"Making math fun" is fine, but most teachers interpret it as "mixing fun stuff into math, which is inherently painful and boring," because they're focused on th

"Making math fun" is fine, but most teachers interpret it as "mixing fun stuff into math, which is inherently painful and boring," because they're focused on the kids who aren't doing well. To them, making math fun is the same idea as bringing a clown into the pediatric burn ward: "Let's make this suck a little less." That attitude rubs off on the kids. What those teachers don't get is that math is most fun when you are using solid, polished skills to explore an area where you're still learning. The teachers are stuck in the standard educational mindset, which is that getting enough practice at anything to develop polished skills is "rote" and horrible. Plus it slows down their curriculum. So they move on and just do some review now and then, and the mediocre students end up with no solid skills they can rely on. All their skills are a little iffy, so they can't do anything with confidence, and everything is stressful.