Debbie Diller's Small Groups Book Study

 I am linking up with Heidi at Mrs.Samuelson's Swamp Frogs to read Debbie Diller's Making the Most of Small Groups. The book study starts the week of June 16th.

You can read Heidi's post on her blog by clicking here.

Hope you can join us!

Guided Math Ch. 2

I am currently reading the book Guided Math by Laney Sammons. I am hoping that working through the book will help me get more organized for the upcoming school year. 

Oh my, these are long chapters! Chapter 2 discusses building a classroom learning community. In a learning community, the teacher is a part of the community and is a facilitator of information. Risk taking and mistakes are a part of the learning that takes place in the classroom. Students learn, through teacher modeling, that they are encouraged to offer different perspectives and through these different perspectives, more complete understanding is achieved by all students. 

These are the main points I took from this chapter:

1. The Guided Math framework offers teachers various approaches to provide scaffolding and support

2. Communication is stressed...teachers model and instruct how to communicate ideas, how to hold conversations, how to justify

3. Teachers establish appropriate spaces for each Guided Math component...teachers who teach Guided Reading probably have a classroom conducive to Guided Math

4. Teachers typically do well with establishing a literacy-rich environment, but need to establish a numeracy-rich environment to include an interactive calendar, student-made charts, and a math wall

5. In a Guided Math classroomm, the flexibility allows for the teacher to demonstrate using manipulatives in a whole-group setting then continue to use them in small groups.

6. Math walls and math journals are used to help students understand the vocabulary taught in class and can be used for assessment and to identify misconceptions students may have. 

7. Teachers should read lots of math-related literature...use comprehension strategies to understand the literature, then focus on the mathematical relevance

A few things I am going to be thinking about this week:

1. How can I develop classroom norms to help us in classroom discussions?

2. What Kagan strategies would be conducive to use during Guided Math time? 

3. This chapter said that class charts should be made with student participation rather than pre-made  to truely reflect the learning happening in the classroom- what about math journals? I have bought a couple pre-made interactive math journal pdf's from Teachers Pay Teachers. I am wondering if the math journals should be more student-made also, created by me?

Well, I already have a lot to consider for next year. If anyone has any comments or thoughts, especially about Math Journals, please comment! 

Until next time!

Tanya

Guided Math Summer Read

As a kick-off to my summer, I have decided to finally read the book Guided Math by Laney Sammons. While I usually feel like I am pretty good at teaching math, I have never really liked the organization of my math time. I have used math centers and math work stations in the past and have always felt unorganized. My school is adopting a new math curriculum, My Math, so I figure now is a great time to figure out how to finally get myself organized during math time.

What are my goals?

-To devise a plan for organizing my math block so I can meet with small groups of students for more individualized instruction.

- Figure out how to make sure that students I am not meeting with are engaged in meaningful learning, not just doing busy work.

- Incorporate our mini iPads into the math block.

- Include more problem-solving and real-world math work.

- Integrate math journals and math conversations more often.

The first chapter in Guided Math by Laney Sammons is an overview of the components of guided math. The components include:
1. A Classroom Environment of Numeracy
2. Morning Math Warm-ups and Calendar Board Activities
3. Whole-Class Instruction
4. Guided Math Instruction with Small Groups of Students
5. Math Workshop
6. Individual Conferences
7. An Ongoing System of Assessment

(Excerpt From: Sammons, Laney. “Guided Math.” Shell Education, 2011-04-01)

I will be posting information and my thoughts from each chapter. My plan is to post every couple of days. I hope you enjoy the information! If you have any thougths or comments, please leave them!