The Happy Learning Den

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Do You Play Math Games?

I hear it all the time from my colleagues… Why are your students playing games? I am here to tell you that having math games as part of your math centers, or if you don’t do centers, a part of your daily routine is a vital component to your students’ learning.

Games allow students the opportunity to deepen their mathematical understanding and reasoning. Students will begin to notice patterns, relationships, and strategies.

1) By playing games students find different strategies for solving problems and deepen their understanding of numbers.

2) When played repeatedly, games support students’ development of computational fluency.

3) Games allow opportunities for practice, without the need for teachers to provide the problems. You can then observe and work with individuals or small groups of students.

Engage Your Students!

An engaging way to introduce a game to the class is for the you to play the game against the class. Or if the game doesn’t allow for whole class participation, make the time to play with a group a students while the rest is watching. After 10 minutes, have each student who was playing select a student who was watching to take their place.

Remember to always vary or modify the game to meet the needs of your learners.

Hold Your Students Accountable

After playing a game, have students reflect by having them write about in a mathematics notebook or journal. I typically post one of the following questions each week by the game center, and in order to be allowed to continue playing the following week, they need to answer the question in COMPLETE SENTENCES.

1) What skill did you review and practice?

2) Which strategies did you use while playing the game?

3) If you were to play the game a second time, what different strategies would you use to be more successful?

4) How could you change the game to make it more challenging?

What do you think? Do you allow your students to play math games in the classroom? What suggestions do you have to help fellow teachers? Please leave your ideas in the comment section below. I look forward to reading your ideas.

-Sandra@ The Happy Learning Den

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Feeling Overwhelmed?

As you get ready to head back to the classroom, it's easy to get overwhelmed with all of the back to school insanity. If you are anything like me, you have been to several teacher stores, browsed Pinterest and TPT, and now the time is here. How many days until you officially report back to school? I go back this week!

Here are some tips to help you organize and plan your time before school starts.

1) Get Ideas

You can learn from your peers by observing the way they organize, plan & decorate their classrooms. Go in with an open mind and heart. Don’t feel that you should copy what they are doing, but be sure to look and listen. Let the teacher you are visiting do most of the talking. You may walk away with a new or different idea that may end up saving time and energy. I have been teaching for over 20 years now (eek!), and I learn daily from my co-workers.

2) Map Out a Classroom Layout

Draw a map of your classroom. Think about how the layout can help simplify your daily routine. Is the calendar, rug, library, visuals in the most convenient locations? Will you teach reading and math in different locations? Will you have a reading word wall? What about a math word wall? Think about how many bulletin boards are located in your classroom.Think about how your students’ desks are placed. Would you prefer to have the desks facing you or would you like to have the desks in small groups? Moving classroom furniture around is hard work, so recruit help if needed… if you don’t have any friends or family who can help, then offer to help a colleague move their furniture in exchange for helping you with yours. The saying, “Teamwork makes the Dreamwork” is true!

3) Student Jobs

Think about the jobs you want the students to have and post the jobs on your classroom job board before the first day of school. Be sure to assign the jobs on the first day, so the classroom stays organized and clean. About 30 minutes before dismissal, be sure the students complete the jobs and then meet to discuss and make adjustments, if needed.

4) Prepare for Emergencies: Substitute Teacher Plans

It’s very important to keep a folder on your desk filled with emergency substitute teacher plans. Keep the folder in a visible location, so if an emergency occurs you can rest knowing you were prepared ahead of time. Make sure you let your colleagues and your students know where this folder is located too. I also keep a bin of worksheets (Scholastic News, Reteach math- skills covered and not covered yet, Enrichment worksheets of previously taught skills) behind my desk in case a substitute doesn’t show up. This way, if my class needs to be split up, they have meaningful and engaging work to do.

I hope these ideas help you. Have a wonderful school year,

-Sandra@The Happy Learning Den

PS What are your organization tips for back to school? Share in the comments section!

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Testing Season

These students are calm and ready to take today's state test.
Photo by Naassom Azevedo on Unsplash

Dear teacher friends,

Here we go again! Another season of state assessments is upon us. Every year, the weight of the assessments creates pressure for administrators, teachers, parents, and unfortunately the students. I’m sure you are feeling anxious, but you do not want your students to feel the same way.

“Test Prep” are the two 4-letter words that cause fear and loathing in the heart’s of teachers everywhere. I have heard teachers complain about how test prep takes away from teaching time, and causes extra stress to students. It doesn’t have to be that way!

Keep your test prep fun, sweet, and simple! Whether you have a few days, a week or a little more time to dedicate to reviewing skills taught all year make it a time filled with games, practice, and prizes in your classroom. For instance, dig out the task cards that you have used all year. Place them around the room for a game of review Scoot. One way that I have done this in the past for a math review: Cards 1-5 Order of Operations, Cards 6-10 Adding and Subtracting Fractions, Cards 11-15 Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying, Dividing Decimals, Cards 16-20… You get the idea. You want to have enough cards around the room so that each student starts with one. You can have more if you have time, but make sure that you review the answers with your students when the game is over. If you don’t have time to review during the same class period, try to review the answers the following day.

(If you have never played Scoot before, you don’t know what you are missing! My 5th graders beg to play at least once a week. I wrote about how to play in a previous blog post. Check it out here to learn more.)

Keep in mind that realistically, you will not be able to review all of the skills. It is imperative that you choose standards that your students still struggle with, standards taught at the beginning of the year, and standards that you know your students can excel at if they are just reminded of the skill. Good luck!

Once testing day(s) arrives, it is important for your students to know that you aren’t worried. And if you are nervous? Fake it until you make it! Remember, the test-taking attitudes your students form now may impact their test-taking behaviors for the rest of their education. After all, standardized tests don’t go away as you go up through the grades. If anything, you are creating the foundation for your students to take the SAT in high school. Keep in mind that a lot of your students’ attitudes will be shaped by the feelings you project.

This is the time for you to emphasize that testing is a chance for your students to show off and show what they know. Each morning students are testing, I give testing treats. This is just a little something I give to ease the stress.

🍭Dum Dum lollipops: Because they are not dumb-dumbs!
👓Nerds: So they can be a nerd and read every word!

😋Blow Pops: So they can blow the test away!

Providing your students with motivation before and during testing is the best way to keep your students engaged during the entire testing process. If you have any additional motivational ideas for keeping students focused, engaged, and prepared to do their very best leave them in the comments section.

Keep calm and stress-free testing,

Sandra

@The Happy Learning Den