Guided Math Chapter 8!

ASSESSMENTS...oh assessments! There is a need for them most definitely but how to fit it all in, sometimes it just seems like that's all I do! Obviously I need to make some changes so I'm not feeling that way all the time.  I don't know how your school/district/state works but where I live there's a lot of emphasis put on reading assessments and tests but not so much on math. I did find something that I really liked last year from AIMSweb, however I can't share it with you :(. It's the Early Numeracy Indicators. If you have access to AIMSweb you can get these tests. They were a great place for me to start with my first graders. There are 4 tests: Oral counting, Missing numbers, which number is bigger, and number identification I believe. 

Assessment is very important because it helps guide our instruction. We can see what students can do successfully or not so successfully. It helps the teacher make instructional decisions. "I need to reteach odd and even numbers" or "Joe, Sally and Tom need a reteaching of change unknown addition problems." Now this doesn't have to be after a test it could be a simple exit ticket or observation of the student's work. Something that I totally need to work on...

I use observations, formal tests and then informal tests like exit tickets and quizzes.  I also try to use checklists... I was not as consistent with them as I need to be, but you guys are teachers you know we have SO much to do everyday that sometimes things just slip past us! This year however I will try my best to keep it up. My checklists are divided by quarter and have the standards we are teaching for that quarter. What assessments do you use in your classroom?

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Guided Math Chapter 6!

If your anything like me I have been thinking all this Guided Math stuff is great but exactly how to I do it? I was excited to read this chapter since I believe that in order for Guided Math to be successful, your students have to be successful during Math Workshop. I have never done Math Workshop before so this year will be a big change! Most of what Laney states about setting up Math Workshop reminds me of " the sisters" and how they go about implementing DAILY 5.  I found it super helpful to have a day by day lesson plan when launching Daily 5. I'm sure those ideas could be easily adapted to Math Workshop. 

I'll be blogging more about this at a later date, but until I would love to hear your ideas! I have been "pinning" up a storm on Pinterest to look at what others do. I just love learning from others!

This summer I am working on getting all of my math centers/stations organized, I used some centers last year but I wasn't as successful as I wanted to be. Currently I am making 4 copies of each activity and will be placing the activities in bins or tubs (haven't found those yet or decided!) My plan is that if a student finishes one activity they could go and pick another one, time permitting, that way there will always be enough activities for everyone. I can't decide what size of group would best...

I'm very excited to start Guided Math this year, when I implemented Daily 5 last year it was hard but well worth those initial rough days in the beginning. I believe Guided Math will really help me know exactly where my students are at, where I see strengths and where I see weaknesses. Working with the small groups will really allow me focus on those students are in need of more help.

So what are your thoughts? Do you do Math Workshop, Centers or Stations? How do you teach your procedures? 

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Guided Math Chapter 5!

So the thing I love about blogging is I feel I can give it to you straight...I sorta suck at small group instruction, I know what to teach and how to teach it, what assessments to use to move students in and out BUT what causes problems for me are the other students who are not in the small group at the time.  I think self reflection is something I do well and I'm always wanting to evolve and change to try and be the best teacher possible, So hence why I'm reading this book, trying to "better" myself as a teacher. 

 It has been hammered into my head DATA, DATA, DATA...what does the data tell us? It's so important to keep a record of pre-tests, post-tests and informal tests to of course guide instruction. I think it is very important to use informal and formal assessments in tracking students strengths and weaknesses. I think it's best that groups are flexible for the most where students can move in and out based on their needs. Lower students may meet with the teacher 3, 4, 5 times a week for a bit longer period of time where higher may only meet with the teacher once or twice. It's very important to be giving small assessments (quizzes or exit tickets) to make sure students aren't falling behind or in need of a reteaching. Having the data to back-up the educational decisions you make is really important not just for you but for parents and principals too.  My math curriculum changed again today :/ so I'm not sure if pre-assessments exist or not...anybody out there using EngageNY?....

This is a super good question right now I don't have any idea about pre-assessments for EngageNY, within the curriculum there are exit tickets, mid-module assessments and post assessments. I will be looking for others things to use!

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Guided Math Chapter 4!

(I think I answered both of these questions...) Most of us grew up (and teach) using whole class methods, if you're reading about Guided Math and these posts you are probably interested in expanding your strategies so you aren't teaching whole group the whole time (the entire reason I am reading it...HELLO!) This past school year was particularly hard to me to do anything but teach whole group. NOT how I wanted it to go but sometimes things just seem too complicated and hard to change.  I had a rough group of kids and not much support to help with the behaviors in my class. It's not an excuse at all but it definitely made for a challenging year. You can't change everything all at once, nor should you try! 

I did many activating activities and then most of the time we did some work together and then the students worked independently while I worked with a few students individually or a small group, but not in a real structured manner.

So this brings me to GUIDED MATH! I really think it's becoming more and more doable for me, YAY! 

So you might be wondering what things are appropriate for whole-group instruction... 

So how many whole group activities are you doing with your class? 

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Guided Math Chapter 3!

How do you start your school day? I personally have struggled with this, this year. I believe in students having an entry that needs to be completed when they arrive, after hanging up backpacks and choosing their lunch, but what my kids were doing each day wasn't exactly what I had envisioned. They just completed a worksheet, either math or spelling practice AND I as the year ended I knew I was in need of something different. So I have decided to try Reagan Tunstall's Rise and Shine Binder! Read about it here!

This chapter has got me thinking about not only entry tasks but also my morning meeting in general.  I have been trying to have a "responsive classroom" approach to my morning meetings where we greet each other everyday and read the morning message. After we would complete our calendar and days of the week, etc.  Chapter 3 puts a huge emphasis on starting the day off with math warm-ups and math stretches. I'm not exactly clear on how to make them work however. I do however want to change things up a bit and try teaching math in the morning rather than the afternoon. I think it would be great with the calendar activities to move into a problem-solving task or work problem and then get into the math lesson.  When do you teach math? Morning or Afternoon?

I'm always telling my students how important math and reading and that they take practice like learning to be good at a certain sport, but it's hard so students just why they need to know this stuff. I talk a lot about real life math when teaching about fractions and data but not so much when adding or subtracting.  One thing I love that I learned from this chapter is about the math stretch's that Laney recommends. They include Number of the day, What's Next? (a pattern activity), How did my family use math last night? (DING, DING, DING! We have a winner!), ____ makes me think of...., and Data collection. All of these are great! But my favorite is "how did my family use math last night?" because they make connections between what they are learning at school and then seeing it at home. It seems so simple! Using measuring cups to bake, setting the temperature on the oven, figuring out how many minutes before going to bed, oh it's endless!

I feel like I have so many changes to make in my math instruction, the structure of my day and pretty much everything about my teaching and it's only chapter 3! 

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Guided Math Chapter 1

Math about me! 7/6 (my birthday) 29 (my age) 5 (years it took to get a teaching job!)  23 (students in my class) 7 (number of teachers who teach 1st grade with me at my school) 665 (number of students at my school)

I'm so excited to be apart of a great book study going on this summer...GUIDED MATH! I bought the book last year but never really put in the time to read it until now...always too much stuff going on! I have just 5 days of school left this year. I can't believe the year will be over! I'm looking forward to the summer to make some changes about how I do things in my classroom and GUIDED MATH will *hopefully* bring about some great changes. 

I enjoy reading Chapter 1 today in the sunshine, trying to improve my tan. I get to teach the first grade again this next year which brings me great comfort since for so many years, I did something different, EVERY YEAR! I always felt I was starting over and never getting the opportunity to really hone my craft. This year 2014-2015 will be very exciting because I get to reflect on what worked and what didn't work. Truly, doing this book study has come at the perfect time. Chapter 1 gives an outline and briefly describes all the components of GUIDED MATH and the subsequent chapters are on how to implement all the different components.

Both of these questions are interwoven for me so I have decided to answer them as one! Math is year has been an area of great stress for myself and fellow teaching partners. My state (IDAHO) has adopted the common core state standards and we were kind of left to "wander the wilderness" this past year in implementing the new standards.  We were using our adopted curriculum but also supplementing with different activities from all different places. I'm very good at my direct teacher instruction and providing my students with more than just "busy work" however there are many things I would like to work on and change...hence why I'm reading this book. One thing that I have always been told is that I'm very good at trying new things and doing what's best for kids...next year will be the big test!

I hope you'll read along with me and learn something new too! Plus there will be freebies and giveaways all summer.

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