Funded Nov 7, 2015I must start by thanking you all for supporting my Help Make Teaching Math Fun! project. I remember getting a phone call from my school secretary informing me that my DonorsChoose packages had arrived. I stopped what I was doing to pick up the packages and quickly unpacked them. I opened each item and explored all its components. Luckily I had a holiday break and was able to spend time planning how I would use each resource during small group instruction and ways to incorporate it when teaching a whole class.
I teach a fifth grade class and decided that after teaching my mini-lesson, I can split the class into small groups and pass out task cards for them to work on together. To protect each task card I placed the in the durable plastic sleeves that I received from DonorsChoose.org, hand out dry erase markers and erasers and the students quietly go to work. I am so impressed by their engagement and group effort to work out the problems together. I am able to walk around the room and conference with each group by asking higher order thinking questions. Once each group has completed the task we rotate the cards among each group.
When teaching Math AIS, I already have a small group. I am able to pull out specific games and activities to meet each student's needs. Sometimes they work independently, other times they work collaboratively. I purposely ordered material for grades 2-5 knowing that I was working with upper grades and that my students would need access to lower grade material prior to working with on grade level.
I currently plan on continuing to incorporate all the resources in my small group sessions. I hope to play the math games with my 3-5 students once they complete the math state exams.
My biggest reward is seeing the smiles on my students faces when meeting with me. I'm glad that I am able to make math fun for them even though it might be a bit of a challenge for them.
Once again, thank you for all your donations!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Silberman