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### 7 Ways to Spark Disengaged Algebra Students

For 5 years I taught algebra 2 in a self-contained and an inclusion setting. Especially in my own classroom, I needed to reteach a lot of algebra 1 topics, as if for the first time. For 7 years before this position I taught algebra 1 and algebra 2 in Boston where a lot of my students needed some convincing that math was super cool. So this post is a collection of resources and ideas that have worked in my Algebra 1 classrooms over the years to reach students who need extra support for one reason or another.

I love teaching algebra, so when I hear kids say they don't like it, it breaks my heart. Algebra is that thread that connects so many maths, from what kids are learning in elementary school all the way through college calculus. It was my calculus professor in graduate school who first clued me in on the Freshman Dream. "What is that?" I asked during one of our tutoring sessions. He volunteered in the school's tutoring center once a week. He pointed to where I had simplified an (x+y)2 expression to x2+yin the denominator of a fraction. Here I was in calculus B committing a quintessential algebra error.

If you have students who are struggling in algebra or who just plain don't like it, I've been in your shoes. Most of my 13 years of teaching math were spent convincing kids to love math, that math is great, that algebra is the best, that math takes you places, so I get it! And I know the ideas in this post work.

In this post are 7 tried and true teaching ideas to spark a love of math in disengaged algebra students:

 Solving equations flowchart

Starting basic, this solving equations flowchart came about after years of me trying to figure out how to reach my students who just could not "get" solving equations the traditional way.
How to use the flowchart:

1: Students find the = sign.

2 Students find the + or - sign(s).

3: Students ask this question: "Which term on the side with the +/- is a like term to the term on the other side?

4: Students ask: "Is this term a + or -?

5: Students perform the opposite function on that term.

This line of questioning has gotten many of my students successfully solving within one class period. These were geometry and algebra 2 students, so the flowchart also succeeded in overcoming their frustration and math anxiety that had built over the years.

2: Quick check math templates

 Algebra 1 template

I love templates. They offer students the structured practice needed for them to feel successful. I use them for warm ups, checks for understanding and exit tickets. Students come into my classroom and know to grab a template and look to the board for the day's problem.

Sometimes in my algebra 2 class I'd give a graph, sometimes I'd give a function, and students would know it was up to them to complete the rest of the fields.
With this algebra 1 template, students can be given a table, graph or function and fill in the rest. They can even be given slope and y-intercept or y-intercept and zero and fill in the rest. One of the versions in the file allows you to type in your own word problem. There are so many options!

How to use templates:

I put a basket of templates at the front of my classroom for students to grab on the way in. I had a PowerPoint file of equations and graphs and would alternate which I gave each day. In my experience, finding the equation given a graph is harder for students, so we'd practice these a lot. You can also give a table and have students fill in the rest or any other combination of pieces.

Some days if I couldn't get a read on my class during the warm up, I'd collect the templates to check them. If students were unfocused, I'd give them a heads up that I'd be collecting them for a grade. This got everyone back on track.

I have made other math templates especially for exponentials, systems, polynomials, etc. that we'd use (all linked above). Put into a page protector, students can use the same sheets over again.

3: Math pennants

Math pennants came about as a way to combine practice with displaying student work with classroom décor. In my classroom we had a section of our bulletin board called "The Fridge" where students could hang their work. I saw how this built student confidence. On days when students didn't think they could do the work in front of them, I could point to our bulletin board and say, "Yes you CAN!" So the board became a teaching tool as well as a confidence booster.
I feel that displaying student work is an important part of classroom décor because of how I saw it boost student confidence. Students of all ages like seeing their work displayed. My students were in 11th and 12th grade and would still rather hang their work in our classroom than bring it home.

4: Math cheat sheets

My math cheat sheets post is consistently in the top 5 on my blog. In it are free downloadable math cheat sheets to give to students for their notebooks or to enlarge as anchor charts. Most were made for my inclusion algebra 2 students to help them remember the steps of solving exponential functions, quadratic functions, logarithmic functions, etc.

How to use math cheat sheets

Most of the cheat sheets would be given to students for their notebooks to reference during homework or independent classwork time. In my own classroom, every assessment was always open notebook. This cut way down on math anxiety, put the ownership on students to keep organized notebooks and put the focus on learning how to access information instead of just memorizing it.

5: Partner Scavenger Hunt Activities

In one of my classes one year, I had a senior with a boyfriend who went to our school. Totally normal, right? This sort of stuff happens everyday. What was not totally normal was that they never spoke face to face. They had only ever communicated online.

This got me thinking about building in ways for students to talk to each other in class. Even better, about math. I made partner scavenger hunts with this goal in mind.

How to use partner scavenger hunts

Students work in partners. Both students paste their START slip at 12 o'clock, solve its math problem and find the solution on the top of another slip. They then paste this next slip at 1 o'clock and solve its math problem. Each answer students find will lead to the next problem to solve.

If one student gets stuck, the other can help. If student answers differ, they work together to figure out the correct answer before moving on to the next problem. If all problems were solved correctly, the solution to the problem at 11 o'clock will be found at the top of their START slip.

Partner scavenger hunts are self-checking, providing students with instant feedback.

Because that grading pile always seems to multiply overnight, I wanted to make a self-checking math activity that would free up some teacher time and give students more responsibility for their learning. These "solve 'n check" math task cards can be used as partner practice, independent work or as a math station.
On each card are 2 problems and a 'check' problem. Students solve the problems on their card then add, subtract, multiply or divide their answers to see if the result matches the check number.

How to use solve 'n check math tasks

The cards can be used as stations, as partner work or as independent practice. As partner work, students can each solve one of the problems on a card and then combine their answers to check.

 Linear equations digital math escape room

This linear equations digital math escape room is also self-checking. Here is puzzle #1 of 5 puzzles. The entire activity is housed in one Google Form set with answer validation.

 Algebra word wall

Any list I write about teaching math wouldn't be complete without a mention of math word walls. Seriously, I feel like a broken record but adding references to my classroom walls was the single most effective thing I did as a teacher.

My algebra word wall came about from a need in my algebra 2 classroom. My students kept needing reminders of the vocabulary around linear equations (slope, y-intercept, zeros, grid, graph, etc.) and I needed a way to link what we were learning about nonlinear functions back to what they had learned a couple years earlier. I found myself drawing a linear graph on the board over and over, so that next summer I made linear equations references for our word wall. Since then, my algebra word wall has grown exponentially (ha!) and includes references to support learning in any algebra class.

One more: Algebra Tiles!

I've written a few posts on ways to use algebra tiles to make abstract algebra topics more concrete. In this post there is a free set of printable algebra tiles that you can use under a document camera or give to students.

How to use algebra tiles to factor quadratic trinomials: with pictures

Solving equations using algebra tiles: with pictures

How to use algebra tiles to multiply polynomials: with pictures

I hope this post has been helpful!

#### 1 comment:

1. I subscribe to your blog, but I don't recall getting the 2 step pennant download. Can I still get it somehow?

Comment
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