Using Amazon Alexa for the Math Classroom
Is it difficult to find fresh ways to sustain your students’ interest in math class, day after day? This is a common complaint among educators who know that math is an essential subject but struggle to find engaging ways to teach it. Amazon’s Alexa device offers an inexpensive way to start making math class enjoyable again. You can download several games to help quiz students on their math facts or challenge their minds. The best part is that these are activities they can do entirely on their own.
Are you sold on the idea of using this device for your classroom? Take a look at these top five ways Alexa can help you make math riveting once more.
Do your students need a little review work on their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division facts? If you ask Alexa to play Math Mania, she will allow you to choose which action you need the most practice in. You may opt to play in “everything mode” to give students an extra challenge that incorporates all four, as well as money, algebra, and fractions.
Your students will love this game as they learn skills and answer problems on their way to becoming a math Jedi! Students can ask for hints on questions that stump them, skip questions they just don’t know, and have Alexa repeat the question again and again. Teachers can benefit from the statistics it provides to show just how close students are to becoming Jedi masters. This is a creative way to use Alexa to keep students engaged without sacrificing feedback on how each individual is truly doing.
Do your students ever ask why they have to learn math? If they struggle to see how it might be relevant to their daily life, Fun Math Facts is a great program for them. Alexa can read off interesting facts and skills that apply to daily life. This is sure to give students a new appreciation for math in their lives.
Are your students eager to hear something silly? Let them practice their math facts using basic computation skills like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Each round contains five questions for a really short game that tests their knowledge. When you reach the required percentage of the questions right, Alexa will goofily congratulate you on a job well done.
Keeping a handful of small black and white dice around your classroom can cause a lot of clutter. What if you could eliminate these small manipulatives with the ever-present Alexa? Students can ask Alexa to roll the dice for them while they track her responses. This is perfect for playing games or doing statistics work. There is also a similar program on the Amazon Alexa that allows you to flip a coin.
