Finding the Fun in Math

We love Pi Day at Mobile Ed! March 14th marks the day we celebrate the mathematical constant that has mesmerized mathematicians for thousands of years (while possibly enjoying a delicious treat, too). Pi Day was founded in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw and was first held at a museum called the Exploratorium. A circle-shaped parade occurred, as well as the eating of a variety of pies. The celebrations grew yearly until they became a nationally-recognized U.S. holiday in 2009. Pi Day reminds us that math can be fun and is relevant to our lives.

Complaints about the futility of math class from your students are probably ones you’re familiar with. But the skills that math class provides to students are undeniably essential for a student’s brain development and life-long thinking and success. Math teaches students logical thinking, problem solving, financial literacy, mental processing, and creativity. So why do so many of our students dislike the subject? Some reasons students want to steer clear of math may include the following: 

• Complexity
• Differing teaching styles
• Fear of being wrong
• Little practice 
• Math anxiety 

Math anxiety is becoming increasingly recognized among educators as it highly impacts our classes daily. Math anxiety occurs when a person of any age feels anxiety when involved in math-related situations. Research proves that math anxiety inhibits a person’s ability to solve math problems by reducing the function of working memory. Working memory allows us to hold many pieces of information at one time and apply them to our current activities.

Studies have found that students with higher math anxiety performed worse on math tests. Students aren’t the only ones who struggle with math anxiety; teachers have also been found to have math anxiety, which can have a negative effect on their students. One study showed that teachers with math anxiety also had students at the end of the year who performed lower than students with different teachers. 

Research has also shown that a student's attitude is one of the most significant contributors to math achievement. Attitudes directly affect the function of the hippocampus in the brain, which is a part of the brain affecting memory and learning. And thankfully, attitude is something students can choose to change when they walk into our classrooms.

Mobile Ed has a few ways to change your students’ attitude and help them get motivated for math class: 

• Play a Game. Gamification is an effective and popular tool for getting students to engage with content that might otherwise not hold much interest. Make your math lesson a quick game using playing cards, blocks, and classroom objects, or find free ones online.

• Get Up and Move. Creating movement while conducting a lesson increases activity in the brain. The more active the brain, the more connections the brain can make. And when these movements are repeated over and over, these neural pathways are strengthened. Strong neural pathways are more likely to move from short-term to long-term memory, helping cement those essential math skills into their long-term memory. 

• Include Hands-on Activities. Kinesthetic learning is one of the best ways to keep students engaged in your lessons. Activities that require physical participation focus the student’s attention on the lesson and enhance the student’s ability to retain information. Mobile Ed is an avid supporter of hands-on learning and provides a touring hands-on STEAM Museum for schools that want their students to experience STEAM up close.

• Make it Relevant: Math can be found in almost every aspect of our daily lives. Find some topics your students are interested in and brainstorm how you can blend them with your classroom requirements. You can find math principles in sports, cooking, shopping, cars, hobbies, etc. Using your students’ interests and everyday experiences in your lessons is guaranteed to increase engagement in your classroom.

• Tell a Story. Storytelling is one of the best ways that the human brain comprehends information. Pick up a math-related picture book or create your own stories to help students learn new math terms, concepts, and formulas. Well-written and relatable story problems also help students understand how math works around them and can increase student engagement. Book recommendations can be found here. 

• Offer Encouragement. We never downplay the power of a compliment at Mobile Ed. A few simple words can make an immense difference in a student's attitude and their experiences for the day. Recognizing your students’ accomplishments in math, small and large, can build their confidence in their skills and potentially make the subject seem less daunting.

The Mobile Ed STEAM Museum visits hundreds of schools each year to help students experience Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math in entertaining and educational ways. Our 12 hands-on stations make STEAM principles come to life for students grades K-6, all while having fun with their peers!

The STEAM Museum features student-favorite exhibits such as: 

1. Programmable Robots
2. Spin Art
3. 3D Printing
4. Buzz Wire 
5. Virtual Reality 
6. And more! 

Our favorite part of the STEAM museum is seeing students walk away with confidence in their steps and smiles on their faces. Experiencing how STEAM principles apply themselves to fun activities significantly changes our students’ attitudes about STEAM, which they then carry into our classrooms. Getting students excited to learn is ultimately our mission here at Mobile Ed.

Contact our team here to learn more about Mobile Ed’s hands-on STEAM Museum.