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As teachers, we've all heard it: "Why do we have to learn this?" It's a question that can feel like a direct threat to the hard work we're putting into our lessons.  But I've found that it's also an opportunity to reflect on what we're really trying to accomplish in the classroom.

Early in my career, I took this question at face value. I'd explain how cool the math was, how elegantly it all fit together, and how it could be applied to economics, science, daily life, and future math courses. I'd even ask students why they thought they needed to learn it.

After 6th grade, most students probably won't use most of the specific skills taught in math class in their future careers and life. After all, when will the majority of them ever factor a quadratic or find the second derivative of a parametric equation? The point of teaching challenging math is more about teaching them how to learn than teaching specific skills. Kids intuitively know this, which is why they push back with needing to know the purpose for what they are learning.

Another reason kids ask "why?" is simply to conserve brain energy. They're bombarded with information all day long. A 2012 study by Dr. Martin Hilbert from the University of Southern California found that Americans took in ten times as much information in 2010 as they did in 1986. And that trend has only increased. With so much coming at them, it's natural for kids to curate what goes into their brains. If a teacher's answer to "why do we have to learn this?" isn't satisfying, they'll tune out.

Knowing this, I approach the question differently today.

First, I try to preempt it. After introducing a new topic I ask, "What real-world application could this topic have?" I ask for specific examples and have them write real-world questions about the math they're learning.  I do this to create buy-in.  If a student thinks about why they need to know something, they're more likely to put in the needed effort into learning it.  

Second, I no longer take this question at face value.  Kids aren't necessarily asking for a justification; they're signaling that they don't see the point in learning what I'm teaching.  They're letting me know they're not interested, and my lesson is boring.  This is important feedback for me. 

So, I change it up! Instead of focusing solely on real-world applications, I prioritize student engagement. I present problems as puzzles to be solved, turn learning into  games, and give them opportunities to master the material.

For example, when teaching division of fractions to 6th graders, a student pointed out that any division problem could be reworded as a multiplication problem. I asked her to give me some examples, and realized she was right in all situations.  So, I challenged the class to re-word all the real-world questions for the day into multiplication problems and solve them. The relevance in the minds of my students went up because they had choice in what they were learning, but they were also focusing on the skills in my curriculum for that day.

Another time, my 8th graders were unruly and off-task. They complained about the multiple tests and papers they had that week, saying their brains were overwhelmed. So, I switched gears and played a math game instead. The game reinforced the same skills we were learning in class, but it allowed them to relax, take breaks, and not feel completely overwhelmed.

Ultimately, the reasons kids need in order to learn math is very different from the reasons society believes math is important for kids to learn. Children and teenagers can't always see the real-world applications of the skills ahead of them. The key to engaging them is to make learning enjoyable and accessible, provide constant wins, and help them feel like they are important guides in their own math education.