Guided Math Chpt 7 by Laney Sammons

In what ways are you able to discover your students’ mathematical thinking?

• When working with a guided math groups and having children explain the strategies and their thinking that they are using.
• Assessments that require the children to explain their think.
• Rich mathematical discussions.

How frequently are you able to confer with your students? If you are not able to confer as often as you would like, what prevents it? 
I confer very little/if at all however if I think about when I can fit it in there are times when it I can do it. It is not something I am doing in my maths programme at the moment as I rarely have time or haven’t thought about it. On reflection I think I will be making time as it will allow me fill in some of the gaps my students have and give me more of an indication of where students are at and where to go next.

What advantages are there to having structures for conferences in mind as you meet with students?
I think it keeps it simple and is a direct path so as a teacher I can get straight to the point and meet the needs of my students. A structure will also be important for conferring with students as they will know what to expect each time it happens and warm to the idea, in turn providing more information and being open to the opportunity.

Guided Math by Laney Sammons Chpt 6

1. What are some ways that you can organise your classroom to support Math Workshop?

At the moment I think my classroom is organised pretty well and all material and activities are easily accessible to the learner.

In the last two weeks I spent time setting up my class to be student run rather than teacher. At the moment children have some choice as to what they want to participate in and we are moving to independent free choice.

I have also spent time setting up the expected behaviours for the different Math Workshop activities. More time needs to be spent on this to achieve the desired outcome. I believe children can achieve this as it is a skill they should be transferring from the Daily 5 reading.

2. How can implementing Math Workshop promote the learning goals you have for your class?

One part I found really helpful and will promote the class learning goals of increasing how strategies are explained was the Write in Math Journals section. A big goal is to get the children thinking about their learning and explaining what they are thinking. There were some questions that I plan on implementing into the class these are:

• What do you notice?
• What do you find interesting?
• What patterns do you see?
• What do you predict? Why?
• What do your findings make you wonder?
• What does this remind you of?

I can also use these when I am working with small guided groups.

Sammons, L. (2013). Guided Math. Shell Education.

Week 3, Term 3 2013

My Week 3 goals were:

• • Have children reflecting on their learning and posting to blog.
• • Use open questions when asking the kids
• • Ask children to explain their strategies before moving on
• • Set children up so they know where they are going, how to get there and what to do next 
• • Continue consistency in behaviour management
• • Continue to use modelling book in all sessions (including note taking of where chn are at)

I think the week went pretty well however I was only in the class for three day (Tuesday was our school CRT day with classroom observations and Wednesday my BT release day). I found chn were unsettled on Thursday after having two days of reliever but as soon as we went over the rules they soon settled down.

Maths this week was our first week of place value. I found it hasn’t gone to bad but there are a lot of gaps in their thinking and skills that need to be addressed. I had Catriona, Kristen and Pam observe me on Tuesday for my lesson and it was really good – I got some feedback that was valuable and tried to action it on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday Kristen came in and did a modeled lesson using the ones and tens place value equipment which I found really good to see another teacher teach it and then have a go myself.
We are continuing with our Maths Calendar each day and I am planning to alter it next week to make it harder and add some different skills in. Below is a photo of our Calendar (I make it in the 100s for the lower level chn and we change the number around depending on the date).

Math calendar

Reading has been much the same I have been trying extra hard to make sure I constantly use the modelling book and I have used it for each group and each lesson I have taught. I also used one of the lessons with each group as time spent teaching them Word Work games as I wasn't satisfied with how they are doing it. With my Daily 5 programme an important aspect is the children picking ‘good fit’ books. I spent some time on Friday going over this with the children and then sent the away to try it themselves. It worked really well and I was super impressed that at one stage the whole library was silent because they were so engaged in the books they were looking at/reading…YAY.

This week our punctuation focus for writing has taken a back seat and not been our main focus. Next week we are taking writing sample for moderation so Room 4 had a practice at writing a recount on being cold. We discussed what a recount is and what the success criteria is for writing our own. Some produced good work others need a bit more guidance and scaffolding to get to where they should be.

On Friday afternoon we had a go at mixing colours and painting with sponges. The kids are still a bit hesitant at experimenting with colour and mixing to create new colours, hopefully this will change over the next 2-3 weeks.

Week 4 already – the term is certainly flying. Next week we have Small Schools Cross Country on Wednesday which unfortunately miss out on due to a PRT course, however it is on science so I am quite looking forward to that.
Week 4 goals:

• • Have children reflecting on their learning and posting to blog.
• • Use open questions when asking the kids
• • Ask children to explain their strategies before moving on (question card made up for maths and reading).
• • Continue consistency in behaviour management
• • Continue to use modelling book in all sessions (including note taking of where chn are at)
• • Allow more time for student sharing and check in.

Week 2 Term 3 2013 Reflection

My goals for week 2 were:
• Be consistent with my behaviour management
• Have the timing of my programmes (maths and reading) set
• Know the content I am teaching clearly before I teach it (maths)
• Use open questions when asking the kids
• Ask children to explain their strategies before moving on
• Set children up so they know where they are going, how to get there and what to do next
I believe I am achieving some but still need to work on others.

Numeracy this week has been difficult, I have set up the Daily 5 Maths programme and at this point I am pretty happy with how the children are picking it up (it helps that they know how Daily 5 reading is run). Children can efficiently take part in Math with Someone, Math Technology and Math by Myself. However they need work on Math writing. Children can sit and do the work however they are not reflecting on the strategies, explaining them and how they have been using them. This is something I am working on during my guided sessions.

Literacy this week has been really good. Children know exactly what is expected of them and they get straight on to task. I am using my modelling books more during my guided sessions and making a point that they are there for the children to use. I have been running Phonics in the morning for 15 minutes and children have responded well. I am starting to learn how to run it without relying on the book.
My two lower reading students are now doing the Early Words Programme and they are doing a really great job. The Programme is helping them both with their reading and writing confidence which is great. It is good to see something taught then used later without being prompted.

Children started their inquiry research this week, it’s really good to see them working as a team instead of fighting with each other. I spent a session modelling the different tools that they can use to find answers and then let them free to do it on their own. I have been roaming groups and providing modelling and assistance to groups who need it.

We started painting in Art this Friday which was lots of fun. The class spent time experimenting with colour mixing and layering of paint. Next week we are focusing on the different tools we can use to create texture.

Week 3 goals:
• Have children reflecting on their learning and posting to blog.
• Use open questions when asking the kids
• Ask children to explain their strategies before moving on
• Set children up so they know where they are going, how to get there and what to do next
• Continue consistency in behaviour management
• Continue to use modelling book in all sessions (including note taking of where chn are at)

Maths Observation - Korakonui School 5/08/13

 This morning my Tutor Teacher and I went on a visit to observe Maths being taught at Korakonui School. For the first 20 minutes we had a walkthrough of the classrooms while the school was in assembly and this was really good just to get some ideas not only for Maths.

Our first observation was in a Year 4-5 class who were just starting their fractions unit. The teacher had a problem up on the IWB which she had had up before school started. This was a table with different names for fraction. The kids read through these and made it a goal to learn any they don’t know by the end of the week (she stated they will build on the activity by playing a game the next day). She then spent 10 minutes with a whole class teaching session on how to say fractions and what the numerator and denominator represent. Children did think pair share during this time with the teacher also roaming through and picking up on the children who don’t say much.

Next the children split of into their groups to do work sheets and multiplication practice. The teacher introduced the children to a sheet they were working on, gave them the instructions and started the activity. What I really liked about the activity was that it was hands on, engaging and the children were still sharing their thinking to the group. The teacher asked lots of open ended questions and if the children didn’t give her enough information she prompted them for more – something I need to work on.

Activity for Guided Maths.

The second observation was in a Year 2-3 class and had more behaviours that I could compare to my class. The same thing, she was just beginning a fractions unit and had done her testing last week to group her class. This started with some whole class teaching around what equal sharing is and what the numerator and denominator represent.

The first group were given different shapes of paper and asked to fold them in half. They had a lot of rich discussion around what half is and how do we no etc. I also really like that if children weren’t explaining the strategy she would ask them for more, jotting these down in the modelling book. The shapes the children had folded were then stapled into the modelling book.

The second group was given a question: “A farmer has 5 paddock and 25 animals, he wants to put the same amount of animals into each paddock”. Children were then required to explain their thinking and then they had a discussion around this (teaching asked open questions). Children glued these into their math books and will do the same question at the end of the unit to see the learning they have done.

Class ended with a quick check in with children sharing what they have learnt for the day. This is something I want to get in the habit of.

Another idea to document my classes learning

Guided Maths Chapter 5 Guided Maths

I found this quite a hard chapter to read with parts of it interesting and others quite boring. I also think that as teachers in NZ we mostly teach needs based groups. So my reflection may be a little hard to read/understand.

Maths is my major focus area this term so I am really trying to emerge myself into different books and other teachers ways of teaching.

1. How does using flexible, needs based grouping affect student learning? Can it affect teaching strategies employed by teachers?

It allows teachers to aim the content at the individual student/s and their needs rather than teaching the whole class and hoping the lower groups will understand and having the higher students practice the strategies.

Because I use needs based grouping in my class I do think it affects the strategies that I employ in a positive way. If I was teaching whole class all the time then I know a large portion of my class either wouldn’t understand or wouldn’t be extended.

2. Do you use Guided Reading in your classroom? If so, how can you adapt it to accommodate mathematics instruction? What about it is easily modified for teaching mathematics? What may be more difficult to adapt?

Yes, I also use Guided Math. I run the Daily 5 programme in reading and I want to adapt the same approach to my Maths.  For this I will be doing my normal guided session but then children will then have the choice of Math Technology, Math Writing, Math with Someone or Math by Myself. I think it will be easily modified to suit the learners in my class.

3. What data do you have that can guide you as you create small groups of students of Guided Math instructions?

In my class at the moment I am using data created from the Gloss test I am also wanting to use more formative assessment in my guided groups to help me gain more understanding of where students are at and where the areas are that I need to address.

A quote from the book I found relevant to me and I’m not sure if this is something I do because I am a beginning teacher or not. “of ‘finishing’ becoming more important than ‘figuring out’” -  (Sammons, 2013). Which is something I can find myself guilty of so I will be taking a look at this and whether they are ‘figuring out’ or wasting time and not.

Reference

Sammons, L. (2013). Guided Math. Shell Education.

Week 1 Term 3 2013

This week has been really busy settling back into the routine and making sure everything is organised. On Monday I had two new students join the class, both year 5 which takes the number up to 22.

Maths this week has been quite messy, I have set up some learning games for the children to play and this took up a day which is fine because it saves mucking around in the long run. Maths is my main focus area this term and I am really looking at my teaching and whether I am effectively teaching all children. 

I have found it really hard to plan and then teach a unit when I haven’t done it before and at the moment I have found I am trialing a lot of things to see what works for me and my students. This term I am teaching fractions, place value and measurement. The children are also focusing on mastering their times tables and I have set up a wall challenge in the class to encourage this.

Next Monday my Tutor teacher and I are visiting Korakonui Primary School to observe how maths is taught and run in their school. Will update on Monday as to what I see.

Our Daily 5 has gone ok this week. What really annoys me though is when the children know what to do but they just muck around. I spent Monday going over what is expected during Daily 5 time and the rules that our class has in place. The two new students were paired up with another student from their group and will continue to be for the next two-three weeks while they learn how the programme works.

With my guided reading groups we are focusing on summarising for the next 4-5 weeks and so far they are all doing really well.

I am still not happy with my word work area and am planning on adding more engaging activities into it over the term to give children the variety.

A fun word work activity station I set up in the holidays.

Over the holidays I spent time changing my display and am pleased with how it has turned out.

 

Our new Daily 5/CAFE display.

For the next 5 weeks in writing the class are focusing on getting their punctuation correct. I introduced the expectation around this on Monday and we will continue to build on it each week. We have a ladder that their names moves down depending on whether they have achieved the punctuation.

I set the children up for success by doing teacher modelling and then having them identify where and why punctuation has been used in a correct piece of writing (I put chn in mixed ability group for this) and they responded really well to this. They were then required to write their own sentence using the correct punctuation – I got some good pieces and some that need more guidance.

We began inquiry this week with the hook in. For this I wrote the names of heroes that I knew most chn would know onto stickers and then stick them on their heads. Their challenge was then to guess them by asking yes/no questions with most of them just telling each other who was on theirs. As a class we then had a discussion about what these people had in common. You can see this on our wiki. Children have come up with their own question that they want to find out about heroes which we have grouped and will begin researching next week.

I have started doing Early Words with two of my students and so far so good however I am yet to get the time in which I take it down to 5 minutes. This week we started Phonics in the two junior classes and its going well with the children trying hard and most are engaged. I am a bit slow at it but know I’ll get better as I do it more.

My goals for next week are:

• Be consistent with my behaviour management
• Have the timing of my programmes (maths and reading) set
• Know the content I am teaching clearly before I teach it (maths)
• Use open questions when asking the kids
• Ask children to explain their strategies before moving on
• Set children up so they know where they are going, how to get there and what to do next