Flow

Japanese Logic Puzzle: Hashi
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidmasters/3618249963

I tend to experience a state of flow whenever I work on puzzles (e.g. Sudoku, KenKen, 0hh1, Codewords, Nonogram, etc.). I especially love math-related puzzles because I like how they challenge my math skills/knowledge without feeling they are super difficult that I wouldn't be able to solve it and simply give up. They give me enough challenge that I won't get the answers right away and have to put effort into solving them. At the same time, I know they are doable and I have the ability to solve them, so I am focused, have a lot of patience and am persistent to solve them. 

I think it is possible to achieve a state of flow in secondary math classes, but it would definitely be difficult. Csikszentmihalyi mentions how being in a state of flow is related to the level of challenge and one's abilities, but given how many students are in a classroom and how diverse their skill levels can be, producing lessons that create a state of flow for the entire class would be difficult. As teachers, we could make modifications to accommodate different skill levels, but realistically, that would be a lot of work. However, I do want to work towards having a state of flow in the classroom. Taking inspiration from Peter Liljedahl's Thinking Classroom framework, I think providing mathematical puzzles/problems that are non-curricular for students to do at the start of class would help orient them into a flow state. Puzzles are interesting and fun and having them not be curricular means the students don't have that pressure to get the right answer or feel incompetent if they aren't able to solve it. Although achieving a flow state in every lesson for the entire duration is not possible, I think striving to get it for most lessons is a possible and good goal to aim for to keep students motivated and enjoy learning mathematics.