Mathematics is everywhere and most children engage in it daily without knowing it.

This is easy to see when you observe a teenager budgeting to save for concert tickets or a milk expert measuring milk to make instant macaroni and cheese. So when students say that hatred math and are simply not “math people”, the reality is that what they are probably reacting to is the feeling of “confused, intimidated and embarrassed” through their experiences in math class, says veteran math teacher and Mathnasium founder Larry Martinek. “Think about it: I don’t think anyone hates knowing how to play blackjack, or Monopoly, or how to pick up a good deal on a car.”

In high school math teacher Ranjani Iyer’s classroom, getting kids to see the “beauty of math” involves designing her lessons to include a mix of rigor, relevance and relationship. “I love sharing my passion for math with my students and showing them that math is essential to solving real-life problems,” says Iyer. “Creating a positive environment where my students feel safe, open and encouraged to explore problem solving is essential.” Sometimes the changes may be small and the strategies simple, but together they can encourage students to “let go of their fear of math, be curious, and explore the beauty of math.”

Finding ways to bring a sense of purpose and fun to math class doesn’t mean sacrificing the rigor of instruction, however. In fact, by building “happy math rooms”, says Amy Noelle Parksprofessor at Michigan State’s College of Education, isn’t necessarily making sure students are always having fun, though that’s probably a byproduct. “I think there’s this kind of quieter joy that comes from making mathematical connections and understanding the world in new ways and understanding other people’s thinking and ideas,” she says. “When I point to joy, that’s part of what I’m trying to show.”

Here are seven teacher-tested ways to create the kind of joyful math environment that motivates students to move past defeat and tackle difficult math head-on:

Survey Students: Every December, former math coach Mona Iehl conducted a quick needs assessment, surveying students about “where we’ve come from and where we’re going.” Iehl writes for Middleweb. The process helped her level up and prepare for the rest of the school year. She asked three simple questions, which the students reflected on individually and then discussed in small groups:

• what do you need
• What do others in our community need?
• What can we give?

Consider adding a fourth question about types of mathematical activities that resonates with students, writes high school STEM teacher Katherine Rowe. For example, “Which math activities do you like best and why?” or “Can you think of a time when math class felt fun to you? What made it enjoyable?” This type of student feedback can help you make small adjustments to your lessons and training materials to make them more engaging.

Experiment to unlock yourself: “Good problem-solving tasks require students to get stuck and then think, experiment, try and fail, and apply their knowledge in new ways to unlock,” writes Peter Liljedahl, the book’s author. Building Mathematical Thinking Rooms. The process of gathering the courage to trystruggling and still failing can be frustrating for many students and even lead some to conclude that they are “not a math person”.

At this point, it’s important to “validate students’ sense of frustration when they don’t get it” and adjust intuitively on the go— “taking a step back to build a foundation to connect with the new skill,” says educator Lydia De Jesus. This might look like allowing a lesson to cover two periods instead of one, or “co-teaching with another educator to help students who may need extra help,” writes instructional coach Peg Grafwallner.

In addition, we remind students that “being frustrated and fighting is normal,” according to researcher Manu Kapur. This changes students’ perspective, reminding them that struggle is a normal part of learning. Kapur continues, “And if you do it long enough, when students are stuck, for example, or struggling or frustrated, instead of giving up, the signal is, ‘Okay, maybe they’re in the right space now.’ . Maybe I need to adjust.”

Find opportunities to choose from: Students don’t have much choice in math class, Parks says. “Their experiences are often so constrained by adults,” she explains. Occasionally, consider letting students choose whether they want to work with others or not. When you have the chance, give students more different ways to complete the worksuggests elementary math teacher Jordan Sabinsky, such as in their notebooks or on a white board. To explain their work, students could choose record a short video or audio clip of themselves talkingwrite a written reflection or use sketch notes to represent their thinking. It’s a small change, but it signals to children that they can and should have a say in their learning.

Talk about numbers—five- to 15-minute class conversations about intentionally designed problems that are solved mentally— are a key strategy used by math teacher Howie Hua to get his students to think creatively about math. “You just put a problem on the board, like 38 + 45, and then ask the students to hold up the number of fingers to show how many different ways they can think of it,” says Hua. “The teacher would say, ‘OK, what’s the answer?’ And then, “How many different ways can you see it?”

This activity makes students focus on the process rather than the final answers, which Hua prefers: “When people say math is boring, maybe it’s because they focus on the final answer rather than listening to other people’s thoughts .”

Open hard: The first moments of the class are prime real estate; providing an opportunity to “enliven—or extinguish—student interest and learning,” writes former Kansas Teacher of the Year Curtis Chandler for MiddleWeb. Well-designed warm-up activities can capture students’ attention and open a window to introduce something new or review something familiar.

Some days require you to jump right into a traditional math problem, but when you can, consider starting the class with an unexpected opening. Try it math related read aloudsuch as a short story involving math or a passage about math in art or sports, suggests Bonnie Duhé, vice president of math curriculum at Accelerate Learning. High school math teacher Lorenzo Robinson occasionally begins class with a math brain game: “It makes students feel like this class isn’t going to be scary, it’s going to be interesting. “We’re going to learn, but we’re also going to have some fun,” says Robinson.

Make connections: By real world connectionswhere possible, help make abstract concepts more accessible to students. Math teacher Alicia Wimberley asks her class to plan and budget for a hypothetical trip from their home state of Texas to the Grand Canyon, while math educator Rachel Aleo-Cha asks students to calculate sales tax on items on that they covet – from Airpods to makeup palettes.

Pressed for time? You’d be surprised how something as simple as a simple word change can put a smile on a student’s face, says educator Carol Johnston. Including details from sports they like or teachers at school to classmates and siblings “makes the issue more realistic” and helps students “connect to it more and enjoy it.”

Move, do and redo: Former high school math teacher Rachel Fainstein suggests getting students up and moving frequently during class. “For example, ‘get up, find a partner, explain your work as you walk and talk,'” she says. Alternatively, after 20-30 minutes of focused study, a three to five minute brain break where students go through a quick sequence of exercises can keep kids focused during a long lesson while providing a vehicle for joy and connection.

Hands-on activities give students “opportunities to investigate, experiment and make connections on their own,” while building basic social-emotional skills like collaboration and communication, Duhé says. In middle school math class at Vorbasse Skole in Denmark, sixth-grade teacher Lea Kirkegaard and her co-teacher—with the help of a playful learning coordinator— turned a geometry unit into a dynamic, hands-on activity that got students out of their seats and into collaboration. The room was buzzing with chatter as students used materials such as sticks and clay to build three-dimensional models. During a different part of the lesson, students used string and chalk to draw a perfect circle on the floor. On their hands and knees, the students worked through cycles of trial and error, easily erasing their mistakes and starting over.