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!

Spring Conference

In, April we have an opportunity to attend the Spring Conference at St. Mary's.  This will be an excellent opportunity to see year 2 learners presenting their research and information.  I am excited to learn some new things and bring them back to my classroom as well as get some insights and what I will be doing next  year at conference as a year 2 learner.

We were able to choose 5 sessions.  I chose a variety of topics to gain new insights in all areas of my teaching.  Differentiation seems to be the buzz word in education in order to meet all learners needs.  I am attending a session about how differentiation in reading affects fluency and comprehension.  I am really looking forward to this as I am always look for reading strategies to help my students.

Another session I will be attending about reading has to do with a concept called Reciprocal teaching.  This is really going to help me understand what needs in reading my students have and how to help them with this.  It is also focused on comprehension strategies which is a big struggle for some students.        

I am also going to a session regarding formative and summative assessments.  The topic of assessments is very popular in the education world and figuring out the best ways to assess our students is crucial.  This session looks at ways students can be advocates for their own learning and progress.  I am really looking forward to this session regarding assessments.

The last two sessions are about integrating iPads to help engage students, motivate them, and increase their achievement scores and mathematical problem solving instruction .  Our school has iPads for our students to use when we can check them out so I am looking forward to this session to help me use iPads effectively with my students.  The mathematical problem solving instruction session is something I am really looking forward to.  In the last couple months, I have been working on implementing math journals in my classroom.  This is a way for students to reason in math and explain their thinking rather than just solve problems and get the correct answers.  I am hoping this session helps me use math journals in my classroom effectively.

I hope to learn a lot a take away a lot of great resources from the conference in April.

Learning in the 21st Century

This weekend in class, we dove into taking a closer look at 21st century learning.  As we explored this topic, I realized the things that I am doing now in my classroom and the things that are still a work in progress. I think that my students are benefiting from many of the things that I am doing now and will continue to benefit as time goes on and all aspects of the 21st century are implemented.  The explosion of technological resources has been a big part of my lesson planning this year and slowly introducing this to my students. It is a lot to keep up with but I am starting with one thing at a time so I am not overwhelmed as well as my students.  I am implementing life skills that my 3rd grade students will need to know for the future as they grow up and become individuals. The four C's are something that I feel are so important and I have been implementing throughout the year.  My students are collaborating in small groups, communicating in different ways, thinking critically about a variety of subjects, and using creativity across subjects. Overall, I feel good about a 21st century learning perspective and will continue to implement these factors into my teaching.

Master's Program

Lately, I have been into reading blogs but I never had the time to start my own!  Now, I get to start one since it is part of my master's program!  I am getting my master's program through St. Mary's University in Teaching and Learning.  One component of this program and to grow as a teacher is to plan changes that we want to make in our own classrooms. One change that I am focusing on for this semester is during my math block.  I plan on starting math journals in which the students will make flip cards for vocabulary and come up with different ways to illustrate in their journals the important math concepts and ideas that we are learning.  This is different from just writing down the definitions of vocabulary words as we learn them.  This is meant to be a reference for the students to refer back to and learn math in a different way besides just writing definitions.  I am excited to see how my students react to this and how it will enhance their learning in math.  Updates will be coming this semester on this project I am working on!