CELEBRATE....It's Party Time!!! Math Station Linky Party That Is!

I am so excited to be able to join in on the Debbie Diller Math Station Book Study!

Since I have just been reassigned to second grade, this is the perfect time for me to regroup and reorganize. My problem is right now I can't seem to get up to my classroom to pack. This week I have been using the time to rethink how I want to make a fresh start.  This will help me as I pack because I will better know what I want to keep and what I want to purge.  Some of the things that I have done in the past simply work for me and I will continue to use those things.  Some things I will need to tweak.

1. Materials used by the teacher first, then placed in a station:  I have always done my workplaces that way and it has worked for me so I will definitely continue that.

2.  Materials do not change weekly, but rather are changed to reflect the student learning objectives: I simply have never had the time or organization to change them weekly so I seem to be on track here.

3.  All students go to stations daily:  Unfortunately not. :(  I wish we had that much time, but I definitely will be working towards this goal.  I have already started mapping out a Math schedule that I will try to adhere very closely to as I plan my new second grade classroom.

4.  Materials are differentiated:  Some are, some not so much!  Again, this is an area that I have already started looking at.  How can I make this activity open ended or adapt it to all different levels?  Some activities this is easy to do.  Others take a little more thought, but I am trying to think of ways that this can be done.  

5.  The teacher observes work or meets with differentiated math groups:  I have always tried to move between students as they work on their stations and observe their work.  I can't say that I have been good about working with differentiated math groups.  I have always tended to pull students one at a time to observe their performance on skills as the other students work at stations.  I had a full time para in the room when I taught Kinder who also did the same thing.  Moving to second with no para, I will need to do this in small groups.

My dad built me three of these cabinets years ago to put my workplaces/stations in.  I use dish pans with name tags attached to the front of each tub. I have several different tubs for each objective.

Last year I had two of these wonderful cubbies to keep my math manipulatives in.  I had each tub labeled and an exact label on the shelf (under the tubs) where the tub was to be returned.  My students had NO problems putting manipulatives back.  This year, I will not have these wonderful cubbies so I am still trying to visualize the best options for storage.  I'm thinking maybe one of my dish pan shelves with the labels on the dish pans and on the shelves.  I'm still not sure on this one.

Last year I introduced the FACE of a mathematician board to my class.  As we learned our TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) I would place a strip in the correct category.  I also had a Math Vocabulary chart where we would place our new "Mathematician Language" words. I created a card with the word and a picture to represent the word for each new mathematical term we encountered. I'm not sure I will use the FACE board again, but I will definitely continue the Math Vocabulary board.  Students really used it and their mathematical vocabulary grew in leaps and bounds.

I stored my math mats and single gameboards in the two red file boxes on top of the cubbie. Extra papers and write on sheets were stored in the plastic containers.  I used plastic plates as personal spaces and to move manipulatives for group activities and those were also stored above the cubbies.  All other math materials were stored in the file cabinet next to the cubbies.  I will not have as large a classroom this next year and right now storage is a concern as I think about how I can make this transition.  I want the students to be independent yet stay within my organizational comfort level (if you know what I mean :) ).
I always say that my class is "Organized chaos!"