Time Flies!

In my school district we split the year into three trimesters.  Friday marked the end of the first trimester! I cannot believe that my class and I have made it through 1/3 of the year already!  I found myself reflecting on all that we have done and what improvements I have seen in my kids as well as my classroom set up.

One of the biggest improvement I have seen in my kids this year is in their writing, both stories and in math.  I have spent a lot of time focusing and planning for my math instruction every day.  As a result, my kids are consistently explaining their work and labeling their work as they solve problems.  I have seen my most struggling mathematicians improve dramatically from this instruction.  I have a student who went from no explanation and labels to always explaining what they do to solve a problem, labeling their work, and even sharing out in class without fear of being incorrect.  After repeated small group and one-on-one instruction with another student in subtraction with regrouping, I can confidently say that he can do this independently and no longer needs my support in that area of math.  The list of improvements I have noticed and reflected on continues.  I can easily say that I am a proud teacher.

But, my classroom set up needed some attention.  After living with it for a trimester, I decided that there were some changes needing to happen on Friday.  Take a look at the pictures below of my room set up for the first 1/3 of the year.

I have found that there were too many "blind" spots for me during independent work time.  I allow the kids to work around the room.  I have found that many of them are more comfortable when not sitting in their desk, but at the same time, many find it as an opportunity to "hide" and talk to friends instead of getting their work done.  As a result, assignments were not being completed, and I was having trouble teaching in small groups without having to interrupt them to correct a choice.  My new set up has split the Daily 5 choice boxes around the room (used to all be in one general area of the room).  My kids now have several open areas that they can work in around the classroom.  Take a look below at some of the pictures with the new set up.

Overall, the first trimester has been a growing experience.  I am excited to see the changes that will occur over the next 1/3 of the year.  At the end of this first trimester, I have realized how quickly time flies!  I have accomplished a lot in these 13/14 weeks, but not as much as I would like.  Maybe next year?

Developing a Workshop: Math

The last two weeks I have spent a lot of time focusing my attention on and thinking through how to transform my 80 minute math instruction time into a valuable math workshop.  This has been quite the process.

Most of this thinking started when I attended the first of four professional development opportunities with Joan Smith.  In these sessions, she is working with the fifth grade teachers in my district on helping our students to understand the basics of math (what numbers are, mean, and how they work in the world), begin using this knowledge to problem solve real life problems, and taking a hands off role to allow students to make mistakes (after all, that is where the most concrete learning occurs).

Last week, I jumped right in by setting the stage for what we would be learning and how we would do this this year.

We then worked on our first real life problem solving activity.  This is where I had to take a complete hands off role.  I provided students with the problem, manipulatives, the time, and I watched, took notes, and made observations about what students fully understood and where their "missing links" were.  My how surprised I was!  This was a two day event.  On the second day, we charted all of the thinking and math processing we had been doing for two days.  Take a look at our work below.

This experience was so valuable for my students and myself.  They learned from one another, they had a chance to practice what they knew and understood, and I learned where "missing links" were, how I should begin grouping the kids for "guided math, "and where to begin with each student.  Ultimately, I did a second lesson in a similar fashion since this one went so well.

My focus for this second lesson was lesson on the concept we were working with and more on the practical use of manipulatives and tools.  In the process, the students surprised me with their connections to new math rules we had not learned or discussed.  Take a look at the chart we created together based on this lesson and learning below.

A little more than a week later, I have begun thinking about pulling students into "guided math" groups.  I am excited to dive into this with my students.  My developing plan for my 80 minute math block is below.

Problem of the Day (still thinking about this one)
Mini-lesson (using my current district program)
TIME work (check out more details here)
Sharing from our TIME work

As I begin to implement this and other developing ideas in the classroom, I am excited to share them.  What are your thoughts?  Where should I go next?  What have you tried that worked well?