Working with students who have proven to be resistant, San Jose teacher John Hagen uses fantasy football to teach math concepts (story in the San Jose Mercury News).

Like many high schoolers, John Hagen’s algebra students worry about passing.

But they also worry about rushing. And receiving. And scoring.

They’ve become miniature NFL coaches, tracking the performance of key players in their own fantasy football league. In the process, Hagen’s previously math-resistant students have joined a growing number of kids who get a kick out of multiplying and dividing points and yards so they can see whose team came out on top.

The book Hagen uses is by Dan Flockhart, a former Bay Area math teacher. As described on amazon.com, “Fantasy Football and Mathematics is an innovative program that uses real-world sports data to capitalize on the fun and dynamic phenomenon of Fantasy Sports to teach kids math.” Additional books focus on baseball, basketball, and soccer.