Managing Math

I LOVE teaching Math.  Quite frankly, I love doing math myself.  It is so organized.  I have about 90 minutes to teach Math which includes workshop time.  The way I've structured my time is to give my whole group lessons from 10:10-10:45 each day.  This includes taking notes, watching a video on the concept,using manipulatives whole class or working in our notebooks.  I have a preset schedule that I post in the classroom by student number so it is relatively anonymous.  At 10:45, students go to their group or their independent assignment.  I am lucky enough to have a support teacher come in my room every single day for a 20-25 minute block of time.  She works on either an enrichment activity or a review.  Over the next few weeks, she will be reviewing subtraction and addition to prepare for our next Topic (unit).

I also meet with a group every day.  My group usually has some members that are fluid, but also students that need me every day for support.  We work on a reteaching lesson, math facts or some enrichment pieces and vocabulary.  For the students that are working independently, I use a "flipped" model.  Students work at their own pace to learn the lesson and complete the activities.  I use the mini easel to give the directions.  I love BrainPop because they have so many new features now that I can assign each student a different video and an activity and then track it.   Another one of my favorite websites is StudyJams because it is just Math and Science and it is FREE!  Lastly, I ALWAYS update my focus wall and the students know they can go right to the wall and use it as a resource, along with any manipulatives that they need.