Have you ever seen another teacher running Math Workshop and thought…Wow! That’s incredible. But there’s no way in the world I could EVER do that. Where does she find the time? Did she buy all those math games with her own money? Did he work non-stop at home to pull this off?
ME TOO. I’ve seen all those teachers in my school and on Pinterest and Instagram who are rocking the small group math instruction. They have amazing classroom management skills as their students just go through the stations without a problem. They know how to ask the right questions of their students at the right time. Not to mention they have all those pretty bins to store their materials. You’d have to be a super teacher to make Math Workshop work. Trust me. I’ve had those same thoughts!
But here’s the thing.
Math Workshop doesn’t have to take a ton of time.
It doesn’t have to cost a ton of money.
You don’t need to have it all together to start something that will create instant results!
There’s nothing to fear but fear itself, right? That’s why we’re going to talk all about Math Workshop and how to get started. You’ve got this!
What is Math Workshop, Anyway?
Math Workshop is a framework that gives students the opportunity to engage in a small group guided math lesson and practice the concepts in a variety of ways through different learning stations.
You can call your stations whatever you want. There are a variety of fun acronyms out there (some that even spell out MATH) but I use Guided Math, Activity, Technology, and Practice. We steer away from using the term “homework” in my school so practice it is!
In this blog post, I’m breaking down each of the stations so you can see how easy it is to promote critical thinking and get your students working together to build off classmates’ mathematical understanding. All without having to break the bank or spend hours coming up with lesson plans.
1. Guided Math Station
- Present students with a task. This can be a problem from a textbook or whatever curriculum your school uses. You can create or find open-ended questions that give students multiple entry points and strategies. Or, if you feel like you need more structure to get started you can also try out some Guided Math Notes.
- Don’t give answers. Ask questions like, “What is the question asking you?” “What are you doing right now?” “What strategies have you seen used before?”
- Provide them with tools (calculators, manipulatives, whiteboards and whiteboard markers) that will help them solve the problem.
- Ask specific students to share and don’t let other students share for them.
- Give feedback on student’s thinking – emphasize the importance of process over product. It’s not just about getting the correct answer.
2. Activity Station
Breaking news… middle schoolers actually like hands-on activities. This is one of my fave stations to set up because it can really be anything.
- Card games like this one for integers
- Task cards (Looking to spice up your task cards? Check out Teaching in Room 5’s idea for upping the fun factor with Scoot.)
- Group problem solving
- Board games
- Experiments or investigations (measuring the circumference of different circular objects)
- Flashcards to practice operational fluency
3. Technology Station
How you use technology totally depends on what is available in your classroom. If your students are 1-1 for devices that’s easy. Mine aren’t but we’ve got some iPads, laptops and even two desktop computers so there are enough for each student to have their own.
There are tons of websites that lead students through online tutorials and give practice questions. Here are a few that I’ve tried:
- Knowledgehook is my go-to because it aligns with the Ontario Curriculum. There are individual missions and game shows that students can do with their group
- University of Waterloo’s courseware for grade ⅞ students. It includes tutorials and practice problems that are self-checking so students get immediate feedback
- Khan Academy – free tutorials and the kids love it
- Nearpod – you can browse for some free activities. I like that there are matching questions and open-ended tasks as well
- Gimkit and Kahoot – you can find some pre-made quizzes for students to do alone or together as a game show
- Desmos – this is a graphing software that also has a great library of activities that fit with different areas of the curriculum
- Prodigy – a role playing game where students collect gems and battle each other but also gives you some quality assessment data. Check out Tech about Math’s post all about it!
4. Practice Station
Do students really need to practice concepts? Yes. Do you really want to assign a whole bunch of homework? No. This station works well as a review. I would usually have some of my stronger students start here as I have students complete this station independently at their own seats. It’s not productive to have the students who need more support struggle in this station.
Use what you have for this station. Do you have a textbook? Assign problems from there. Do you have a math workbook like Jump Math? Assign questions from there. Do you have a random worksheet? Use it.
If you are not using this station for assessment make sure to include an answer key. Sometimes, I will tell them I’m assessing a certain question and they need to hand it in. Other times, I just want them to practice so they might as well check their own work as they go.
Give Math Workshop a Try!
A math experience your kids will love…and it’s FUN…and it gives you more TIME with each student…and it makes your students more COLLABORATIVE and better MATHEMATICIANS?! Let’s do this! Read all about how to fit Math Workshop into your schedule here.
If you’re still worried about giving up some control over your math program…I can relate. I was nervous too. There is so much power in giving kids FREEDOM to manage themselves. Freedom to share their thinking with a small group of students, and the ability to spend time engaging in rich tasks (even if they aren’t rigorous every single time), it’s a powerful move. But it does require us to give up a little bit of control. (Eeeek. I know.)
Still not convinced if Math Workshop is for you? Download this free mini-math workshop and then check out this post where I share my Top 5 Reasons to use Math Workshop in Middle School.
