"Twenty-five Positive and Negative Integers" Kathryn D. Hawley: Instructor

"I have had problems getting my students to "think fast" when it came to adding and subtracting positive and negative integers. Most of my students are "classified" and have very weak math skills. I don't know where the idea originated, but here is how it went:

I bought regular decks of cards. Enough for the students to get into groups of 3-4. At first, they used just the red and black cards. Aces counted as number one. Red cards were negative numbers and the Black were positive numbers. They played the game like "WAR". One card turned over clockwise until the total was "Twenty-five". They started slow, but were very involved after 5 minutes. The more they played, the faster they "added and subtracted". When they got proficient, they added the Face Cards. J = 11 Q = 12 K = 13 "

Tired of Tardy Students Angela Carreira, High School Math Teacher

"I was tired of many of my students being tardy to class. It was a major interruption and although the school has a tough tardy policy, evidently, this isn't enough to stop tardies. So I started what I call the "Bellwork-Tardy Connection". I give all my classes bellwork everyday- a few review math problems. The students hate bellwork. So I told the students that for everyday that no one in their class is tardy, they get to "skip" the bellwork for the following day. This has really helped with tardies and has caused the students to pressure their classmates to be on time!"

"Visions of Formulas Dance in our Heads" Marcia Marrero, Grade 6 Teacher

"When writing the formula for a quadrilateral, A=bxh put a rectangle around the bxh; for a triangle, A= bxh, draw a triangle around bxh divided by 2 and you have a visuals of the formulas so the students do not get them mixed up!"

"Candy Jar" Christy Snider McCormick, Secondary Mathematics

"It is difficult at times to keep students on track. I have a huge canister of candies in my classroom that I give out to students who catch me making a mistake, when doing a math problem. I give out the candy to the first person who catches the mistake. If there is a tie, big deal...it's only candy. Anytime I am at the grocery store, I pick up a pack of candy, gum, suckers, etc. You would be surprised at how well the students pay attention. It is a great motivation technique. I have been known to make a mistake or two on purpose."

Multiplication Mania Lindsay Fuiles, Grade 4 Teacher

This activity can be adapted to just about any subject area. I have all the students move their seats so that they are all facing directly to the front. I then have a student walk around the room and stand next to one of the other student's chairs. Both students stand up and are asked a multiplication problem. Who ever gets the problem correct first moves on to the next chair and gets a point. The other student sits down. We keep a tally of the number of wins of each student. The kids really like this activity.

Holiday Graphing Mike Ray, Math Teacher

"The holidays are the best time to get kids to relate the skill of graphing to their lives. I always come up with scenarios and as a class we decide which graph type would be best to describe to their data. Here are some of the scenarios I use:

1. What are our favorite holiday treats?
2. What holiday do we celebrate in December?
3. What is our favorite holiday song?
4. Where will we spend our holiday?"

Money for the Movies Marus Ballen: Elementary Teacher

"A great way to review and even introduce students to currency is to simulate a day at the movie theater in the classroom. Every student earns “Ballen Bucks” through the week and on Friday we watch a movie. The students must pay for their tickets, candy, pop corn; I also come around with little toys they can purchase. I even give them back improper change to see if they catch me. If they are disruptive during the movie, I charge them tax on all the items they purchase. It makes for great fun and great learning."