Week 3 - 9 Strategies for Motivating Students in Mathematics

When I saw the title of this article, I immediately began to think about many things. This article fit my content and fit some of my teacher strategies very well. This seems to always be a constant struggle in my classroom as well. Students are always asking me, "Why are we learning this?" or "When am I ever going to use this again?". I sometimes can think of a clever answer on the fly, but there are any other times where I cannot give them the answer they are looking for and struggle to get some of my students motivated to learn the different material.

The first strategy that I thought could be very helpful within my own classroom was being able to present a challenge. Many of the students in my class are very competitive and play sports. Also, for the most part, every student wants to pass and do well in school. Being able to present a challenging task will hopefully motivate these students to be successful. This will allow them to think more critically and take different approaches to the problem, in turn, maybe being able to discover new ideas.

Another idea I became interested in, was being able to use "recreational math". This means providing the students with different mathematical games and activities. Now, at the high school level this may be a little more challenging but there are any great study tools as games and great activities to get the students motivated.

Finally, the last strategy that I became most interested in was being able to tell a pertinent story. Students always seem to be interested in the background information and where the idea comes from. Being able to tell a useful story about the material or giving great real world examples can really motivate the students. If they are able to see interesting facts about the topic and how it can be used in the real world then it will get them thinking more about the material.

9 Strategies for Motivating Students in Mathematics
By: Alfred Posamentier
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/9-strategies-motivating-students-mathematics-alfred-posamentier