Teach The Math: A Visit from Mrs. Hodge

Sunday, August 12, 2012

A Visit from Mrs. Hodge

Hi y'all! I'm Elizabeth from Mrs. Hodge and Her Kindergarten Kids! I would like to take a moment to thank Penny for allowing me to guest post on her blog today! This is so exciting!!!

I get excited when I talk about math, but this hasn't always been the case! Believe it or not, I was horrible in math when I was younger. I've made a vow to myself to never let a child "just skate through" like I did! I try hard to really relate math to my each of my students. I believe that if they can see how it is used in their everyday life, they are more likely to be engaged in the lessons during class.

Looking forward to school starting soon, I have decided to try something new this year! I'm going to implement math stations into my schedule. This summer I read the book, Math Work Stations by Debbie Diller, and I'm ready to dive in!

I already do The Daily 5 in my classroom so I feel like adding math stations into my classroom would be a perfect fit! What I love most about this system is that my teammates and I will no longer need to switch classes to level out for math---instead, the work stations have you differentiate for all of your students so you can keep your own students and still meet the needs of each learner! Not to mention, the teacher gets to meet with small groups daily! You can really tailor your small group session to the needs of those few students.

I also love this concept because it allows each student to really focus on each skill at their level. We've all had those students who are really strong at one concept, like patterning, but weak at another, like money. By having one station that focuses on one skill but it is differentiated on 3 levels, really allows each child to work at their own level every time. No child is forced to stay on the same level for all of the station boxes.

I've organized my manipulatives and I feel a lot better by knowing exactly what I have available to me. (Knowing what you have to work with is half the battle!) I was able to throw out old clutter, purge doubles of things and label stuff to keep. I have also stocked up on my actual math station boxes. I have chosen to go with these scrapbook storage boxes, which can be found at Michael's and Hobby Lobby--and they are usually ALWAYS on sale so you can get them for as low as $4.99!

I also have settled on my rotation chart looking something like this! I will probably put the names of the kids on Velcro so I can move them easily when need.

(Click here to go to the original source for the chart)

Now, I need to get busy finishing the activities that I'm going to put inside!

If you missed the great book study done on this book last summer, click here to go to Mrs. Wills Kindergarten original post. I learned so much after I followed each blogger's journey, chapter by chapter, through the book!

If you haven't yet, I'd love for you to hop on over to my blog and become a follower! That way you can keep up with my kids and their progress this year! I am confident that math work stations will be a huge success in my room! Do you use Math Stations in your room? How does it work for you?

Huge hugs to Penny again for allowing me to crash her blog for the day!