We hear it all the time as math teachers: Make math real-world… and I agree.

I want students to see mathematics as something that exists beyond the walls of our classrooms. I want them using math to understand information, make decisions, solve problems, and make sense of the world around them.

But over the years, I’ve realized something important:

Real-world does not automatically mean relevant.

Those are two different things.

And figuring out the difference can completely change the way we choose contexts for our math lessons.

When a Real-World Project Stops Feeling Relevant

I learned this lesson with a project I used to love.

Years ago, I had students compare different cell phone plans. They looked at different amounts of data and different costs, wrote equations, graphed relationships, compared options, and ultimately decided which plan made the most sense.

It was a pretty natural application of linear relationships.

At the time, cell phone plans were something students actually heard their families talking about. How much data do we have? Are you going to go over? How much does another gigabyte cost?

The mathematics connected to a real decision people were making.

It felt like a win.

Until it wasn’t.

Eventually, unlimited data became much more common. One year, I was standing in front of my students asking them to compare the cost of different amounts of data, and they basically looked at me like:

Why? My phone has unlimited data.

I’ll admit, they had a point.

The project hadn’t stopped being real-world. Cell phone plans still existed. People still paid for phones. Companies still used mathematical models to determine pricing.

But the relevance had changed.

The world had changed. My project hadn’t.

That experience stuck with me because it made me rethink what we actually mean when we say we want to teach real-world math.

Real Is Not the Same as Relevant

I think it’s easy to find a real-world application and think we’ve checked the relevance box.

Mortgage amortization is real.

Manufacturing costs are real.

Insurance premiums are real.

But I could give a group of fourteen-year-olds a perfectly authentic scenario involving any of those things and still have students wondering:

Cool. Why do I care?

And that’s fair.

So instead of only asking:

Where is this mathematics used in the real world?

I want to ask a second question:

Why might this mathematics matter to the students sitting in front of me?

That’s where relevance starts to get more interesting.

Think About Your Students’ Spheres of Relevance

One way I’ve thought about relevance over the years is through what I call Spheres of Relevance.

Relevance doesn’t have to mean something is literally happening to a student right now.

Sometimes the connection is to self.

Maybe the mathematics connects to their money, time, interests, choices, goals, or future.

Sometimes it’s connected to their community.

Maybe it involves their school, town, family, team, or something affecting the people around them.

Sometimes relevance comes through culture.

Sports, music, gaming, social media, trends, and conversations students are already having can all provide meaningful connections.

And sometimes the connection is to the larger world.

This one is especially important to me because I don’t want to define relevance as, “Would a teenager personally use this today?”

Education should expand students’ worlds, not shrink them.

Students don’t have to personally experience something for it to be worth understanding.

Sometimes relevance simply means:

I understand why this is worth thinking about.

Timeliness Can Create Relevance

This is one reason I think timely contexts can be so powerful in math.

Consider data during an election season.

Students are going to encounter percentages, graphs, polls, demographic breakdowns, turnout numbers, comparisons, predictions, and claims based on data.

They might hear about it at home, or see it online. They could be deeply interested in politics, or they might not care about the election at all. But the data is still part of the world around them.

That creates an opportunity in the math classroom.

We can ask students:

• What does this graph actually show?
• What doesn’t it show?
• What variables are being compared?
• What patterns do you notice?
• Is there a relationship here?
• What can we reasonably conclude from this data?
• And what can’t we conclude?

That’s meaningful mathematics.

Statistics becomes more than calculating a mean from a random data set. Students are using mathematical tools to examine information they’re encountering in the world and decide what that information actually tells them.

That’s mathematical literacy.

Relevance Doesn’t Mean Entertaining

There’s another distinction I think we need to make.

Relevant does not mean entertaining.

If students aren’t immediately excited about a context, we can sometimes assume it must not be relevant.

But meaningful mathematics isn’t always going to make students say, “OH MY GOSH, I LOVE THIS.”

Sometimes relevance is much quieter.

It’s:

Oh. I see why we’re doing this.

Or:

Wait. I’ve seen something like this before.

Or:

I didn’t realize you could use math to figure that out.

That’s enough.

I don’t need every lesson to compete with TikTok.

I don’t need every context to involve whatever athlete, singer, game, or trend happens to be popular this week.

And honestly, when we force those things into a lesson where they don’t belong, students can usually tell.

The goal isn’t to make the mathematics trendy.

The goal is to give students a reason to think about the mathematics.

Start With the Mathematics

This connects to something I’ve been talking about a lot lately.

I don’t want us starting with:

What’s a cool real-world thing I could do?

Instead, start with the mathematics.

What are my students learning?

Then ask:

Where does this mathematics help people understand something, make something, predict something, compare something, or make a decision?

And finally:

Which of those contexts might actually connect with the students sitting in front of me?

Math first.

Then purpose.

Then relevance.

That order matters.

Otherwise, we can end up with a really creative activity where the mathematics is basically decoration.

And that’s not what we’re after.

Relevance Has an Expiration Date

My cell phone project taught me one other important lesson:

Relevance changes.

What felt incredibly relevant ten years ago might not connect with students today.

A context that works beautifully with one group might fall completely flat with another.

Something happening in your community might create an incredible opportunity one year and barely register with students the next.

That means relevance isn’t something we decide once when we write the lesson and then check off the list forever.

We have to keep paying attention.

• What are students talking about?
• What are they experiencing?
• What’s happening in their community?
• What’s happening in the world?
• And where does the mathematics we’re already teaching intersect with any of that?

Sometimes the answer will be nowhere.

And that’s okay.

Not every lesson needs an elaborate real-world context.

Sometimes students need to learn something.

Other times they need practice.

Sometimes the mathematics itself is interesting enough to investigate.

But when there is an opportunity for students to use mathematics to understand something that matters?

That’s an opportunity I want to take.

Real-World Math Can Look A Lot of Different Ways

I also don’t want this conversation to turn into another checklist of what a “good” math classroom is supposed to look like.

There isn’t one way to make mathematics meaningful.

Sometimes students investigate real data.

Or they might design something.

Sometimes they make a business decision.

They may also build and test something and collect their own data.

Sometimes they’re practicing a mathematical skill, but that practice is embedded inside something they’re creating.

And sometimes I look at the mathematics I’m teaching and think:

Ohhhh. This needs a project.

The question isn’t whether every lesson needs a project or a real-world context.

The question is:

What kind of experience does this mathematics need?

And:

What do these students need from me?

That’s the judgment we get to make as teachers.

A Better Question for Your Next Lesson

So here’s what I want you to think about this week.

Look at something you’re teaching right now and ask yourself two questions.

First:

Where does this mathematics exist in the real world?

Then don’t stop there.

Ask:

Why might this mathematics matter to the students sitting in front of me?

Maybe the answer connects to themselves.

It might be their community or culture.

Maybe it’s something happening in the larger world.

And maybe you realize the context you’ve been using is technically real-world, but it isn’t actually relevant anymore.

That’s okay.

That’s information.

Being a Modern Math Teacher isn’t about finding the perfect activity and using it forever.

It’s about continuing to pay attention.

To the mathematics, to our students, and to the world they’re learning to navigate.

Because real-world math is great.

But real-world math that gives students a reason to think?

That’s where things get interesting.

If you’re ready to think more intentionally about when a project makes sense, when practice makes sense, and what kind of mathematical experience your students actually need, my Project or Practice Guide can help you make that decision.

Until next time, keep it real.

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