{"id":20299,"date":"2023-08-24T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/?p=20299"},"modified":"2024-07-16T10:39:04","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T17:39:04","slug":"4-ways-to-use-improv-in-your-math-classroom-to-engage-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/2023\/4-ways-to-use-improv-in-your-math-classroom-to-engage-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"4 ways to use improv in your math classroom to engage kids"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Improvised comedy, or improv, for short, is the art of creating a scene from nothing but a suggestion, often with a scene partner or group. Great improv will leave audience members wondering if the scene were scripted. But this is impossible because scenes start with a suggestion from the audience. I love using improv in the classroom to get my students excited about math.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve performed comedy since 2018, starting with stand-up before I shifted to improv and sketch comedy. I\u2019ve turned often to Tina Fey\u2019s book Bossypants<\/em>, in which she says, \u201cIn improv there are no mistakes, only beautiful happy accidents. And many of the world\u2019s greatest discoveries have been by accident.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d like to pass along four rules of improv from her book that can also be applied in the classroom to get kids energized about learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rule #1: Say \u201cyes\u201d <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Yes is a mindset of openness and readiness to a moment\u2019s offering. Only when we are in a state of perpetual \u201cyes\u201d are we truly open to another person. However, \u201cyes\u201d indicates acceptance, not necessarily agreement. In improv, a scene might start like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wife: You never take me out on dates anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Husband: I took you to Chuck E. Cheese last week!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see in this example that the actor playing the husband accepts the establishment of a relationship gone stale by disagreeing with the wife\u2019s claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her LinkedIn Learning course \u201cHarnessing change to unleash your potential,\u201d<\/a> Anastasia Montejano talks about acceptance, too. She explains that it\u2019s on a continuum: deny, resist, explore, accept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider where you might be on this continuum when it comes to your classroom. You can apply this first rule of \u201cyes\u201d to accept reality and the hand that\u2019s been dealt to you. \u201cYes\u201d might mean:<\/p>\n\n\n\n