Workshop Wednesday-Setting up a Math Workshop

Happy Wednesday! I'm excited to link up with Ideas by Jivey to share how I have started running a Math Workshop in my classroom this year.

At the end of last year I knew I wanted to change the way I taught math. Most of my math lessons started with whole group and then individual work. I used a lot of task cards and tic-tac-toe boards last year to help me differentiate, but I knew I wanted to give my kids more one-on-one. So this year I started Math Workshop. I've been playing around with it to find what works for my kids and for me. We have 50 min. for math, so I start class with a 10-15 min. mini-lesson. I introduce the topic, create our foldable, or glue in the basics for our day during this time. Then the students rotate every 12 min. to three stations. They normally don't finish what I have at each station-but they have two days at each station.

We started with knowing what Math Workshop looks likes and sounds like. I have the students generate this with me. When they help me create the list I find it is easier for them to "stick with it."

The kids are really enjoying the rotating. I find that with 12 min. at each station the students need to be smart with their time, and that helps them stay focused.

How do you set up your Math Workshop in your room?