Math Workshop Model
"PROMOTE MATHEMATICAL THINKING, DISCOURSE, AND A POSITIVE DISPOSITION TOWARD MATHEMATICS"
WHAT MATH WORKSHOP IS
Students doing most of the math
Teachers act as facilitators - asking good questions
Students struggling with challenging mathematics and learning from errors
Students working collaboratively and learning from one another
Students talking about their mathematical reasoning
Teacher working with small groups
Focused on conceptual understanding
Student Choice
WHAT MATH WORKSHOP IS NOT
Teacher does most of the math
Teacher showing the procedure and talking about the steps to follow
Students working in isolation: sharing answers or strategies is cheating
Teachers rescuing students - "Don't take the pencil" - teachers jumping in too soon
Focused on procedural skill (teach only step-by-step)
One assigned worksheet
Teachers (and only the teachers) as holders off knowledge
Remember - A quiet classroom is not the goal! If your classroom gets loud during workshop - ask yourself - is this good noise or bad noise?
Does implementing the math workshop seem too overwhelming? Make a change with how you start class and end class. Implement the number sense routines during the first few minutes of class and conduct a student reflection during a lesson summary in the last minutes of class. You will be happy you did as it will transfer the culture and engagement in your classroom.
Are you ready to get started with math workshop? Don't forget to think about the following three things before you jump in. Look for buckets on the HCPS curriculum guides. If you see a bucket by an activity then you know that the activity would be appropriate for use at a station.
