Math Workshop

This year I have tried something new in math with my students for a few of my units.  It is called Math Workshop or Guided Math and is a similar approach to Daily 5 in reading.  This is a great way for me to meet with small groups in math and give my students the one on one support that they need in math.  It also allows me to identify the concepts that they are struggling with on a day to day basis instead of waiting for the final assessment.  My students seem to enjoy working on different games or activities in math while I am meeting with small groups.  I would like to learn more effective strategies for this and find out how other teachers are implementing guided math in their classroom.

Action Research

For my action research I have been looking at the amount of student effort put into an interactive math journal correlating with student success in math.  There are several definitions of math journals and the basic understanding of this is for students to expand on their reasoning in math and explain their thinking.  It is also a way for students to record major concepts in a way that they are going to remember and understand important ideas.

I have started to use math journals in my classroom this year and so far they have been a success.  I model for the students what should go into their journals.  Then, I have them reflect or explain in their own words regarding the concept for that day. I have found that students seem to have a deeper understanding about certain concepts when they are asked to go in depth and reflect on their thinking.  I will continue to implement these throughout the rest of the school year.  I also plan on evaluating their journals using a rubric.  This allows them to understand the expectations set forth with their journals and know that it is a part of their math grade.  It is also a more effective way to get across the major concepts in math and incorporate writing into math beyond the definitions of vocabulary words.

I am excited to use this research of math journals to keep implementing them with my students and use them in more effective ways.  The research shows great increases in math achievement levels and I hope to continue seeing this with my students!