Meaningful Work
Students are more motivated to learn when the work in class feels interesting and relevant to them.
Survey Items for Grades 6-12
“In this class, we do meaningful work, not busy work.”
“What we learn in this class is connected to real-life.”
“This teacher makes what we’re learning really interesting.”
Learn more about this learning condition and the research behind it in the Meaningful Work Guide. There are also survey items available for Grades 3-5.
Practices
12 practices
Anticipation Guide
A simple exercise to activate studentsʼ prior knowledge, build curiosity, and set a purpose for a lesson.
Assessment Choice
Give students meaningful decision-making power in the classroom and ownership over their learning by allowing them to make choices about how they demonstrate mastery.
1:13
Career Connections
Guide students to connect what they are currently learning in math to real careers related to their interests.
Classroom Circles
Build trust and connections among students through a routine of engaging in classroom conversations and discussions using a classroom circles protocol.
Content Area Exemplars
Provide students with examples of experts and role models who reflect a diversity of identities to invalidate stereotypes and ensure all students can see themselves in the curriculum.
1:45
Designing with Math
A project-based learning strategy that invites students to apply mathematical concepts through real-world design challenges.
Increasing Student Choice
Incorporate a new opportunity for student choice in your classroom so that students feel more invested and engaged in their work
K-W-L Charts
Gauge students' background knowledge and interest in a topic or concept.
1:43
Making Math Matter: Using Real-World Data
Help students explore meaningful questions and apply newly learned math concepts using authentic data.
1:37
My Favorite Mistake
Select an anonymous student solution and discuss as a class what the student understood well and identify a misstep to correct and learn from it together.
1:34
Open-Ended Math Tasks
Select math problems that offer students multiple pathways to explore a concept, solve a problem, or justify their reasoning.
Post-Unit Real-World Skill Connection
Build in time for students to think carefully about the relevance of new material to their lives and futures.
No matching practices.