Right now, I'm storing my task cards (all of them-literacy included) in a shoe box, but I forsee them being divided into chapters/skills and stored in Sterilite latching containers (with pretty labels, of course!)
When I'm prepping for the week, (and I'm actually prepped ahead-which doesn't always happen because I like to take it day by day), I store everything in a bucket on my desk-exit slips and task cards.
This way, it's easy for me to access and find, and I can quickly set up.
For rotations, I store the task cards in another bucket, with the recording sheets underneath.
If we are working on more than one set (and we do, since some of our skills build upon one another, I'll leave the cards out for most of the chapter-this also allows kids to work on what they need to throughout, and they don't feel rushed), I just add another bucket!
Sometimes the kids will need manipulatives to work, and they can easily pull what they need from my new and beautifully fixed shelves ;), since I've made toolkits for the major sections (here and here)
Just in case, you missed a look at my new, beautiful shelves ;) (ICYMI, they fell off the wall last year-and needed to be reanchored-it took some time, but they look so pretty now!)
When we do an exit slip, I don't have the kids turn it into my in-bin - since sometimes I leave things in there for awhile (plus, I don't want them to get lost!), I have them turn it into a bucket.
They fit nicely into the bucket, and it is easy for me to grab and sort through to see what I need to address.
Hopefully/Eventually, I hope to get some iPads or Chromebooks (we have both in my district-but in limited amounts), and work them into our Math block as well (and find some nice storage for them!)-but they're not quite ready for us (plus, I don't know how many we'll be getting for the school)
So that's my revamped Math block! I'm definitely happier with the way it is going, and how I'm reaching more kids. It's taken a few years, and a lot of thought, but I got it to a happy place. :)
Hi! I've made some major changes to the way I run my Math block, so I thought I'd do a little mini-series showing how it evolved and what I do now. I hope you enjoy it!
When I first started teaching in my current district, I did Math Workshop-and loved it! I felt like I was reaching the needs of all my kids, and they were able to learn and practice at their level.
But since our math program was so old (they didn't even make it anymore), and with the new Common Core standards, we looked into purchasing a new program.
So my next year at the school, I was piloting Go Math! (which I didn't hate-but I didn't love it either).
Now, all through the Math Committee meetings, I had been opposed to Math in Focus, as I've found that it often goes above and beyond the Common Core, and if we're going to teach the Common Core, I think that we need to teach it well before trying to build upon and extend it (and ironically enough, I told my old principal this, and he was all like 'No, it's totally Common Core' at the meetings, but when I had my end of year meeting with him last year, he was all like 'Where's the Common Core?' Can I just say-I told you so!).
We did have some trainings toward the end of our pilot year (when we knew what we were going to pick), and at the beginning of the school year that made me feel a little more comfortable with Math in Focus.
Last year was our first year with it-and towards the end, I hated the way that my math block was running.
I wound up doing a lot more notebook entries to teach the kids, as everything had taken so long (what with snow days and delays), and I needed to at least expose the kids to things.
I thought long and hard about how I wanted my math block to look like last year, and with a little bit of inspiration from The Primary Gal, I came up with an idea.
First, I wanted to have entrance and exit slips for each lesson, so I could easily pull groups based on need and skill.
Second, I also wanted a quicker way to assess-as the tests sometimes took 2-3 math periods.
Third, I wanted to make better use of time and workbooks, and meeting the kids needs better.
And last, but certainly not least!, I wanted math to be more fun for the kids, as well as a little more interactive.
Since Math in Focus didn't come with any of the things I needed/wanted, I came up with the idea to make it myself!
So I put together a PD project to make what I needed.
A photo posted by Smiles & Sunshine (@smilesandsunshineteacher) on
Note: I have not yet made the videos-I wasn't sure if I was going to get the tech I needed (not yet), and I wanted to get the main part done first. If and when I get iPad and/or Chromebooks, I'll start on the videos.
After a couple of months, and almost a 100 hours, I finished!
Inside, I have quick checks (1 page assessments) with two types of data recording sheets.
Entrance Slips
and Exit Slips
Each chapter is divided by a Chapter sheet, and even the back cover is pretty!
As I don't have a TPT shop, this will not be for sale.
What's all this have to do with how I run my math block?
Well, let's get into {some of} the good stuff!
I start off each chapter with a quick check-which I then grade and keep them on my desk until we're done the chapter and the last quick check.
This way, parents (and kids!) don't freak out because of the low scores, and I send them home with the second quick check so they can see the growth they've made. We also graph our results in our Data Notebooks.
The quick check allows me to see who knows what, so I can get an idea of what we may need to spend more time on, and what we may need to spend less time on.
I also record their scores in a Google Spreadsheet, so I can keep track of their score changes (and use it for my evaluative purpose-using assessment to drive instruction-yada yada, blah blah blah ;)
Even the kids who started out high made some growth! The numbers in parenthesis represents the number of points the check was.
I got that idea from the SLO my team did last year-I was fascinated by giving the same test twice and seeing a huge difference in scores from beginning to end-which I think is much more helpful than the pretest from Math in Focus, which has little to do with the end of chapter test.
So, I have my newly made and beautiful products-and what do I do with them?
To the left-the 'command center'-mailboxes, attendance/lunch count.
To the right-storage for me, exit ticket poster (our classroom rules and hopes and dreams will go above it), classroom jobs and our goals for the next two weeks.
Around the backside of the 'command center'-our library! The empty bulletin boards will hold our reading and writing anchor charts.
On our whiteboard, I have our daily schedule, as well as show how you know signs. Think Marks will also go up on here.
Then our small group area.
I have comprehension art from the Brown Bag Teacher, as well as I can standards (from me :)
Where I have teacher storage for small group, and the rest of my book bins underneath out writing charts.
Next to that, I have another table for students to work at, with our grading posters and the mathematical standards on it.
Then our vocabulary section.
and my desk, which is a bit of a mess right now
My area
And our whole group meeting place
We can juuuust fit everyone in a circle-like shape :)
And the part of my room that isn't quite done-my shelves! (Although it's mostly done and the parts are in, so hopefully it will be fixed soon :)
The broken section
My binder section :)
Mentor Texts and Guided Reading Book section
A small display
And the Science and Math stuff that should be on the shelves :)
It's a little crowded with 22 desks in there, but so far we are having a blast, and I'm excited for the new year! They've been pretty amazing so far :)
I thought I would share today about my planning guide-which helps me when I do my weekly planning.
I've already talked about how I do my long-term mapping for ELA and Math, this will be how I do it on a daily basis.
Last year, I made a guide to help me with my process.
The left is this year's, and on the right is last year's.
I had a basic monthly map for ELA,
As well as Writing Expectations,
A Math pacing guide,
and of course, a set of Common Core State Standards for 4th grade.
Those I got from Mandy's Tips for Teachers-I liked her Facebook page and got them for free (although I don't know if she stills has them-it was a few years ago!).
I also added some things throughout the year-you can see my Science map and thinking routines taped onto some covers.
This year, I refined and added in some things, to make it more accessible for me.
I also added a table of contents for I can easily see what each section is (and I'll be adding tabs to it for easy flippage :)
I spent some time refining my ELA map,
A little more detailed, plus some CCSS added in!
as well as completely redoing my
Math map (it was basically just a pacing guide before, know it has the
skills taught in each lesson, as well as common core alignment as I saw
it reflected in the lessons.)
I also redid my writing expectations, shifting some things around, and adding some things here and there (and putting into a horizontal format to fit the rest of the guide.)
I made sure to add in the science map and thinking routines section this year :)
I did retype the CCSS-again, to keep it in the horizontal format, I added in the Next Gen Science Standards, because while my district (and state) hasn't necessarily adopted them YET, I know they are definitely coming, and I want to keep this one for a few years :)
When I go to do my planning, I grab this guide, and am pretty much able to plan away. I don't need to lug my ginormous math teacher editions, or search through all my resources, because I have it in this handy-dandy guide.
I had it bound at Staples for under $4, and printed everything at home (I printed the covers on cardstock, and laminated them at school).
That's my planning guide! It may be a lot of initial outlay of time, to organize it all, but it saves me an equal amount of time throughout the school year (which is a much needed necessity!)
