Practice Makes... Better!

This week I decided to take one more week to prep my students before we start our "true" guided math next week. I am still working on a parent volunteer schedule since I won't have any paraprofessional time in the afternoons. I am struggling a bit with our time slot that is being designated for guided math. The only chunk in our schedule large enough is at the end of the day. The majority of my class has been doing okay with our schedule but a few are having a very hard time with staying hard at work during our long afternoons; this becomes a challenge for everyone else in the room as well. I am hopeful that once this becomes our new "normal" everyone will get settled in and be able to work to their potential.

Another blog, Serenade to Second Grade, shared some great ideas for partner games that my students can use. I was able to print these descriptions out, organize the dice/cards/etc, and separate into Ziploc baggies. These games are very useful for our first unit on number sense. I can also make adjustments to move the games to the next level for students who are ready for more challenges. I love the flexibility these games allow and how excited my students were to begin playing them!

Getting Started

For my Action Research project, I have decided to implement guided math in my second grade classroom. There are 22 students in my class and using a small-group approach to instruction (rather than whole-group) will allow me to better address the wide spread of math learning levels.

I gave my students a survey and will give it twice more this year. Students circled all responses that were true. I will graph my data and look for more positive responses as the year continues. The survey looked like this:
     When I think about math I feel... excited   nervous  angry   frustrated
     I think math is... easy   okay   hard   very hard
     I practice my math facts... everyday   3-4 times per week   1-2 times per week   never
     I practice my math facts with... flash cards  apps/computer  worksheets  nothing
    What else does Ms. Werle need to know about you and math?

Today we did our first "practice run" with our four rotations. I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly it went! The transitions took some extra time but everyone worked so well at their stations. If this is any indicator of how this will play our during our "real" times, it is looking to be a great fit for my students!