Math groups sound like a fantastic idea, and something I would love to try. However, we have the EveryDay Math program for kindergarten and 26 students with no assistance. It just seems overwhelming to try and teach in groups - it's difficult enough to manage the whole class. However, thanks for your ideas, and something I would like to look into for next school year. Does your school have an adopted program for math? Do you think this is possible to do with 26 students? Thanks Megan!
Teaching with 26 children and no help is difficult. My district is looking to go to 30 next year without help because of the budget. It is very sad to hear because it limits our time with our kids. Our district used to use Everyday Math up until last year when we adopted another program. At the kindergarten level we do not use it as much because it is not very good.
I actually started out doing my math groups using Everyday Math. I think having more students will make teaching math in groups even more a necessity for me. Once you take the lesson/ skill and teach it to different levels it makes the teaching less overwhelming. Since the students are in ability groups they usually catch onto the skill at the same pace making you less crazy about running around helping those that don't get it and trying to give fast finishers more work to keep them busy.
Another thought that you can try out this year to give you an idea of how to structure your math for next year is to have your whole class lesson like you are doing now 2 or 3 days a week and try the other days in a group setting. You can just do those days as skill days that you notice your students need work on.
I hope this gives you a few ideas. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Smiles,
Megan
Math groups sound like a fantastic idea, and something I would love to try. However, we have the EveryDay Math program for kindergarten and 26 students with no assistance. It just seems overwhelming to try and teach in groups - it's difficult enough to manage the whole class. However, thanks for your ideas, and something I would like to look into for next school year. Does your school have an adopted program for math? Do you think this is possible to do with 26 students? Thanks Megan!
Teaching with 26 children and no help is difficult. My district is looking to go to 30 next year without help because of the budget. It is very sad to hear because it limits our time with our kids. Our district used to use Everyday Math up until last year when we adopted another program. At the kindergarten level we do not use it as much because it is not very good.
I actually started out doing my math groups using Everyday Math. I think having more students will make teaching math in groups even more a necessity for me. Once you take the lesson/ skill and teach it to different levels it makes the teaching less overwhelming. Since the students are in ability groups they usually catch onto the skill at the same pace making you less crazy about running around helping those that don't get it and trying to give fast finishers more work to keep them busy.
Another thought that you can try out this year to give you an idea of how to structure your math for next year is to have your whole class lesson like you are doing now 2 or 3 days a week and try the other days in a group setting. You can just do those days as skill days that you notice your students need work on.
I hope this gives you a few ideas. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Smiles,
Megan