Guided Math Update

It's time to do a little reflecting on how the guided math has been going in my classroom. According to my observation notes, my view of it as the teacher is that it seems to be going smoothly. The first few weeks were a little rough when we were trying to establish the fluidity in our rotations. Now that the kids are into the routine of it (and I got timers for the parent helpers!) things have been going quite nicely. 

What are specific relationships and patterns emerging in your data analysis and reflection telling you about how the change you made is impacting desired changes you are seeking?
     When it comes to 'official data' I don't have a ton of it yet. I did an initial survey from students about their views towards math and and concerns they had in the middle of September. Last week I had students retake that survey and compared the results. I compared the responses for each student and noted a good number of changes from feelings of frustration/angry to excited. A few students are still struggling with feeling frustrated. I will reach out to them and inquire what specifically is giving them a hard time. The last question was open-ended about what else I need to know about how math is going for them. Some responses are were that it is getting harder (yep! bigger numbers and more problem solving) but others said they loved it or that guided math is "really good". I get the feeling that the majority of students are enjoying the small group interactions. I think a big hurdle when it comes to doing well at math is being okay with not understanding it right away. The small groups allow me to see the confusion right away and be able to address it before it piles up and becomes a big issue.

What are your results telling you about the concepts you are studying, and the relationships among concepts, how the strategies address the problem you are trying to understand?  What strengths and limitations to these ideas did you discover through the implementation?  
  My results are telling me that, at the very least, guided math is shedding a different light on math that kids have not seen before. They are learning to work in groups, that it is okay not to "get it" right away, and that they can be teachers as well. We have gotten through our first unit and are now working on our second. After viewing the pre- and post- unit tests for Unit 1, I did't see the positive swing I was hoping for- the results were kind of scattered on student improvement. I felt a bit deflated because the day-to-day observations were so promising. I had used the assessments from our workbook but realized that those maybe aren't the best measurement. I am now going to create my own based on our learning goals for the unit. I also am looking forward to our Winter NWEA test to look for growth in the area of math. 

How will your learning change your practices of instruction, assessment, environment, and understanding of content knowledge in your discipline (I.D.E.A.)?
I am going to keep fine-tuning the ways I am doing guided math. It is certainly a learning experience! I need to embed more learning 'checkpoints' throughout the unit instead of waiting for the end. I am differentiating for the different groups but could probably use more extensions and challenges for the kids that are ready for above and beyond skills.

What implications for future practice are you drawing from the results of your inquiry, including how results are leading to new questions and future directions for research? (This may be the springboard to your next area of inquiry.)
I just don't know if I would ever go back to whole group math (on a regular basis) after this experience. I am able to connect with students so much better in our small groups. I feel like I have a better idea of their strengths and weaknesses than I ever did during whole class lessons. This change in my 'math thinking' also gets me interested in the idea of a flipped classroom for math. A few friends have tried it and are seeing good results but I am pretty intimidated with it for right now. I'd like to get really comfortable with guided math and see solid results before I take any other drastic steps with my math instruction.

"Shackleton Strength"

I had mentioned earlier that I am working on a new leadership goal. My goal is to help students recognize and use their strengths in order to enhance the learning in our classroom. This past week we started to talk about what gifts and talents we all possess. It was fun to listen to kids share things that I had no idea they did. I think I was a little optimistic with aligning strengths to content standards so I might rehash that side of my goal. Instead I am going to focus on kids using a particular strength to teach a How-To lesson to the class. As we were talking a lot of students shared that they are good at a variety of different things. Next week I will have students come up with their How-To idea and then spend some time in class and some time at home to develop a mini lesson (5-10 minutes) where they can share their expertise. It could be how to draw something, how to shoot a hockey puck, build something with Legos, etc. I will come up with an example based on a strength that I feel I possess to serve as an example for students. This will extend my 30-day challenge but I am hopeful that the results will be worth it.

Leadership Interview

     When deciding who I would interview about leadership, the first person that came to my mind was my colleague, Robin. She taught 1st grade at my school for the past 26 years and had the opportunity to move up to the "big leagues" of 5th grade this year. Robin is one of the most passionate people that I know. Specifically at school, she works very hard in her classroom to make changes that will affect her student in a positive way. She also is a strong voice on our staff who isn't afraid to ask the hard questions and remind people of the bigger picture.
     During our conversation, I was surprised that Robin was -the- person who brought Guided Reading to our school many years ago. She had gone to a conference about it, talked with our Reading Specialist, and came up with a plan to implement it in our school. She also shared that this was one of her greatest accomplishments as an educational leader. I agree!!

     I was able to connect with one of Robin's thoughts about something that a lot of teachers do but really should not. We talked at length about how quickly kids can get a label from teachers and that label follows them all the way through their school. So quickly they become either a "yuck" or "peach". That lack of respect given to students certainly impacts their motivation to do well in school. They know when they have that automatic target on their backs and can't seem to shake it. How can we expect students to be respectful of adults when those same adults are being so disrespectful when referring to these kids? Teachers talk about starting fresh each and every day but we both agreed that many teachers fail to follow through with their intentions.
     A quote that stuck with me was, "Leadership means being able to see a vision in its entirety. Good leaders surround themselves with people who they can trust to be honest to them, despite how good or bad the conversation needs to be."

Leadership Goal

As we embark on the last six months of our M.Ed program, leadership is becoming a main focus. We have been growing so much during this program that we are now more engaged and prepared to take on a leadership role in our school communities.

My goal is to use my leadership to focus on the others' strengths to guide the group. I want to lead my class to become more independent and cognizant of their own strengths. My students have many gifts and talents that often go unused during the course of our days/weeks/months. I want to offer students a chance to share these things with our classmates, especially if we have any 'experts' about a particular topic. I have heard many times that in order to master a concept, one needs to be able to teach the content. Over the next few weeks we will explore our gifts and try to tie them in to what we are doing in our classroom curriculum. If they have a hard time deciding on something, I will suggest ideas that I have after getting to know them over the past few months. They will be able to become experts about something new. Students will be asked to explore the leadership role when we come to their area of expertise. This goal is very much in the planning stage but I hope to explore gifts next week and try to align student strengths with content over Thanksgiving Break.

Collaborating with Colleagues

This week I am reflecting on the professional relationships I have developed over the past four years at my school. I had a unique first year because I taught K-7 Spanish and traveled to each classroom. For that reason, I never truly had my own space; I learned to share and 'co-habitate' with every single classroom teacher at my school. That opportunity (and sometimes challenge) allowed me to develop many more relationships than I would have had by just being in my own classroom. I didn't get drawn into the cliques as much as others because everyone had to get used to me... they couldn't get away from me :)

I feel comfortable to approach teachers at any levels to inquire about best practices. I see them doing great things in their classrooms I am able to start a conversation about how to do something similar with my students. Other teachers have also approached me to start the same conversation about things I am doing in my classroom. Making those connections are so great for both teachers and students. I feel like we are pushing each other more this year as a staff than we have in years past. I hope we can continue on this path because students are certainly reaping the benefits of our collaborations between grade levels.