see the book THE ART OF CHANGIN- G THE BRAIN,  by Dr. James Zull- he is

prof. of Biology at Case Western Reserve University- also chaired a committee

of faculty in hard sciences meeting regularly to share experiences with applying

principles of neuroplasticity in teaching of students- the book offers excellent

resources covering years of neuroscience research relevant to all areas of

education.  Another resource that provides practical guidance from  neuroscience

for teaching pre-college students in brain friendly ways is Dr.

  Eric Jensen - he is on he web and offers workshops for teachers and other

school personnel- have not attended his programs, but looks like content

relevant to your interests  

It's great that you want your students to 'like' mathematics, as I believe that without that level of engagement it's difficult to develop their mathematical proficiency.  Have a look at the book available freely online  "Adding it up: Helping Children Learn Mathematics". Edited by Jeremy Kilpatrick, Jane Swafford, and Bradford Findell. -National Academy Press. (2001)   They outline a powerful model of mathematical proficiency that has 5 strands that provide the framework to evaluate any  possible approach to teaching mathematics.

Another place to look for effective methods of teaching mathematics is  the work of Jo Boaler (Stanford University) freely available on the youcubed.org site.

Thanks all colleagues for your valuable contributions.