Thanks for participating in another book study! I KNOW you enjoyed Math Sense: The Look, Sound, and Feel of Effective Math Instruction, by Christine Moynihan. Did you miss it? You can read the whole book study with these links to previous chapters.
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Here’s the reading schedule (use the links to visit any of the posts):
- Aug 19, Chapters 1 & 2
- Aug 26, Chapter 3
- Sept 2, Chapter 4
- Sept 9, Chapter 5
- Sept 16, Chapter 6
- Sept 23, Chapter 7
Chapter 7, Putting It Together
First, I just have to say–sound off and give this book some love! I want some mad comments. Thank you to Christine Moynihan for writing such an energizing and inspirational book and for participating in our book study.
Chapters 1 through 6 painted a picture of what effective math instruction should look like, and Chapter 7 gives us a road-map for transforming our classrooms. Moynihan reminds us that any journey starts with the first step. This chapter contains teacher self-assessment checklists for each of the components outlined in the book, giving us a chance to revisit each of the components and reflect on the current state of our classroom. I really like the suggestion for how to fill in the Comments column–do you (1) have some good resources but need to review them; (2) don’t know enough about how to do this; or (3) should think about asking [trusted colleague] to observe you. What a great way to develop an action plan.
The chapter ends with Next Steps. I highlighted two comments here. First, the suggestion to select a few components at a time to focus on. Often, we become overwhelmed by change because we try to change too much at once. Give yourself permission to implement change gradually. Second, was this comment regarding seeking support: “these specialists can observe and coach you (not evaluate) and then can help you sharpen your focus and goals with constructive feedback.” Thankfully, coaching positions are becoming more common, but it’s been my experience that teachers don’t always feel comfortable welcoming coaches into their rooms. I think that’s partly because, traditionally, the only people coming into classrooms are administrators who are there to evaluate. The coach’s role is NOT one of evaluation. If you have a coach on your campus, welcome him/her into your classroom! In other words, hug a coach today. Ha ha.
Thanks again for participating in this book study! I hope you’ll leave a comment about your experience with the book. 🙂
Great check lists. I especially like “The Look of the Lesson Self-Assessment: Students.” I’m wondering about “The Look of the Landscape Self Assessment” for teachers who provide intervention. These teachers often work in very small spaces and are also providing literacy intervention. How have people made sure that students have access to the tools they need in small spaces with little storage?
Thanks for the study, Donna. It kept me on pace with reading the book.
Small spaces are definitely a challenge, Dawn! It might help to keep in mind that the checklists were developed for a classroom setting and they are merely general guidelines. I’d say you would try to incorporate as many of the components as you can, but it might not be feasible to have them all in an intervention setting. For example, you might not have “multiple instructional settings” if you are typically worked with only a handful of students, but you could probably find a creative way to have a “math word wall”.
Ok so after the last chapter I have a question, with the 100’s chart, should it be one that is already created (the ones you buy that are the posters) or can you build it as you go? I have a pocket 100’s chart and we are using that to keep track of our days in school.
Today we went outside to create our vocabulary cards for this next topic, position and location. I wasn’t exactly sure how to have the students create them so we took pictures on the playground to represent the vocab words.
After looking at the self assessments, I have decided to use this as pre-test for myself. This year for my project I am focusing on Math. Last year at the end of the year my principal told us as a kindergarten our students hadn’t made the necessary growth (yikes). Well after receiving this news, I decided that I needed to do something about this, (come to find out he had just calculated wrong and all was ok) which is why I decided to participate in this book study. I feel like I have a new outlook on Math and a new confidence in teaching Math this year. Of all of the book studies I have done this one has by far been one of the most helpful. Thank you so much for Donna for leading this, I hope there will be another one very soon!
I think I originally saw the ten frames “number of the day” on Pinterest. Love it! Interesting about the base ten blocks. Van de Walle actually suggests using “groupable” objects (like bundled sticks or linking cubes) to explore tens and ones initially. Base ten blocks are quite abstract because the kiddos can’t actually compose and decompose the tens. We use groupable objects up until 2nd grade, which is when we introduce the base ten blocks.
Donna that is a great idea, the one about using the tens frames, I never thought about that!
I was mortified when he told me at the end of the year that we hadn’t met the needed growth. But in someways it was a happy mistake because now I am using that to work on making my math instruction stronger. As I told my principal, we have been focusing so much on reading that I don’t want math to suffer and get to the point he thought we were at, at the end of the year. I have also changed from using straws or sticks in the ones, tens and hundreds pocket chart, to using base ten blocks.
First, I think you can have both types of hundred charts in your room. I like the interactive nature of the pocket chart, and I want to be able to use it for a variety of activities, so I would probably keep track of days in school using a different tool. One way I LOVE keeping track of the days in school is with ten-frames. That’s how my 1st grade teachers are doing it. It really helps build that concept of tens and ones. Each day, they add a dot to a ten frame and talk about the tens and ones. It also opens the activity up to higher level questioning. On day 18, for instance, the teacher can ask “How many more until day 20 or day 50 (or 100)?”.
I think using the self assessments as pre-tests is an excellent idea! You can revisit them throughout the year to see the progress you’ve made. So sorry to hear about your principal’s goof! That must have been heartbreaking.
I am so happy to hear that the book gave you so many new ideas! I totally agree that it was an awesome book to spend time on and really absorb!