Let's talk about MATH! I love math - it's one of my own favorite subjects and most definitely one of my favorite to teach! This year I've made a huge commitment to CHANGE what I don't think works. As a second year teacher... that still seems overwhelming!
Our district uses Everyday Math - anyone else? At first (a little naively) I really loved EDM... but then I really dug into the curriculum and I realized it's not quite working for me and my 2nd graders. It moves too quickly through the lesson, with not enough guided practice at times. I've begun to add supplemental handouts, reorganizing lessons and even rearranging units. I've created reviews that match each unit test - my kiddos REALLY struggle on testing skills...
I tried to teach Math in Workstations - Math with Mrs. O, Math by Myself, Math on my Slate, Math on the Smartboard and Math with Games. Sounds good, right? Well it didn't work (or maybe I just need to be more prepared and start the year with these workstations). It does seem like these students need more structure than the workstations provide.
It didn't work, SO I changed it! Now I'm teaching math through a different process -
Introduction: I introduce the topic on the Smartboard as a group; Guided Practice: working through the "paper-and-pencil" parts of it with a handout; Independent Practice: students practice on a similar handout, but independently while I circulate; and the last part of it is a Homelink: practicing the skills needed in this lesson.
Here's a sample file that I created - this follows 4.6 for 2nd Grade Everyday Math:
How do you teach math??
Have a wonderful Thursday! :)
*Amanda
Now I am following you so you have 6 followers :) Thought I would show my support as I am new to this too. I teach 6 and 7 year olds in the UK.
ReplyDeleteThanks for following me :) I'd love to hear your ideas, especially regarding math!
ReplyDeleteMy district uses Investigations, it's not perfect, but I enjoy it a lot. I usually begin with a whole group introduction and the partner/independent practice. I do my workstations/centers more during our RTI block, which is right after math.
ReplyDeleteLisa
StoriesFrom Second
My district also uses EDM. I love math, but hate EDM. This past summer my first grade team totally "re-wrote" our math curriculum. EDM barely spends anytime on addition or subtraction strategies. So we added several weeks on that. Plus there was very little on fact families (a hard concept for firsties) or place value (pretty important if you ask me or check the new Core Standards). We hated Frames and Arrows (not really the concept, just how quickly EDM moved). I am loving teaching math this year! I've done math centers many different ways over the past eight years and I've finally found a way that works for me-- math tubs. I've blogged about it, if you're interested in reading.
ReplyDeleteLauren
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