It doesn’t take long to realize that students are all in their own places in learning. No two students are the same (obviously), and teaching in a “one-size-fits-all” way does little to push students to reach their own potential.
We spent the first 2 months really building culture. We developed the sort of character we expected in our classroom and students collaborated on norms of behavior and environment. We got to know each other as learners, but more importantly as humans.
Then we took the plunge into indivualization.
Using NWEA data, DIBELS reading scores, formative assessments as well as informal observations, I discussed with students where they were in reading and in math. Students knew their goals and the work that was necessary to reach them.
We then broke our time together into 4 areas: 1.) Problem Solving/Learning Skills 2.) Creation 3.) Foundation Work and 4.) Individual Paths.
Our math block looks like this:
1.) Math Minute (Foundation Work) (5 Minutes)
2.) Problem Solving (Either student created story problems, brain teasers, mind benders, etc.) (15 minutes)
3.) Mathematician Work (Learning skills, vocabulary, method, algorithms, organization, etc.) (5 Minutes)
4.) Creation (anything that demonstrates learning that can be shared with someone else in a fascinating way) (varies)
5.) Individual Work (ixl.com, now mangahigh.com, and small group work with me) (30 minutes)
Rather than having all students sit in the same class learning the same thing, it makes more sense to focus on some shared skills (the ones all Mathematicians know) and creation (so we can share with the world what we are learning). Then, because all students need different things, the big bulk of the time is spent with students practicing the skills they need to be successful on their own timetable.
This allows me to spend more time with my students who are missing huge gaps in their math knowledge prior to 2nd Grade skills, as well as developing higher order skills with my students who are ready to do 4th grade type work.
It works like this:
Students walk into the classroom with their Math Minute. Some students are mastering their “Plus 1′s” facts, while others are working on their multiplication facts, already having shown 100% mastery of all single digit addition and subtraction facts up to 20.
After the minute and all work is collected, students work on problem solving activities or develop story problems that must be solved using a step-by-step process. Since this is a more difficult activity, I model a lot of the process and slowly release responsibility to students to ensure the highest degree of organization in thinking. As students begin to understand the process, I take more of a backseat, offering guidance to students when they run into roadblocks in their thinking.
Then we work on using math vocabulary to ensure we are sharing the same terms for the types of thinking we are doing in the Math classroom. We apply this vocabulary to problem solving and different scenarios to ensure they will be best prepared for 3rd grade and beyond. We then take this work and create videos, comic books, songs, etc. so that we can teach other people how to be mathematicians too!
The largest bulk of class is individual time. My tier 1 and tier 2 math students have individual learning paths on ixl.com, a site devoted to practicing math skills that are broken down by strand and by grade level. I post a handful of objectives on students edmodo site and they then practice until they have mastered the skill.
Here’s what a student would see when logging into to edmodo:
They then click on the link and begin practicing.
The cool thing about ixl is that I can then see their progress or any trouble spots that might arise, so I can make sure students are actually growing. I have also signed up for a Manga High site (thinksilearntechnology.com!) that allows me to create challenges for students as they work through learning new math skill.
On most days during this time I am working with my tier 3 students bringing them up to speed to 2nd grade work. It is such a valuable time because rather then them sitting in a class of 28 students that are ahead of them, they can feel successful with just a class of 7 (while everyone else is working on their own work at computers) that have similar math knowledge bases as them.
This continues to be a work in progress, but it represents the direction we want to go. Students take ownership over where they are and where they want to go. It’s a powerful thought, and one that is distinct from school as they know it.
I’ll continue to update how things are going, the successes and the mistakes.
Do you have any experiences in individualizing the primary classroom? If so I’d love to hear about them.
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