Math Coach’s Corner Blog
Do This, Not That: Accountability & Assessment
The first question I am often asked related to Math Workshop is How do I hold the students accountable? I'm going to be brutally honest: holding your students accountable for the work they do in their workstations can make or break the success of a guided math...
Do This, Not That: Aligning to Standards
As students spend increasingly more time engaged in independent math workshop tasks, it's essential that we align those tasks to our content standards and math process standards. This post is the second in a series of three. Check out the first post here, and there is...
Do This, Not That: Structuring Math Workshop
Whether you are just getting started with a workshop approach to math or you have already implemented your own version, I have some tips for structuring math workshop to maximize the benefits. This post is the first in a series of three, so stay tuned for more! This...
Strategy Math Games with a Blank Hundred Chart
Fact: Kids love playing strategy math games, and when you introduce a twist of strategy, you add a problem-solving element to the activity. As kids play a game multiple times, their strategy will evolve. A great way to add accountability to a game that's being played...
Rethinking the Hundred Chart
If you are reading this post, you have probably used a hundred chart or a 120 chart in your classroom. The patterns within the chart help students develop important place value relationships and promote early understandings of multi-digit addition and subtraction....
Would You Rather…
This post contains affiliate links, which simply means that when you use my link and purchase a product, I receive a small commission. There is no additional cost to you, and I only link to books and products that I personally recommend. Last week I wrote about...
Making Math Accessible…for Teachers
I am just back from the NCTM Annual Meeting and Exposition in sunny San Diego, and what a phenomenal experience it was! There was a lot of buzz around equity and making math accessible to all students. I would like to suggest that in order to make that happen,...
Turn Worksheets into Workstations
I understand the allure of worksheets. Really I do. Students need practice with new concepts, and worksheets provide an easy vehicle for that practice. Worksheets are low maintenance. You just run them off, organize them neatly for each day or class period, hand them...
De-emphasizing Speed in Math
I recently spoke to the mother of a 1st grade student who told her mom that she was bad at math because everyone in the class could answer so much more quickly than her. Heartbreaking. Six years old and already feeling that she is a failure at math. It got me thinking...
The Formative 5: Chapter 5, Exit Tasks
"My tickets were trivial--just quick, mostly routine math computation. Now, my tasks focus on problem solving and reasoning." The Formative 5, page 108 This post contains affiliate links, which simply means that when you use my link and purchase a product, I receive a...