There are certain lessons every teacher holds onto.

The ones that consistently spark great conversations. The ones students remember years later. The ones you recommend to colleagues because they always seem to work.

Until one day…they don’t.

That’s exactly what happened to me.

One of my favorite classroom projects completely fell flat, and it changed the way I think about designing engaging math lessons.

When Real-World Math Stops Feeling Relevant

Years ago, I created a project where students compared different cell phone plans. They analyzed pricing structures, wrote linear equations, compared costs, and defended which option offered the best value. It checked every box I wanted in a lesson.

Students debated their reasoning.
They justified their conclusions.
They were doing meaningful mathematics.

For years, it was one of my favorite projects to teach.
Then one year, everything changed.

I introduced the project exactly the way I always had, expecting the same excitement. Instead, I was met with blank stares.

At first, I assumed I was the problem. Maybe I needed a stronger hook, maybe I hadn’t introduced the task well enough, or maybe this particular class just wasn’t as engaged. But after reflecting, I realized something much bigger had changed.

The mathematics hadn’t.
The world had.

Real Doesn’t Always Mean Relevant

When I originally created that project, students actually knew something about cell phone plans.

They understood limited minutes.
Families compared different carriers.
Students had opinions about which company was the best.

Today’s students often don’t.

Many have unlimited plans.
Their parents make those decisions.
Some students couldn’t even tell you which carrier their family uses.

The context was still real.
It just wasn’t relevant anymore.

That distinction completely reshaped my thinking about math lesson planning.

We talk about real-world math all the time, but real-world contexts don’t automatically create engagement. Students connect with lessons that feel meaningful to their world, and their world changes much faster than our lesson files.

One Question That Changed My Planning

Now, whenever I begin planning a lesson, I ask myself one simple question:

Would my students actually care about this?

I’m currently teaching from the Illustrative Math curriculum, and almost every lesson begins with a scenario or context.

Before I think about pacing, differentiation, or questioning strategies, I stop and consider whether that context will resonate with the students sitting in front of me.

Sometimes the answer is yes.

Those are fun opportunities to personalize the lesson with local examples, school connections, or experiences I know my students have shared.

Other times, the honest answer is no.
And that’s okay.

I don’t immediately rewrite the lesson anymore.
Instead, I ask a different question…

If the Context Isn’t Meaningful, Can the Thinking Be?

Early in my career, I believed every lesson needed an incredible real-world hook.

I thought every concept needed a project, current event, or elaborate scenario to create student engagement.

I don’t believe that anymore.

Sometimes students find meaning in the mathematics itself. They experience success solving something they didn’t think they could solve. They notice a pattern, discover multiple solution paths, defend an argument, and recognize growth in their own thinking.

Those moments create meaningful mathematics just as much as an authentic context does.

When that’s my goal, I tell students exactly what we’re focusing on.

Instead of convincing them they’ll someday use a particular scenario, I help them notice the mathematical habits they’re developing right now.

Reasoning.

Problem solving.

Looking for structure.

Making sense of complex situations.

Those skills matter whether the context is exciting or not.

When Imperfect Lessons Create the Best Conversations

One of my favorite examples from this past year involved a Glo Germ activity.

Students used a special lotion that glows under a black light to model how germs spread throughout a classroom.

They laughed.
They predicted what would happen.
Then we collected data and compared our mathematical models to what actually occurred.

Here’s what made the lesson memorable.
Our predictions weren’t perfect.

The data didn’t match our models exactly. Instead of treating that as failure, it became the conversation.

• Why didn’t the model fit perfectly?
• What assumptions had we made?
• How can mathematics help us make predictions even when real life is messy?

Those questions led to far richer mathematical thinking than perfectly matching answers ever could.

The lesson wasn’t memorable because it was entertaining.
It was memorable because students were curious enough to keep thinking.

Designing More Engaging Math Lessons

One of the biggest shifts I’ve made as a teacher is realizing that engagement isn’t something we manufacture with flashy activities. It’s something we cultivate by helping students see meaning.

Sometimes that meaning comes from a relevant real-world context.
Other times, it comes from the mathematics itself.

As secondary math teachers, we don’t need to constantly reinvent our curriculum or turn every lesson into project-based learning. We simply need to keep asking thoughtful questions about the students sitting in front of us today. Because the lesson that worked five years ago may not work the same way now. And that’s okay.

Good teaching isn’t about preserving our favorite activities forever.
It’s about staying curious enough to adapt when our students change.

One Reflection Question

Before you teach your next lesson, pause for a moment and ask yourself:

Is this lesson simply real…or is it truly relevant to my students?

That one question has transformed the way I approach math lesson planning.
It might change yours, too.

Want Help Deciding Between a Project or Focused Practice?

One question I hear all the time is whether a lesson should become a project or stay focused on developing mathematical understanding.

That’s exactly why I created my free Project or Practice Guide.

It walks you through the same planning process I use to decide when a lesson benefits from a real-world project and when the mathematics deserves to take center stage.

Download your free copy and start planning more meaningful, engaging math lessons with confidence.

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