Think Like a Kid by Randi

Think Like a Kid

 As a kid, I hated math!  Just ask any of my teachers. Or my mom. Or my sister.  I hated it.  I hated it so much that I would feel sick every morning because I feared my teacher would call on me and I would not know the answer.  I remember the nights of staying up very late trying to finish my 30 question math homework and only completing five questions to find out the next day they were incorrect.  I remember thinking what's wrong with me- everyone understands except for me. Math just didn't make sense.  It was so abstract and seemed to move so fast.  Most of my teachers just explained it one way and moved on.  The way they explained it never seemed to click.  This is how I saw math: 

  

Want to hear something funny?  I tell people all the time and it's true that it wasn't until I began TEACHING math that I truly began to like it.  Now it is one of my favorite things to teach.  As silly as it sounds, I think my struggle to understand math as a child only helped me be a better math teacher.  I think this because I am always saying to myself "Stop and think like a kid."  I am constantly asking myself:

How can I make this relatable to my first graders? 

 How can I make this boring math lesson come to life? 

Eureka is a challenging program that gives us many opportunities to make math fun.  Math can be intriguing and exciting for our students. Eureka has helped guide me to prevent boring lessons and in turn, replace them with lessons that are packed with collaboration and engagement.  Here are some ways I make that happen::

Implement Engaging Routines

Kids love routines.  Routines will help maximize time because your students know the set expectations.  For example, most days we start math with a timed Sprint.  We pump ourselves up by chanting "I am a mathematician, I will try my best because I am awesome and I can do this!"  They have 1 minute to do Sprint A, we correct it, and then they count how many they got correct and write it on the top.  They then do the same for Sprint B.  They celebrate their growth even if they only got one more right.  Growth is growth!  My students love this routine.  My students are engaged at this time and look forward to beating their own goal.  My students love this personal competition against themselves.  

Make It Hands-On

Most of Eureka's lessons are very hands-on.  Whether it be fluency activities, application problems or concept development a wide variety of hands-on tools can be utilized daily.  I like to present my lesson using interactive Smartboard lessons. This is a great way to entice your visual learners. Clear and student-friendly visual representation is a must for student engagement. Math Manipulatives are our friends!  Don't be afraid to use them.  I like to provide my students with math manipulatives for just about everything. I believe they are beneficial in all grade levels and are crucial for conceptual learning.  Some of our favorites are the number line, dice, unifix cubes, the rekenrek, centimeter cubes, coins, dominoes, and tangram shapes.  It is also fun to bring in real objects to teach a concept.  My student love when we use items such as beads, candy or blocks to add and subtract.  

Play Games

So much of what we do in Eureka can be seen as a game.  My kids are always saying "Yes, I love that game."  Fluency and Concept Development are a great time to play these games.  My kids love Happy Counting it's like a math version of Red Light, Green Light. They also really enjoy playing addition and subtraction with cards.  In this game, pairs use cards to each make an addition or subtraction sentence.  The student with the highest or lowest answer gets the cards. The student with the most cards at the end wins.  Lately, we have been working in pairs to create numbers using unifix cubes.  Each student shows a different number using unifix cubes or with a tens and ones drawing and then they take turns placing a greater than or less than sign in the middle to compare numbers. The most important part of incorporating math games into your lesson is to encourage cooperative learning.  It is a great way to create an environment where it is common for students to work in pairs or small teams.  They can solve math problems while holding each other accountable.  

Encourage Math Talk
Kids like to talk.  It's so important as teachers that we model how to have meaningful conversations during math instruction.  Once modeled and practiced kids will naturally start having these conversations with each other.  To get them there I make sure to ask more open-ended questions.  An example of this may be to ask "Why did you use that strategy to solve that problem?"  It's also beneficial to ask questions that have more than one answer.  My students love to give multiple ways to solve one problem.  It's fun and challenging!   

Differentiate
There are many ways to differentiate a math lesson.  You can differentiate the content, process, and product.  I like to do this, especially during the Application and Problem Set.  During the Application, I like to give kids the choice to choose which strategy works best for them.  If a student still feels comfortable drawing pictures they can while others might choose the break apart strategy and that is ok. Drawing is a great differentiation.  Picture representation leads to using only numbers and symbols which can be very abstract to some kids. During the Problem set, I know that some students might only be able to independently and successfully complete problems 1 and 2 while others can complete the entire page.  This is ok... It's not quantity; it's about quality.  I want students to feel successful and not stressed out over math.  You can break down many roadblocks for kids by meeting them where they are on their math journey.

Have Fun
Just have fun!  

• Try acting out word problems. It really helps for them to see what is actually happening then to just hear it.   
• Sing songs and listen to music during independent practice. I know many people who memorized their multiplication facts by turning them into catchy tunes.  
• Cheer each other on.  We like to use cheers to praise not only ourselves but also each other.  Creating an encouraging environment can help melt away the fear that some of our kids have about math.  They motivate and encourage our students to persevere.
• Get up and move!  Always keep your kiddos moving.  Kids can be moving a lot during fluency activities.  Our favorites include jumping jacks or cross punching while skip counting.  
• Let them create their own problems.  This is so much fun.  They love creating silly scenarios for their partner to solve.  When kids can relate and make sense of something on their own they never forget it.  

Ok! I could go on and on.  I have learned to love math. Yes! I am saying it-I LOVE MATH...  Why? Well, because I now find joy in it.  It's fun and engaging.  I see the spark in my student's eyes when I tell them it's math time.  I am making a difference by making math an hour of excitement rather than dread.  I am taking away the fear and replacing it with smiles.  Math can be fun and we can teach our kids to love it.

      Positively Teaching,   
Randi Muehlen