When you walk into a classroom, most times you can tell right away that THAT is a classroom that knows how to promote literacy! Word walls and reading corners! Bulletin boards and anchor charts! All of these things spill into the learning of students.
Do they do the same for numeracy? When you walk into a classroom, can you tell whether or not math is taught in that room just by looking at it? It's imperative that we promote numeracy as much as we promote literacy.
In chapter 2, Laney Sammons points out important pieces of the classroom environment that can be used to advocate for numeracy. Take a look at your:
classroom arrangement
home area
math workshop area
Organization/storage or materials
Do these areas encourage or hinder? Can the students easily turn and participate in accountable math talk (classroom arrangement)? Can the students easily access manipulatives and other materials to aid their understanding?
Teachers function most often inside our own four walls. It's easy to get bogged down with "what's always worked". Here is a way to stir things up and get some new ideas.
Your mission:
Before next Friday October 30th, visit another teacher's classroom and note how the room shows an environment of numeracy. Take notes or snap photos. If it's okay with that teacher, post the pictures to the blog! How can you incorporate some of these ideas into your own classroom?
Have fun!
Read for next week: Chapter 3 Using Math Warm-Ups in Guided Math
Read for next week: Chapter 3 Using Math Warm-Ups in Guided Math
I was able to get into 1 classroom (maybe on Thurs or Fri, can peek into one more) and I did see lots of math evident. I think in this observed classroom, as with mine, its finding spaces to put stuff! This is my struggle!! The room had ten frames (to count the days in school) - I LOVE the idea of daily attendance, boys and girls, kids count how many of each and total. Teacher makes tally marks to show how many ("just so they get exposed"), the kids fill in a ten frame for each group. They are even talking about a number bond of total kids: part girls and part boys. I think this is a great way to do a quick daily math "stretch" - and make it meaningful to kids. Each child has a math box - a pencil box filled with math manipulatives, a ten frame, 2D and 3D shapes, counters, etc There is a space under a table to stack the math tubs - kids know where it is and use it. The bulk of the materials are stored behind the teachers desk and pulled out as needed. She occasionally uses a math journal - sometimes a 1/2 page copied and glued in to the composition book, other times an interactive journal type page. Some days she'll have them write their numbers to 5. She encourages the math talk that is crucial to deeper understanding - and conducts whole grouo mini-lessons around the class rug. She also has been doing partner work around the rug - so she can keep an eye what's happening - who's getting it, who's not. Math tubs (centers) is the time she will sometimes pull a small group, re-working something from that days lesson, or playing one of the math tub games and teaching them how/helping them work through their misunderstandings.
ReplyDeleteEven though I went after the kids were gone, I feel like I got a good sense of how things work in this class - and I am glad for the opportunity to go and visit.
I think there are many similarities between our basic style - I do like her calendar attendance component - however, there is something I am doing that will cover similar skills (remind me to show you!!).
Probably the best thing I took from the meeting with her was the notion that she doesn't do a paper everyday. Mini-lesson and carpet buddies, but sometimes after that, the kids go to math tubs. That is the thing I have struggled to do consistently - but I have been doing a page each day - just re-thinking that need - it opens me up to a type of "permission" to not a paper, to let the kids go to math tubs. For me to wok a group, or play a game with a group, maybe even watch and listen to their math talk.
I, a 20+ year teacher, am still a work in progress. My need to "get it all done" is constantly at war with TIME!!! I am working on a plan that works best for the kids - hopefully I'll find it real soon.
Connie, I think that the most important thing I "heard" you say was "it opens me up to a type of "permission" to not do a paper, to let the kids go to math tubs." Sometimes we are so stuck on collecting 'evidence' that we forget that not EVERY single thing a kid does needs to be recorded. Sometimes they just need the practice and the room to make mistakes without having to worry about writing it all down. SUCH a good point you made! Thank you for sharing!
DeleteSo during the week when I was in different rooms of my team, I took a look around for math literacy. I know my own room needed a better view of math literacy and after seeing some ideas in other classrooms, I changed my room around a little. One of my team members has a vocabulary/anchor chart wall (the best way I can use to describe it). Rather than just posting vocab words that mean nothing to first graders- she has different strategies or skills we are working on. For instance it shows an example of a number bond, example of fact family, etc. I loved that idea. So I did a little changing up of my room. I now have an area dedicated to examples of words, skills, etc. (I ended up doing the same thing for reading as well). I also changed my front board to have a certain math area that has currently magnetic ten frames and counters, math quick check, math hmwk for the week, and other important MATH things. I am so excited about this area. Since we are working with ten frames, I also got the idea to use one of my magnetic ten frames as their compliment chart that they fill up (before we were just using 10 tally marks). Now the kids can visually see how many more compliments they need to get to 10 (reinforcing the skill as well). As far as my math materials go- I have a central area for where they all are, but each group has a 3 drawer tower that has math materials for the week (Their sprints and graphing of sprints are also found in the tower). This has proven very helpful so we don't lose valuable class time passing out materials.
DeleteConnie- using less papers has been wonderful this year. It is a hard thing to get away from since we are so used to workmats. I definitely use a whole lot less paper in math this year. I've been putting things in sleeves and having the kids do tons of partner work which is fun and engaging for them. Even though things have been rough with everything in math this year, I am enjoying teaching math more than I ever had. :)
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