3 Easy Ways to Add Movement to Your Math Classroom (that actually work) It happens every year. You know what I'm talking about. The students are restless, attention spans are nonexistent, and asking them to sit for an entire period is a lost cause. Let's be honest, fighting it no longer works. Why Movement Actually Helps Physical activity increases blood flow to the brain, which supports focus, memory, and the ability to process new information. Even short bursts of movement, like walking across the room, can help students reset and come back to a task with more mental clarity. Stop fighting the chaos. Build in movement instead. This is less of a "luxury" and more of a strategy. When students move with a purpose, they are more likely to reengage with content instead of mentally checking out. I am not talking about having brain breaks or a full on dance party. Just a few minutes of purposeful movement seamlessly integrated into your lesson is enough to make a differe...
Trig is one of my favorite units to teach in Geometry. I feel this is one of the few units most of my students feel REALLY confident about. There is ONE thing I do consistently from year to year that I feel has made a huge difference in student understanding. A WORD WALL I know what you are thinking. This isn't just any ordinary word wall. This is an interactive word wall that focuses on the names of the sides of the triangle. Why did this work so well? I laminated each piece and put magnets on the back. This allows me to rotate the triangle and change where theta is in the triangle. More about this when I talk about Day 1 below. How do I structure my unit? I teach on an 85 minute block schedule. Day 1 We just talk about vocabulary and the 3 trig ratios. We start by using THIS (free) magnetic word wall, going over a variety of situations. "If the triangle looks like ____ and theta is ____, where is the hypotenuse? Where is the opposite? Where is the adjacent?" W...