Centers Hack

It seems silly, but starting in a new grade level is quite similar to being a new teacher all over again.  I don't necessarily know what misconceptions my students will have, I don't have a drawer full of manipulatives or centers for review/extension activities, and there's a lot of learning curves.

One of our most recent grade level meetings focused on math planning and the upcoming unit.  One of the benefits of these meetings is that I can pick the brains of the other teachers who have taught this math unit before.

Here were the take aways:

Elapsed time and telling time apparently is extremely difficult for the kiddos. 

A pre-test for this unit is highly recommended.  (The Engage NY Module covers addition and subtraction with regrouping to the thousands, elapsed time, telling time, estimation, and rounding.)

Pre-teaching is recommended because not all the second grade teachers use Engage NY curriculum.  With computers and phones, telling time on an analog (traditional) clock is a lost skill that's not necessarily reinforced at home.  Very few of my students can read the analog clock in our classroom and often interrupt my teaching to blurt out a question asking about the time.  It's a skill we're working on.

So we're going to do some hands-on practice with telling time and reading clocks before jumping into our next math unit.

We're going to physically build clocks, courtesy of this free {TpT download}.

I also prepped these {I have Who Has} center and {What Time is it} centers for each table.  Both were freebies (my favorite) from TpT.  If my students like them and they're valuable, I'll reprint on colored cardstock and laminate.

 

To stay organized, I make each table their own set and place it in a sandwich sized bag.  I then place all the smaller bags in a gallon sized bag, along with the answer keys.  It's the little tricks that make the difference.

Let's Taco About It

Yesterday was one of my favorite national holidays:

Okay, it's not really an official holiday but it's certainly one of my favorites.  

In honor of this awesome day, I decided to sneak in a mini math lesson on surveys, data analysis, and asking questions.

I posed three simple questions:

1) Where is your favorite place to get tacos?

2) What is your favorite filling?

3) Do you prefer hard or soft shells?

I had my students vote with a simple raise of their hands while I tallied the data on the smart board.  I modeled making predictions about what I thought would be the most popular answer and asking questions about the data.

Here are our results:

Afterwards, I asked them what the purpose of the lesson was.  Here's a sample of their responses:

-To let us practice having a voice
-To show us that it's okay to disagree
-To help us learn more about one another
-To practice asking questions
-To show that we don't all have to like the same things

Not bad for a fifteen minute mini-lesson.

Oh, and not to worry, I did participate:

Why didn't I think of that before? (round 2)

This past week, we've used a lot of math manipulatives for repeated addition, multiplication, and division.

I store the cubes in a plastic bin from one of the three tiered organizers (from Target):

I'd walk around and give out cubes by the handful.  It was working alright, but took a few minutes and in that time, students would start to play with them.  Once they've started, it's hard to reel them back in to the task at hand.  (Yes, they had explicit directions not to touch them before I said go.  Yes, they had "free play" time with them before we started using them for math.  But they're eight.)

Clean up was fairly efficient. I'd walk around with the large white bin and they'd take turns scooting the cubes off the table and into the tub.  There were minimal spills with this method.  (Attempt one was them bringing me the cubes, but I quickly realized that took too long and their hands are small, so we had lots of spills.  On to plan 2!)

However, I noticed I had several blue bins just sitting in the cabinet.  Last year I used them for tables to keep supplies in, but this year I'm trying pencils boxes.  I don't love them, but I forgot to take them off my supply list.  It's not too big of a problem (yet), but we had the class chat that if they become a distraction, they need to go home.

I grabbed the bins and started putting cubes inside.  The kiddos were working on their writing, so I thought I'd seize the opportunity to get ready for math.  Then I noticed something magical:

These four bins fit perfectly inside the white tub.  Why didn't I try this before?

As we wrapped up writing and transitioned to math, I pulled the kids to the carpet to share what I'd discovered.  Now I simply put four tubs out and they are fully in charge of the clean up aspect.  Not only did this save time, but the tub is more organized.  Double win!  It's the small things.

It worked wonderfully the first time, so I hope it continues!

Twas the weekend before school started...

It's the weekend before school starts and my classroom isn't 100% ready.  I did my best and worked really hard...but it's not all the way done.

I'm okay with this.  I'm not going in to work this weekend.  Monday morning will be here soon enough.

It took nine years to get to this point, but here it is: my to do list, as a teacher, will literally never end.  There is always something else that could be prepared, perfected, tweaked, or created.

I've spent a lot of time in my classroom over the past week and a half.  Not all the days had working air conditioning, so I am thankful I have a classroom fan.  I'm thankful our teachers' union fought (and won) for us to have a contract day to prepare our classrooms.  I'm thankful my administration gave us additional work time.

I got asked why I wasn't done with my classroom yet.  Well...

1) My room wasn't really ready for me to move in with a logical plan at the end of the year.  The leaving teacher made it inconvenient for me for a variety of reasons, so I walked into a mess.  I hope that teacher is happy at a new school.  We all deserve to be happy and like our jobs.

2) I checked in on the new teacher in my grade level and helped him out with classroom logistics.  He's a great guy, really enthusiastic, and wants to be a team player.  I also went to see the new first and fifth grade teachers, as well as the 3-5 humanities teacher.  I didn't just say hi, I welcomed them and asked if there was anything they needed.  I gave one a tour of the school.  I took the time to listen.  That matters.

3) I took the time to collaborate with my grade level.  I helped some hang bulletin boards (it's really a two person job), shared lesson plan ideas, and wrote first week plans with my work wife and our new teacher.  I didn't want to just hand him plans, but instead we invited him in to share ideas with us and have the opportunity to ask questions.  I didn't have much support my first few years in the classroom, so I want to make sure others have a different experience.  Being a new teacher is hard.  Being a first year teacher is hard.  Being ARL is hard.  Let's not make it more difficult by shutting down communication with each other.  We've got a game plan going into the school year and are going to share the work load.  I get to devote my planning time to creating some awesome ELA plans with my work wife while others get to work with their strengths as well. 

4) I made sure to leave at a reasonable time each day so I could see my hubby and pets.  

My classroom is clean, my lesson plans are done for the first week, and my copies are ready.  I have my first day outfit picked out.  It's as good as it's going to get until 7 am on Monday morning.

I overheard a conversation about what teachers wanted from their students on the first day.  One mentioned having their new students know all of their procedures.  Another mentioned setting up the notebooks and diving into a math lesson on the first day.

Um, that's not the route I'm taking.  My goals for the first day are for my students to feel welcome, safe, cared for, enthusiastic, encouraged, motivated, and eager to return on Tuesday.  I want them to know that third grade will be an exciting and challenging time.  

Math for the first two days will focus on exploring math manipulatives, learning the procedures for Number Talks, tackling multi-step problems as a table, and practicing how to have discussions about math.  We'll set our notebooks up on Wednesday (giving families time to gather supplies) and dive into Engage NY then.  


So since I'm not in the classroom this weekend (but totally support the teachers who are!), what exactly am I up to?

Friday I left at 3:40 pm without guilt.

I had about a dozen girl friends over Friday night for a Lularoe and Lipstains party.  We had tacos, bean dip, veggies, cookies, and margaritas.   I snagged some cute back to school outfits and more importantly, had some friend time.

Saturday I slept in (if you can call 8 am sleeping in), got my hair cut, got supplies for a craft project, and helped a friend with wedding favors.  She's got just over 3 weeks until her big day and I love that I get to play a small part in it.  Plus it was really sweet to see her and her future hubby working together on favors.

Saturday night is spent in pajamas with the hubby, watching movies, making a classroom banner, and doing small chores on commercial breaks.

Tomorrow will include a breakfast date, a grocery trip, finding the missing box of picture books (because my first day books are in there), crafting, a nap, and some at home pampering before an early bed time.

I may or may not be done with my bulletin board banner by Monday morning.  Truly, does it matter? Will my kiddos remember if my board is blank one day and says "dive into reading" the next? No, probably not.

I checked with my admin because if it was super important to them, I'd have it done.  It will be done by next Friday, but isn't a first thing Monday priority.

My plan for Monday is to arrive around 6:45 am with Starbucks in hand. They're doing construction right outside our school and at the nearby round about, so I'm giving myself extra time to deal with that situation.  I've got to make a sign for picking up students, but that involves a manilla folder, a stapler, and a yard stick.  I've got to finish my Smart Notebook for the first day because it calms my anxiety and keeps me on track while teaching.  I've got to make sure my anchor chart paper is ready and pick up the breakfast cooler.

I meet my new students at 8:55.  I've got to make it until lunch (11:25-12:05).  From there, I need to make it until specials (12:45-1:35).  Then I've got to make it until 3.26. 

I'll leave around 4:30, after making sure my mentor texts and materials are ready to go for Tuesday. 

I might even be able to label a few more books or check a few more items off my never ending to do list.

This will be a good school year.

Twas the weekend before school started...and I felt fine. #yearnine



 

Where was admin?

I had a beautiful conversation erupt during math time today.

Here was the problem:

They were solving with a partial products array (they're not quite ready for traditional or standard algorithms for multiplication) and a very loud, very passionate conversation erupted.  One student argued that having the "zero tens" row in the second factor (409) wasn't necessary.  Another passionately disagreed.  

Soon, I lost the whole class to this beautiful, loud conversation about if zero is a value or simply a place holder.  

Did it need to be represented? 

Could it be skipped? Always?

I reeled them back in after about five minutes of debate, much to the horror of the original instigators who hadn't successfully defended their perspectives.

What a beautiful, natural example of the math practices coming to life.

Now, where was admin?! That would have been a lovely example of math discourse in the classroom for my end of year evaluation.

Math Rangers

Our school highly prioritizes reading with the Reading Rangers program.  Students graduate through levels, with increasing complexity in texts and increasing ZPD levels, that roughly correspond with grade level equivalencies.

The program isn't perfect, because nothing is, but my students have reading stamina and want to read.  This is a welcome change from past years where getting students to read a few chapters within a week was challenge.

However, one criticism from both teachers and students alike can be that math is not prioritized.  It's a valid point, so the math committee decided to create a similar "Math Rangers" program.

We are focusing on students mastering their basic facts, because so much of later concepts relies heavily on the automatic recall of multiplication and division. Early elementary still needs lots of hands-on time with manipulatives, but they should also be exposed to thinking about number bonds.

One of the things I like about Common Core (and the Engage NY lessons we are using) is how addition and subtraction are taught simultaneously...as they should be.  

We decided that as a school, there needs to be a focus on math as well as reading.  So the math committee, which I'm a part of, is piloting a math fluency program.  We went with an online component because it would take the grading off the teachers' plates.  We already feel overwhelmed, so telling us we have one more weekly probe to grade was not going to be successful.

We decided to go with mathfactspro, which has a free 30 day trial.  The cost was pretty reasonable ($1 per kid per year).  I made a tracking form, but after meeting with the committee, we're tweaking it again.  

I tried to have all my students use the computers today...that didn't work.  We'll be assigning tables and they'll go once a week during independent practice.

The students start with addition facts, then move on to subtraction, multiplication, and division.  The program tests both their computer skills and their math skills, so it's nice to have those skills embedded into math practice time. 

For me, the prep work was about an hour before I could get them onto the program.  I had to manually enter all my students, create passwords (their student ID numbers), set their levels, and set the number of practice questions.  I also had to make copies of their trackers because they are responsible for tracking their own progress.  They keep their trackers in their math data folders. 

The first time on any computer program is always a learning experience.  What should have taken ten minutes took forty.  We learned to hit the "no jokes" button and that it only worked for part of the time.  Hopefully with the purchased version we won't run into that problem. 

For the students, the logging in part is fairly straight forward.  For me, that's important.  I don't want to have to help them every single time.  I want to be able to go over it a few times and then hand over the control to them.  I don't want this to feel like one more thing I have to juggle because as a very overwhelmed teacher, that's important.  I want this program to be useful, but I also want it to be beneficial for my students.

The kids enjoy it and I'm excited to see if it makes a difference.  We'll compare math scores between our kids (only the math committee got licences) and the other classrooms.  

My munchkins are excited to be part of something new.  I told them that it's a learning opportunity for us all.  

When was the last time you tried something new?  How is it working for you?

First Week Recap!

I've finally found a moment to breathe and recap on week one in the classroom.

The first week of school definitely kicked my behind.  I accomplished maybe half of what I intended to each day and it wasn't because we were wasting any time.  I struggled with my classroom last year due to several distinct behavior issues, so this year I wanted to really focus on building a strong classroom where needs were supported.  I think we're off on the right track!

Highs:

I've got thirty four good kids.  Two on my original roster didn't show and one was moved from another classroom.  My one student with a behavior plan is very excited to be in my room and gives me daily hugs.  He gets wiggly some times due to his ADHD (and hello, they're ten), but after a silent nod or look from me, he is back to work.  He thanks me on multiple occasions for being his teacher, being nice, and teaching him things.  That makes my heart happy.

Class dojo as our behavior management system is working really well. 

I've got about 1/3 of the parents connected and already received messages from some families who are pleased to see all the positive choices their students are making.  My students seem to really like it too, which is awesome.  I love that it's free and I have it on my phone, so it's easy to give points throughout the day.  

They were appreciative of their first day treats, but more on that later.

They did well with our first week challenge activities and seem to have a strong sense of persevering through problem solving.

They want to help each other.

They want to read.

They're excited about our read aloud, The Lighting Thief.

They're excited about the book orders.

They're just plain excited for fifth grade and that makes my job much, much easier.


Lows:

The humidity is making it extremely difficult to open the outside doors at work.  Some delightful mornings it takes a good twenty minutes and walking around to every exterior door until one will open with my key.  This annoyance is not something I have time for.

One of my students, who is new to school, had some miscommunication with his grandpa about where to be picked up.  He'll normally take the bus, but was being picked up the first few days of school.  Grandpa found me and together we found the student, who was waiting patiently in the front of the school.  We clarified the schedule and I praised the student for knowing to wait near the office for an adult.  That seemed to calm the grandpa down.  The first days of afternoon dismissal are always a little chaotic.  One student ran off and hid in the bushes.  Another wandered off from her teacher, but found me instead.  We called her mom, who was visibly upset, but I reassured her that her daughter did everything right.  She knew her phone number (which is mighty impressive as a first grader) and looked to a teacher for help.  The poor mom was worried about her child and quite pregnant with another, so she was understandably emotional. 

I already had a sibling/teacher conference.  On the fourth day of school...yikes.  

One of my student's older brothers (I'd peg him mid-twenties) ambushed me at the dot where I meet my students on Thursday morning.  The gist of the conversation was I'm not doing enough to make the student feel welcome in my room.  Considering the time, effort, and financial resources (first week goodies for thirty four) I've put in, this stung.  When I was compared to the fourth grade teacher, that was another low blow.

However, I have to be an adult and a professional, even when I don't want to.

I thanked him for bringing this to my attention, apologized for needing to go inside with my students, and told him I'd follow up on the situation.  Naturally, when I got to my line, two of the other boys were shoving each other, so that was an additional moment of fun and paperwork.

I told my admin about the meeting, then talked with the student.  The student expressed feeling nervous because fifth grade seemed hard.   He expressed concern that I wouldn't help him if he got stuck because I wasn't helping them on their first week essays.  I (once again) explained that their first week assignments were to show me what they already knew how to do and that it wasn't for a grade.  After more investigating, the student revealed that he was worried he'd get in trouble because another boy at his table is a talker.  These two students are polar opposites when it comes to physical appearances.  These two boys don't even sit next to one another, but I reassured him that I could tell the difference between them and it would be okay.

I called home after school to provide an update and I think that calmed the sibling.  Again, it was the fourth day of school.  Most students are still a little nervous because routines aren't established and it's still hard to get up in the morning. I'm hoping that being proactive and following through with this family will mean they're on my side for the remainder of the year!

The invasion of kinders

My classroom has the distinct privilege of being near not one, but two kindergarten classrooms.  This is how I feel about it:

One young girl was quite upset about getting her bus identification wrist band and began slapping, biting, and swearing at every adult who tried to help or talk to her.  I had my door shut and was hiding in my room during prep, but heard the whole situation.

Bless our school counselor and administration, since I do not have the patience for those behaviors.

One girl cried, twice.  The first time was because I wouldn't let her check out a book on the first day.  We hadn't gone over classroom norms, library check out procedures, or how to treat my books.  As one of the highest readers, I'm sure she would have treated my books with the utmost respect.  However, it's not fair to demand a book when we are in line to leave and the bell has already rung.  I calmly explained through her frantic tears that I don't play favorites and no one was allowed to check out a book until we'd gone over my expectations as a class.  This was not the reaction she wanted and I dealt with the tears all the way to the line.


With week one done, I was exhausted.  However, Friday also was my birthday, so I had dinner plans with friends.  Not as much work happened as it should have over the weekend, but I refuse to feel bad about that.  I set up my grade book, fixed my weebly (had to delete pictures of last year's students from the class blog), and graded their first math exit ticket.  I've been up since four with the pup and know today will be a long day.  I am ready for Monday and will spend after school getting ready for the rest of the week.

Good thing there is only four days with students!  Thank you staff development day!  However, rumor has it we are sitting through a six hour math training...that is identical to the one I took two weeks ago.  In a logical world, teachers who have already taken this training would be exempt...but the district isn't always the most logical place.  We'll see what happens.

On to week two!

Math Training, Day 2

Last Friday, I attended {day 1} of a math training.  Monday I attended part two. 

Overall, it was a decent training.  It's frustrating that due to scheduling issues, they condensed two days into one.  When they did this, we lost a lot of the processing, collaboration, and reflection time.

Clicks:

-We were in a smaller break out room. We were encouraged to talk to our neighbors.

-The focus was much more on using manipulatives (place value blocks, centimeter grid paper, etc) to show the math.  i think that my fifth graders don't necessarily get enough practice time and exposure to the concrete math, which leads to conceptual misunderstandings.  The focus was on shifting students from concrete to representational to abstract methods of problem solving.  (Manipulatives to diagrams with manipulatives to just numbers).  By fifth grade, the concrete step is often skipped but when students have conceptual gaps or it's a new concept, they need hands-on time to explore.

Clunks:

-There was no processing time.  It was very high paced and for six straight hours.  There was no reflection time to write down thoughts or think about where to use these strategies in the classroom.

-It was an hour away.  That's frustrating.

However, since 3/5 of my grade level was there, we are bound to use most of what we learned! I'm glad I'm not the only one responsible for remembering this information!

 

Math Training, Day 1

I get really excited when grade level specific trainings are offered in my district.  I get even more excited when they're in math (an area I want more professional development in) and when one of my dear friends, Mrs. B, is one of the trainers.  She's a wealth of information and I love learning new things from her.

I signed up for the three day training (Friday, Monday, Tuesday) with two other lovely ladies from my grade level.

Naturally, the school where the training is held is on the other side of town, so Mrs. H and I carpooled, which meant I saw her lovely face at 6:03 am.  Yes, that early.  The training was 7am-1pm.

Day One:

We got to the other side of town early (no traffic on a Friday morning, which is somewhat of a miracle).  We got there, found a table with three open seats (so our grade level could sit together) and once we were nice and settled, were told to move closer.  Sigh...I have perfect vision. I can see from the back of the room!

After we moved, the training started.  Here are the highs and lows:

Highs:

We learned some new strategies for teaching multiplication of fractions with manipulatives (washi or highlighter tape for models).

We got some tricky word problems that really require students to think. I'm excited to use them the first week of school.

We learned about some cool new virtual manipulatives, like this and this!  My favorite parts? Not only will it cut down on the frustration I feel when making models to demonstrate fraction by fraction multiplication, but they are both free.  

Lots of the information wasn't new, but rather reaffirmed that what Mrs. H and I did last year when planning math was appropriate for students.  We'd rather give them fewer problems but make them thoughtful, real world application questions that they struggle with to build perseverance. 

Not related to the training, but my grade level went out for a wonderful lunch at the Mac Shack afterward!  Gourmet mac and cheese? Yes please. 

Lows:

It's frustrating that when we are in a major budget crisis, the school district makes some questionable decisions.  i have absolutely no problem with teachers receiving extra pay for attending extra trainings outside of contract hours.  However, I took a pay cut and my insurance increased, but new hires get a $4,000 hiring bonus?  There are at least 22,000 employees in the school district, including a pretty competent math department, but they flew a presenter in from Florida.  So not only does the school district pay the presenting fees, but also lodging and food.  Plus the training is Friday & Monday, so the weekend has to be covered as well.  Isn't there someone already on pay roll who lives here that could have been paid to do the training?

We sat for six hours.  We didn't get to use the manipulatives til around 11 am, which meant four hours of sitting and listening.  I wouldn't do that to my students, so don't do it to teachers.  It was very obvious the two main presenters were used to sitting in offices all day by how they ran the training.  I need to move! I don't do well sitting still.

I ran out of food.  I brought snacks, then ate them quickly because I was bored of sitting.  I got hangry and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

We were promised two 15 minute breaks and only got one.

Our Tuesday training was cut, due to budget (?).  I was looking forward to the extra money, but after sitting through Friday's, I'm glad there's only six hours left.  Plus it means I have Tuesday to work in my classroom!

I'm hoping Monday's training is better.  We are supposed to be broken up into smaller rooms with our schools, so we'll see...

 

Save the Date!

While I've still got a solid three weeks of summer break, I am aware I must eventually start processing all my ideas for year seven.  My first day back is the 14th with three days of math training.  I'm actually super excited because the training is fifth grade specific (yay), part of my grade level is also attending (double yay), and one of my former coworkers is leading it and she's amazing (triple yay!).  However, I've still got time to finish my July goals since I've still got half of them left so good thing next week is pretty open!

However, I did start planning ahead and want to share with you my back to school sale!

Save the date!

The Metric System

Ahh, the metric system.  Usually students either have an easy time with this or they think it's the most confusing thing, ever.

My students this year, however, did fairly well with the metric conversions.  I think a large part of this success is because we spent so much time in the beginning of the year building number sense and working with powers of ten.

I also modeled exactly what a meter looks like and passed around a meter stick:

                                              

As with every math unit, we did a gallery walk with challenge questions before the test:

We also did some sorting activities and used our "I have, who has" cards in small groups.

I also sent them on a scavenger hunt in their own fridges to find items that were listed in the customary system but that were also labeled with the metric system.

How do you teach the metric system?

mini-math

My students needed a little extra practice with fractions before our test.  I could have assigned them book problems to work on silently, but that wasn't what they needed. They needed to work with each other and learn from each other.  During this time, I pulled the students who really weren't getting it to the back table for some intervention work.

The novelty of having mini-math problems was extremely motivating for them.  I also like to include the "create your own" option.  I can see their levels of comfort with the ideas based on the problems they choose to create and then solve.

Since it's May, many of my fifth graders are plagued with the end of the year-itis.  Any new strategies that keep them engaged are always welcome!

How do you keep your students motivated in May?

Math explorations

I am a huge advocate of the use of manipulatives and hands-on exploration.  Right before spring break we dived into volume.

Our first day was focused on exploring cubic volume with cubes.  It was such a great opportunity to watch them struggle through the challenge sheets and learn from one another with no pressure of assessment.  

Their task:

They had a great time exploring with cubes.  I also frequently allow them to work on the floor and move around.  They're ten and need to wiggle sometimes.  I might as well embrace this and provide these opportunities in the classroom.
 

They had a specific task sheet (for accountability).  I gave them ten minutes to explore, then they shared with a partner (Kagan hand up, stand up, pair up, and share).
 

One group was super excited that their blocks were ASU colored!

After a day of exploration, we dived into strategies, formulas, and problem solving.  We spent a few days on regular shapes before diving into the irregular ones.  I posed the problem as a challenge and let them struggle as a team.  Most groups figured out that they could find the volumes separately, then add them together.  

They had so much fun exploring volume.  Instead of just giving them the formula, I felt it was more important for them to have hands-on practice exploring exactly what volume means.

Who says math can't be fun?

Making Math Meaningful

Our math text books are older than our students.  Our standards have changed several times in the six years that I've been teaching.  To say that planning math is tedious and copy intensive would be an understatement.

This year was my first year in five years of teaching a traditional, whole group, seventy minute math block.  It's been a challenge but I've got a wonderful fellow teacher who collaborates with me on a daily basis.  To put things into perspective, it takes two of us roughly an hour and a half to plan each math lesson.  That's two of us simultaneously copying, stapling, sorting, typing, and creating the math plans (and corresponding ppt/smart notebook) to make math meaningful.  I'm not one to have a math block go like this:

1. I say what we're learning.
2. I do two problems by myself.
3. We do a problem together.
4. You do one with your neighbor.
5. Got it? Good. Work quietly for thirty minutes.

That's not fun. That's not meaningful. That's not engaging. But most importantly, that's not good teaching.

We try to make our math block as meaningful as possible.  For our last geometry unit, that meant lots of sorts, hierarchies, and creating lots of polygons with our super fancy manipulatives:

We used maps of our surrounding area to find parallel, perpendicular, and interesting lines.  We got up and made polygons with our bodies and our pipe cleaners.  We had a lot of table team activities.  They had a lot of discussions and gallery walks to critique the reasoning of others.

I just finished grading their tests.  As a class, this was the best unit they've done.

We start coordinate grids next week and we're kicking off the unit with battle ship.  They're ten. School should be fun. School should also include high standards and productive tasks that challenge their thinking, but should still be enjoyable and memorable.

Most importantly, math should be meaningful.

Division Day 1

As I previously blogged about, we've had some disagreements about math.  

Today was day 1 of division in my classroom and it went really well.  They really liked using manipulatives and working together.  We went over the vocabulary for the unit (dividend, divisor, quotient, remainder).  They worked on problems and generated their own strategies.  

It was nice to see them struggle and problem solve.  I did have to talk to a few students who immediately saw the connection between multiples and division. I pulled them into the hallway and shared that they need to observe, letting others make their own discoveries to take ownership.

I was pleased to hear how well the lesson went in other classrooms as well!

I think my students' favorite part was when I told them they could write on their desks with the expo marker.  

Detour

Sometimes the best teaching moments detour from the lesson plan.

We had this Engage NY activity sheet to give:

3 problems.  The time slated for this independent practice was ten minutes, then they were to go work independently in a textbook that's older than them.

That's not what we did.

I had them work collaboratively at their table teams.  I had them include written explanations of their thinking and justify their answers.  I had them show their work multiple ways.  It got a tad noisy, but they were all engaged.  It's amazing how the simple act of giving them markers and butcher paper turns an otherwise mundane activity into a lively discussion and collaborative activity.

When they were done, I had them do a gallery walk and critique the other groups' presentations, thus highlighting math practice #3.  

Did this activity take way longer than it was slated to? Yes (but it still fit within our math block).  Did they gain so much more from one another than they would have by silently working then going over the answers? Yes.  

Was it worth detouring from my lesson plan? Absolutely.

But...that was intentional...

It's okay to disagree with a fellow teacher.  It's okay to not want to deliver a lesson the same way as another teacher. It's okay to put your own spin on things.  Some things should be the same (the assessments, the vocabulary, the definitions), but we aren't going to teach the same way.  That's okay. I have a difficult time following instructions or lesson plans verbatim, even when I'm the one who wrote them.  Don't get me wrong, I am always meticulously prepared for my day.  I just also take advantage of teachable moments.

However, I do get a little frustrated when it seems almost every instructional decision I make is questioned.  I've got a lot of background working with special ed kiddos and with the pacing of units.  Things are sequenced intentionally to help students make connections between background knowledge and new content.  The use of manipulatives (hands-on materials) during the first few days of a unit is quite necessary.  Students, even my fifth graders, need the concrete examples to investigate a concept.  They need experience in the concrete before moving to representational and abstract understandings of content.

We are starting division on Monday.  The standards quite explicitly state do not teach the standard long division algorithm. This is not to be introduced until sixth grade because students don't have the number sense nor mathematical understanding to reason through what is occurring.  

Here it is, straight from our professional development department:

I'm not really sure how much more clear this could be, but there were still debates about what it means.  

The first few days in our math unit has a lot of investigation by the students.  I'm giving them a bunch of paper clips to sort into smaller groups.  Some problems will divide evenly, some won't.  

I want them to tackle it. I want them to struggle.  Some kids will count those 48 paper clips into the groups one at a time, driving their partners bonkers in the process.  Some will make the connection to multiples and give away larger groups.  Some will use their multiplication facts to estimate the quotient.  Some will see division as repeated subtraction while others will see it as repeated addition up to the dividend.  

That's okay.

I want my students to understand what they're doing.  I want them to make connections.  I want them to discover how division is related to the other operations and take ownership over their strategies.

My math unit is scaffolded intentionally.  The first day is exploration.  The next introduces vocabulary terms, goes over making sense of the problems (hello math practices), and has student generated strategies.  Direct instruction doesn't begin until day 3 after students have had ample time to investigate sorting and making groups with paper clips and cubes.  From there, we'll move to hundreds grids and talk about regrouping.  We'll make the connection from the physical orange flats, rods, and cubes to the paper versions and drawings, thus moving from concrete to representational. From there, we'll move into number based strategies that build upon other operations, powers of ten, place value, and multiples.  Again, scaffolded from representational drawings and grids to strictly numbers (abstract).  There's a plan.  It took hours to design, but I'm really excited about it. The plan, which spans thirteen instructional days, scaffolds so students will feel successful and anticipates common misconceptions.

However, another teacher entirely disregarded the plan...and told me about it, gleefully.  She had them try one problem with manipulatives and then gave them the algorithm.  I'm so disappointed and feel sad for her students.  I'm sad they lost the opportunity to make their own discoveries. I'm sad they lost the chance to feel ownership over the concept. I'm sad they lost the opportunity to have a meaningful struggle with the tasks.

Her justification? They'll learn it next year and she's doing the sixth grade teachers a favor.  Besides, the standard algorithm is just faster.

I'm aware it's faster.  Faster yet? Whipping out my phone and using its calculator function.  But what's the point in that?  What do they learn when they're just handed the short cut?

I'm standing my ground on this one. My goal is not to teach math.  Yes, you read that correctly.  My goal is not to teach math.

My goal is to have my students understand math.  I want them to know what they're doing, why they're doing it, what happens to their numbers, and why their problem works out mathematically.

I'm making critical thinkers and problem solvers, not robots.  I'm aware it takes more time, but this mindset also encourages stronger students and that's my ultimate end goal.