images to tease you into going over to her blog to see all of her cute examples. You’ll be glad you did!

I have more motivating math ideas to share with you in the future. Until then, what are some of your favorites?

fractions math facts math games math story problems resources websites
by Christi Fultz 

About Christi Fultz

wife • mom • teacher • writer • tech obsessed • sometime crafter • beach lover | Empowering entrepreneurs through branding & website design

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Comments

  1. Mary Bauer says: April 16, 2012 at 1:39 pm

    Thank you Christi for recommending Math Spies to other teachers. My students have been enjoying this site and suggesting plot lines for me this year. I would love to have more students learn that math is fun.

    • Christi at Ms. Fultz's Corner says: April 16, 2012 at 10:21 pm

      I love that they are suggesting ideas too. I'm happy to share it!

  2. Mrs. Hallman says: April 16, 2012 at 5:46 pm

    The fractional me is adorable!!! I made Fraction Bots from Ginger of Classroom Freebies which are equally adorable. I will totally incorporate this next year as I am almost finished with my fraction unit. Then I will have the students respond to a prompt about fractions somehow integrating writing with the math and art!! Thanks for this fabulous idea!!!

    • Christi at Ms. Fultz's Corner says: April 16, 2012 at 10:22 pm

      Great idea!

  3. The Science Penguin says: April 16, 2012 at 11:56 pm

    I love the Fraction Me! So cool!

    The Science Penguin

  4. Amanda says: April 27, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    Thanks for the shout-out! ~Amanda @ The Teaching Thief

Christi Fultz

wife • mom • teacher • writer • tech obsessed • sometime crafter • beach lover | Empowering entrepreneurs through branding & website design

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As an experienced third grade teacher with a Masters in Elementary Education and K-12 reading license, I know educational resources need to be both inviting and engaging to capture students' interests. I am passionate about creating user-friendly resources to help all students learn while saving valuable prep for teachers. Read More…

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Why am I like this?? // I’m already tired tomorr Why am I like this?? // I’m already tired tomorrow, but let’s stay up and watch reality tv.
DIY Floral Wallpaper // Charlotte’s first big gi DIY Floral Wallpaper // Charlotte’s first big girl room is one of my favorite places in the house. We let the kids choose their own decor for the new house and Charlotte’s room is a purple and pink dream... no surprise there! 

The DIY wallpaper was probably a “once and done” experience for us and took about six hours for this 9 by 16 wall. More pictures and sources are on our family blog, also linked in bio: https://completelychristi.com/2022/02/diy-floral-removable-wallpaper.html

#louisvilleky #momsoflouisville #louisvillemoms #louisvillemomcollective #kentuckyblogger #kyblogger #louisvilleblogger #igerslouisville #derbycitymama #diyhomeprojects #diyhome #homedesigninspiration #homeinspo #homemakeover #diyinspo #makehomeyours #kidroomideas #childsroom #childsroomdecor #childroomdesign #kidsroom #kidsroommakeover #kidsroominspiration #kidsroomdesign
Kid Closet // Because we were so happy with our ow Kid Closet // Because we were so happy with our own custom closet, we decided to do my son’s too. We primarily use his closet for off-season storage and toys, but it was always a MESS! Then the mess spilled out onto his nightstand, desk, dresser, building table, and under his bed. He needed a system! 

I used the online design tool from @containerstorecustomspaces to create this DIY Classic Elfa system. It took about three hours to install and set up. I love how flexible the system is, which means we can reconfigure the layout as he grows. I’m also really proud of his label choices... maybe he inherited some of my organizational skills after all!

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#louisvilleky #momsoflouisville #louisvillemoms #louisvillemomcollective  #kentuckyblogger #kyblogger #louisvilleblogger #igerslouisville #derbycitymama #diyhomeprojects #diyhome #homedesigninspiration #homeinspo#homemakeover #diyinspo #makehomeyours #kidroomideas #childsroom #childsroomdecor #childroomdesign #kidsroom #kidsroommakeover #kidsroominspiration #kidsroomdesign
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#louisvilleky #momsoflouisville #louisvillemoms #louisvillemomcollective #kentuckyblogger #kyblogger #louisvilleblogger #igerslouisville #derbycitymama #momselfcare #freshflowers #thebouqscompany
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#louisvilleky #kentuckyblogger #kyblogger #louisvilleblogger #igerslouisville #diyhomeprojects #diyhome #homedesigninspiration #homeinspo#homemakeover #diyinspo #makehomeyours #homeorganization #homeorganizing #closetorganization #organizedhome #organizedcloset #walkincloset #closetgoals #closets #closetdesign #customcloset #closetmakeover
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