I love mathematics and I love getting other people excited about the subject and appreciating it as much as I do. I bring this enthusiasm into class every day and genuinely enjoy "talking math" with my students. I always look for opportunities to get students up to the white board to explain and work out problems which creates an atmosphere of collaboration and an inherent energy in the classroom when students are not confined to their seats.
As one student wrote in their end of year feedback:
"Mr. Roberts really shows that he loves teaching math, and I feel that when a teacher shows that they love what they are teaching it makes it meaningful to me because then I don't want to let my teacher down. It's enjoyable because we do a lot of different activities sometimes to learn new things."
We play games, have competitions, collaborate on projects and engage in activities that allow students to not only practice and challenge their math skills but to get excited about what they are doing and show real investment in their work. I have started implementing "Challenge Days" in my classes where we take a day to remove ourselves from the current unit and play with some interesting and mathematically challenging problems. It provides a great source of energy in the class (as students have grown to love them) and give students a chance to have fun with math and engage in some creative problem solving in an environment that allows for exploration and some autonomy.
Below is a sample video of one such challenge day where students were explaining their methods for solving the problem "How many cups tall am I?"
Students have grown to love these days and they get genuinely excited about doing math. As a few students wrote in their teacher feedback:
"I learned how to understand the objects in the "math world" like Fibonacci."
"We do a lot of class discussions about the right answer. People get on the board and start writing their answers and convincing each other that they are right. I like doing projects with research and then presenting. I think that that is fun."
"I like how Mr.Roberts teaches us because he likes us working together and he makes it fun by doing challenge questions and we work on the board or in our table groups."
"My teacher lets us watch videos and do challenging questions to see how much we know. He also makes sure that everyone is involved."
This type of group work is very engaging and often leads to some great conversations although it is a continual struggle to make sure that EVERY student is fully engaged, especially when the group is approaching a problem that proves to be out of reach for a few students. This support for struggling students is where I need to make sure I continue to focus so I can ensure that everyone is being challenged at an appropriate level and feels comfortable and confident enough to attempt challenging problems.