Monday, April 22, 2013

Thinking ahead to year 2 with Guided Math/Math Workshop

Happy Monday! I can't believe it is almost the end of April. The end of the year is rapidly approaching, which has me thinking ahead to little tweaks I'd like to make next year. Of course, there is a pretty high chance that I'll be making a change of grade level for next year, which could be fun and exciting, but, at least for the time being I'm going to ignore that possibility and pretend I'll be teaching 3rd grade forever.

I have been so happy using Guided Math in my classroom this year. I think it has been really beneficial to my littles and I have been really pleased with the amount of time I've been able to spend working with small groups and differentiating. When I think ahead to next year, I know there are a few minor adjustments I want to make, though.

Currently, these are my stations:
M - Math fact practice
A - At your seat journals
T - Teacher Group
H - Hands-on learning

Here is what I'm proposing for next year (and a preview of the posters from the Guided Math pack that will be making its way to my TpT shop very soon):
Math facts and problem solving. These will be my math journals. This past year, I gave my students a weekly prompt and I feel that it really helped their problem solving skills. I plan to continue that this year, but will add fact practice as an early finisher activity.

I'd really like to do differentiated math folders next year, where I can give each student worksheets or activities to do that are more tailored to their individual needs. I have some students who really, really need extra practice with their multiplication facts because they have not been practicing outside of class. I have other students who need to be challenged with some enrichment activities. 

Of course, I will be keeping my Teacher Time center. This is my favorite aspect of Guided Math. I love working with small groups and this is a great time for me to reinforce or reteach skills when needed, elaborate, and challenge students depending on what they individually need. 

I will be keeping my Hands-on center. This is where my students play math practice games. I'll also be adding some of the fact practice games, such as beat the clock multiplication, here.

This is very similar to what I did this year except that I am wanting to eliminate the computer fact practice center and replace it with the differentiated folders. I love incorporating technology, and I think that sometimes I'd like to put a computer pass or task card in the folders but I also don't think that this center fully maximized learning this year. It was fun and certainly good practice but not always what my students needed most.

What do your Guided Math/Math Workshop centers look like?

5 comments:

  1. Hey there!! I'm hosting Workshop Wednesdays each week- the topic changes each week and this week it's math card games!! I would love for you to link up with something after reading this wonderful post! :)
    Jivey
    ideas by jivey
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    1. Oh what a great idea!! I don't know if I'll be able to tomorrow - it is a CRAZY week but I will definitely have to participate soon! How fun!

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  2. What resource did you use to create your problem solving journal?

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    1. Hi there! There is a pack on TpT titled "Problem Solving Across the Year." I cannot remember who the seller is but there are 30 problems for each month so lots to choose from. It is geared for grades 2-6. Two years ago I printed word problems on labels but it was more work for me and I had to stay further ahead.

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  3. Mathological Liar is a card set I purchased in grades 3 and 4 to use as a center. Students always solve grade 3 first and then use grade 4 as a challenge. I love it since students have to justify why one suspect is guilty and the rest are not.

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