Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Math Workshop Planning Series - Part 1 - Getting Started



I have tried to implement Math Workshop and Guided Math in my classroom over the course of the past 2 years. It's been a bit of struggle since I switched grades and just finding the time to make all the plans, activities, etc. One of my goals for the next year, while I am on maternity leave, is to develop and cement my Math Workshop/ Guided Math program. As I work through this process I will be sharing my ideas with all of you.

I welcome all suggestions, questions, comments and links to any of your own posts that you think I or my followers may find helpful. 

Learning is a journey so let's travel together!


My first step was to gather the materials I needed to record and organize my ideas. I bought a large notebook and coloured pens (of course!). Inside the notebook I created a Table of Content so I would be able to easily find all the ideas I was recording and then began to make notes!

Over the past few months/years...ever since Pinterest took over my life started to inspire me, I have been pinning Math Workshop/Guided Math ideas so that's where I started. Having attempted a Math Workshop set-up in the past I had an idea of how I wanted the program to look in my class compared with the ideas posted by others, I even blogged about it here. I did want to revisit some posts and check to make sure I was happy with my plan so I started to go through my pins one by one and take notes in my book.

The first pin/blog I visited was Mandy's Tips for Teachers
Mandy has a great resource that outlines a day by day step-up for Guided Math...and the best part is that it is a FREEBIE! I love the simplicity of Mandy's outline and plan to follow it next September when I return to work. If you are planning to implement Math Workshop/Guided Math or want to revise your current program be sure to check out Mandy's resource.

Coming up: 

PART 2
What will Math Workshop Look Like in My Class?

POSSIBLE OTHER POSTS
- Planning for Guided Math Lessons
- Math Huddles
- Problem Solving
- Math Games and Independent Activities
- Math Journals/Notebooks
- Math Vocabulary
- Math Calendar
- Interactive Math Notebook Ideas
- Using Manipulatives
- Anchor Charts


CAN YOU THINK OF ANY OTHER 

MATH TOPICS I SHOULD INCLUDE??

Next up: 
Part 2- Getting Started
 Part 3- Organizing Your Materials


5 Brilliant Teaching Thoughts:

Sara Kovach / Dare to be Different - Teach! said...

Wonderful post. I too am wanting to get started with something in math so that I can better handle the diverse needs. I have looked at both guided math and workshop, but have yet to carry it out. I will be looking forward to your posts.

Beth said...

Thanks Sara! I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments.

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to read more! We do 30 minutes of math stations/tutorials everyday. I need more ideas/motivation. Thanks!
Shibahn
Mrs. Landry's Land of Learning

jbales said...

Are you familiar with Donna Boucher-"The Math Coach"? She has a blog and I have learned so much from her. She is very generous with her ideas and advice. She has even emailed back to me with answers to questions. Check her out by googling her name. I teach first grade and am always looking for new ideas to support common core standards. Good luck!
Julie

Beth said...

Shiban- Glad to have you along for the ride!

Julie- I follow Donna's blog and love her ideas. I'm sure she'll make an appearance as one of my resources! Thanks for the reminder.

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