My Favorite Real-World Math Project
Looking for a fun way to give your students a reality check while building their financial literacy skills? This is one of my favorite real-world math projects, and it will have your students in shock. The cost of having a baby is definitely something my students had heard their parents ‘complain’ about, but their jaws […]
3 Halloween Graphing Activity Ideas
Need some fun practice with linear equations, plotting points on the coordinate plane, or geometric transformations? I’ve admitted that I’ve never really loved doing holiday activities in my math class. I think this is because many activities I’ve used are more fluff than actual substance. It just seems like there’s never enough time, so it’s […]
Teaching Teens about their Paychecks
Need some ideas for lessons and activities that will teach your high school students how to interpret the information on their paychecks? Many students get their first job during high school, get their first paycheck, and have no idea what they are looking at. This provides an excellent opportunity to teach financial literacy and, of […]
No-Sweat Income Tax Lessons for High School Students
Looking for good federal income tax lessons for high school students? I’ve got what you need to teach students about W-2s, tax tables, Form 1040, and more without the stress. If you’ve read many posts on this blog, you know my mission is to rid all math classrooms of the dreaded ‘When will I ever have […]
How to Speed Date in Math Class
Yes, you read that right. Speed dating in math class. Here’s a great activity idea for you that can be applied to an infinite number of topics. The first time I used speed dating was with my Algebra class to practice multiplying polynomials. I’d already taught how to do this, but I was looking for […]
First Jobs Interview Activity
This is one of my favorite quick and easy job activities to introduce and get students thinking about job-related skills. I think students can learn a lot from knowing where adults they look up to got their start, especially if they’re able to talk with an adult who has a profession they admire. The students […]
Hands-On Dilations Activity using Rubber Bands
When I started teaching 8th-grade pre-algebra a few years ago, I looked everywhere for a good hands-on way to introduce and explore dilations. It turns out that this is harder to find than the many ideas I found for rotations and reflections. I posted about my favorite way to teach rigid transformations last week – you […]
4 Ideas For Teaching Students About Credit Cards
Today I want to talk about some of my favorite ways to teach students about credit and credit cards. I currently live in a college town, and every August, I start seeing flyers and ads around town attempting to lure kids to sign up for credit cards. I once saw a line down the street […]
How I Teach Teens to Ace Their First Job Interview
Need a job interview practice activity to help your high school students master interview skills? Several years ago, I taught a personal finance class for high school seniors – many of whom were starting to look for their first job. One morning, a student mentioned that she had a job interview that afternoon. When I […]
Middle School Christmas Ornaments Math Activity for Transformations
I’ll admit that I’ve never been one of those teachers who decks out their classroom for every holiday. I’m not against it, but I struggle to find the time. I will say that I don’t like activities that are too ‘cutesy’ for my middle school students, but thought transformations might be a good topic to […]