Thank you SOOOOOOOOO much for attending the Everything's Intermediate Virtual Teaching Expo!! I am SO honored that you stopped by to listen to me ramble. :) I really hope that you learned something new and are able to take some ideas back to your classroom and implement them. I have a few questions for you now--I hope you stick around to respond! :)
1. What do you think math instruction should look like?
2. How do you feel about what you heard today?
3. Did you learn anything new?
Please feel free to write below with any questions or comments you may have! I am happy to respond! Thanks again!!!!! :)
Janaye, THANK YOU for all your words of wisdom! I learned several new math activities and methods to try with my own kiddos. Most importantly, you gave me reminders of the importance of making math hands-on. Your presentation embraced and encouraged a natural style of teaching, which I LOVE! Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteThank you SO much, Tamara!! I appreciate hearing that from you! :)
DeleteI am headed to the store to get the materials to make my angle stix!
ReplyDeleteGood to hear--I really love those!! The kids enjoy using them!
DeleteI loved your interactive bulletin boards. You had so many great ideas. I am still in grad school so your lesson was amazingly helpful to me as I have yet to get to my math course but teach math all the time as a sub. I am so tired of seeing worksheets! Even when I observe or std teach it is all about the worksheet. Stds are not engaged. I believe your method is right. we need to stop focusing on the test and focus on true learning and the only way to do that is by getting our hands dirty and diving in.
ReplyDeleteMisty
Think, Wonder, & Teach
Thanks for you feedback, Misty! I so wish that more teachers embraced more "creative" teaching methods so that worksheets aren't the primary method of teaching math. It is SO much more than that!
DeleteThanks for watching! :)
Thanks so much for your presentation Janaye. I teach Grade 7 and you've given me lots of idea to try for next year. You've made me think twice about some of the "commercial" posters that I have in my room for Math and LA. I'd like to do more with Anchor charts. However, I teach two different groups. There is very little available wall space in the other classroom, especially. What would you suggest for that issue? Also, it is another teacher's homeroom space, and I don't want to steal her wall space - if you know what I mean. Also, do you keep your anchors from year to year, or is part of the "experience" that the students help to develop the anchor and therefore buy into it more. Rather than, "Here's a chart for you to look at and copy into your notes". Thanks again for your wonderful presentation!
ReplyDeleteKrystal
Hi, Krystal! Thanks for your feedback!! I absolutely LOVE hearing from older grade teachers--I want to make sure that the way I am teaching will benefit my kids in the future, so it is reassuring to hear your thoughts.
DeleteOne thing that I do that I did not mention in the video came from an idea from another blogger--I take pictures of all of my anchor charts and put them into a photo album. The album is kept on a bookshelf, available for students to access whenever they need to. This may be a solution to your wall space dilemma. You may even want to have multiple albums so that more students can access them at once.
Also, yes--as part of the "experience" students create new anchor charts from year to year. I keep the photos though so I can reference them when helping my students make new anchor charts, but I don't show them to my students.
I hope that helps--thanks for stopping by! :)
Janaye,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your beautiful presentation. I am so glad that you walked us through your equivalent fractions lesson - I LOVED IT!!!!
You have given me a lot to think about. I have been looking for ideas to help me retool my lessons to better prepare for Common Core. I have found what I was searching for, thank you.
Sheila
Hello Shiela,
DeleteI so appreciate your feedback and I am glad that you were able to take something away from the presentation!
I really enjoyed your presentation! We recently started using depth and complexity for planning our lessons and the 5e Model will work really well with our current model.
ReplyDeleteTeaching 5th grade also has me at a loss for bulletin board ideas. I really liked your interactive bulletin board ideas.
I agree with you so much on having the hands on in math instruction. I plan to do more of that next year. Sadly, sometimes we tend to forget that the older students do learn so much using the manipulatives. They are not just for the younger grades.
I learned so much today. Thank you for sharing your wisdom. I am excited about planning this summer for next year!!!
One question--how long are your math classes? I am self contained, so I teach all the subjects and I usually allot 45 mins for math.
Some do think that the older kiddos don't need to use manipulatives, but it's just as important for them as it is for the younger ones. Sometimes it makes all the difference in learning the concepts!
DeleteMy math classes are 100 minutes long--I would DIE if I only had 45 minutes! My kids come in so behind that we need every extra second that we can get it! I know classrooms can be very different so 45 minutes may be just enough time for your kids.
Thanks for stopping by! :)
Wow! You nailed this! Super job Janaye! I feel empowered, encouraged and I also feel prodded. Let em explain... You empowered me to remember that doing the right thing always wins out - focusing on the most crucial pieces and letting them come to their own understanding (and not focusing on the test). Encouraged because I am using a guided math model to reach the needs of all my students and what you mention is what I am reaching to do daily. And yes, I did feel a slight prodding of self-acknowledgment of where I can make improvements and allow for time (and coming up with questions in the moment to help them) for students to come to their own conclusions before giving them the vocabulary and such. (That hit right about where you talked about the equals sign) So, for me, I am thankful of your time and efforts and will need to watch it again!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Leslie!!! I think the Guided Math model is absolutely wonderful and is definitely worth looking into for those who have never heard of it. Sorry that you feel prodded (lol) but glad that you are able to take something away from the presentation! I really appreciate all that you said!!!!
DeleteJanaye, Thanks for an awesome presentation! You have inspired me to use more manipulatives. With the rigor of the new STAAR test I am planning on going through our entire curriculum this summer and revamping lessons. How long are the videos at the everythingsintermediate expo available to us?
ReplyDelete~Lorraine
Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies
Thanks for stopping by, my Froggie friend! STAAR is definitely one of the reasons (though NOT the only reason) that we need to work on building a solid mathematical foundation in our students. There's now way they will be able to perform to the level they are expected to without it!
DeleteAnd to answer your question--from what I understand, the videos will be there indefinitely, so you can view them whenever you choose.
Thanks, Lorraine!
Janaye, thank you! You reminded me that I need to make my students aware of the thinking behind math instead of just the procedure. Thank you for reminding us to not rush our students' math learning. I love how your students are involoved in their learning. I especially love your math discussion days. It is so important for a teacher to be a facilitator and not in charge all the time. May I ask what math curriculum you use? Also, do you post your Promethean flipcharts somewhere? I love the 5E model and want to build my math instruction around it. I'm excited to start math notebooking next year, and your blog has been a valuable tool into organizing that instruction. I am going to include the vocabulary cards in their notebooks, too. I would love to visit your classroom one day and watch you and your students in action!
ReplyDeleteCara
Teaching...My Calling
Thanks, Cara!! I appreciate you stopping by! My district has adopted a curriculum called CSCOPE (I think it's a Texas thing? Idk). CSCOPE uses the 5E model for all it's lessons--I love it! I have yet to post any of my flipcharts, mostly because they all include some components of CSCOPE and I don't want to get in trouble there!
DeleteWouldn't it be awesome if all of us in blog land were able to visit each other's classrooms?!? That'd be a dream come true :)
Thanks so much for your presentation. I teach 18 low 4th graders. We have an hour for math, but there are so many holes in their learning it's hard to catch them up. I love all the ideas you presented, especially the 5E model. I try to use manipulatives whenever possible in my lessons and agree that helps them. I just finished a measurement unit and the kids weren't getting inches, halves, quarters. I made a giant ruler (18 feet), put the missing numbers on sticky notes, and they had 5 that they had to place. It was great. One of my lowest students caught on! :) I'm so glad that there are all these resources out there to help us now. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteWow, one hour?? Not enough time! Glad to hear about your successes. Sounds like a great activity--I'm keeping that idea in mind for my measurement unit! Thanks for viewing my presentation!!
DeleteI loved your presentation! I am totally going to use the real life number collection next year, as well as try to think differently about my classroom displays. Thanks for all your great tips.
ReplyDeleteHeidi Raki of Raki's Rad Resources
Thanks, Heidi! I appreciate your feedback! :)
DeleteI didn't get to watch your presentation until today :-( but WOW! what a great session! Your 5E plan looks very similar to the 'Learning Focused Schools' model my district uses, although I must admit, I like the terminology of your plan better - it's much easier to remember and understand. I always take away such great ideas and information from your website. Thank you so much for sharing. I teach 5th and 6th grade math and LA for students receiving Tier 2/3 supports, so there are LOTS of gaps. While our math class is about 80 minutes, I need to teach both grade level curriculums during that time. I try to find areas of commonality - either based on the level of the students, or the curriculum to sometimes ease the stress. The kids love getting to work with the other grade level, and I've found math stations to be a good way to get the kids exploring and talking about their ideas and the concepts. Thanks again for all your great ideas.
ReplyDeleteSarah
Thank you SO much, Sarah!!! I appreciate your feedback. And it sounds like math stations are a great idea for your situation!
DeleteYou are my inspiration! I've been teaching kinder and was moved to 5th grade math this year. I had 1 week to switch gears and mask my panic. Can you imagine my fear when I was thinking that I had to count higher than 30? I'm doing the same schedule as you, 3 blocks of math. This year I was getting use to the 5th grade standards and the new (to me) math program. You opened my eyes to the possibilities of more engaging activities to do use next year. I have to admit that I'm not a math person so this year was very challenging. You've help calm my nerves and give me some guidance to ideas to incorporate. I'm actually looking forward to the summer so that I can start planning for next year. I've been told that the up coming grade is a challenge. There are 2 students with 1:1 behavior specialists and a handful of challenging squirrels. How does this model work with students that have academic or behavioral challenges?
ReplyDeleteYou are very sweet--thank you!! I can't believe that you went from K to 5th math--YIKES!!! In my grade level, there are more challenging squirrels (and piranhas) than regular, sweet students. :/ HOWEVER, I can honestly say that for the most part, they all REALLY enjoy math class and behavior problems do not occur as often as they could. This is mainly due to the fact that they just love the activities, especially since my kids are not used to the way I teach. It was a big adjustment for them at first. EXAMPLE: In the video, I suggested that you allow your kids to play with the manipulatives before using them as a learning tool--this is SO important for my type of kids because, in their previous math classes, manipulatives were only used on "special" days for a very short period of structured time. So when I started busting out manipulatives left and right the kids didn't know how to handle it--it was like they were finally getting to taste the forbidden fruit. It took a few weeks for them to calm down and realize that this is how math class would be ALL the time. Also, because of their personalities, group work and station time can sometimes be a challenge--my kids have issues working nicely with each other. We do group activities every day so I try to keep them in very small groups (or just pairs) and only for short little spurts so there is not enough time to argue and bicker.
DeleteAcademic problems?? This is the biggest struggle for me. My kids are products of "sit and get" math teaching so they have very weak math foundations. They are all academically challenged. When I challenge them with new ways of thinking and learning they typically will resist. I never give up or give in--I scaffold them to death! Though this is hard on me, they eventually get it (or get close to getting it) and celebrate that. They feel more empowered to press on and learn.
Hope that answers your question--thanks for stopping by!
Thank you for your honesty. Many times when teachers write about their classes it is always sugar coated. Thanks for being "one of us" that do not have the ideal classroom full of angels. I'm glad to hear that it can take a "few weeks" of learning that manipulatives are part of the class routine. I also love the idea that your group/pair work is for short periods of time to prevent mishap. This was my biggest fear that keep me from doing group work. Many of the students couldn't play nice with one another. Duh, just shorten the amount of time so that they are successful and get along! Now I definitely am looking forward to next year with less fear. Thanks again for sharing!!!!
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