Week One Questions

This is going to be a very simple blog ... no bells ... no whistles.  Just my answers to the weekly questions.  Hopefully, I can keep this one up!  Here we go....

How do you (or will you) differentiate your math stations?
I try to keep in mind the needs of all of my learners when preparing my stations.  Sometimes this means preparing and providing different levels of activities or games.  I may give a choice of numbers to use, as in story problems, or I may simply provide a variety of materials to use.  I have recently started creating the I CAN posters with my students so that there is a choice of activities to do at a station.  For example, we have just started 3D geometry.  In our first lesson, the students and I created an I CAN poster with the following choices:  I CAN ... sort the solids ... describe the solids ... label the solids ... find examples of the solids in the book. 

How and where do you keep your math stations?
 The workshops bins are plastic shoe boxes, labeled 1 to 14.  I have 27 students in my room, so there is a bin for each set of partners.  I am easily able to fit the manipulatives inside the bins, but the recording sheets and books don't always fit so great.  To get around that, I sometimes just place these items on top of the bin.  This works for me, and it doesn't take up a lot of space. 

How do you keep your math materials organized?
This has been a struggle all year, but I think I have finally found the solution that works for me.  In the past, I have been the keeper of the materials.  They were stored behind closed doors or way up high on shelves.  I only brought down what was needed ... and even worse ... I handed them out, cleaned them up, and put them away.  YIKES!  But, I guess we have all been there!   This year, I have worked my way through numerous systems, but finally found one that works for me.  I keep all my manipulatives in labeled bins with colored pictures and word.  Although, these are manipulatives that we are not using at the moment, they are easily accessible if needed and convienent when putting new workshops together.  On top of the shelving unit that holds these bins, I keep the Math Toolkits.  The Math Toolkits have a variety of manipulatives that we use on a daily basis during our Classroom routines.  There are a variety of counting materials, wipe off boards (plastic plates) and markers, hundreds charts and  number lines.