Workshop

Several years ago, in the middle of my third year teaching 6th grade math, I was approached by my middle school's instructional coach about a new (to me at the time!) model of teaching called math workshop. The general idea was that students would be placed in small groups that would rotate through different stations, or centers, throughout the class period. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty skeptical at first. It was a little overwhelming to think about completely overhauling the structure of my everyday classroom routines, and in the middle of the school year none the less! Pair that with the fact that I coach high school baseball in the spring, and I was envisioning what would have been close to zero free time dwindling into the negative numbers! Ultimately I decided to give it a try, and am I glad that I did. I truly believe it has benefited all of my students.

*Update: For everything math workshop, all in one spot, be sure to check out my new book, Making Math Workshop Work. Depending on your preference, you can find Making Math Workshop Work as an eBook in the Kindle Store or you can order a hard copy from Amazon!

Math workshop can be set up in a lot of ways, depending on what works for that teacher and their students, so let me start by telling you about what I have been doing in my classroom. This year, because I have smaller class sizes of around 22 students, each of my classes are divided into four groups of 5 to 6 students. My first year I had larger class sizes, so I had them rotate through five centers. In general, I create groups based on the level of the students. I have thought about mixing the groups up, but really like how I am able to differentiate instruction when the groups are based on how well the students are understanding the material. The four centers include a center at the front table with me, an assignment center, a technology/hands-on center, and a problem solving/review center. I teach three classes that are 90 minutes each, so after accounting for 10 minutes of checking homework, a 10 minute daily check of what we did the previous day, a very brief introduction to the lesson, and a wrap-up at the end of class, I have about 12-15 minutes for each center. A while back, I wrote a post about how math workshop could work in different class lengths and sizes. You can check that out here! Above is a chart I made to keep track of groups and centers. I also have a document posted that shows what color group each student is in. So, you might be asking yourself, what do each of these centers include?

Enrichment task cards for kids who show they've got it!

Teacher Center: This is BY FAR the most important center for the students and really the number one reason why I decided to switch to a math workshop structure. It benefits the struggling and advanced students in so many ways, not to mention all of the students in between! For my struggling students, I am able to work essentially one-on-one, in their small group, to see what they aren't understanding. With all of my students during this time, I begin by having them work on these Math Task Cards, which are a basic set of problems for each topic we cover in 6th grade. For my advanced students, who usually breeze through these problems, I have spent a lot of time creating 6th grade Enrichment Task Cards for each of these topics. I also currently have task cards available for 7th and 8th grade. These are linked below! I laminate and cut out six copies to have ready, so each student has their own. Originally I had students working in their notebooks at this center, then I switched to white boards, and now I recently turned my front table into a giant white board...and am I glad I did! The students absolutely love writing on the table! Just be sure you order enough dry-erase markers...they go fast!

Math Task Cards - 6th Grade Math
Math Enrichment Task Cards - 6th Grade Math

Math Task Cards - 7th Grade Math
Math Enrichment Task Cards - 7th Grade Math

Math Task Cards - 8th Grade Math
Math Enrichment Task Cards - 8th Grade Math

Homework Center: I always have students head to this center directly after they have met with me at the teacher center. This is their chance to practice what we have just learned at the previous center. We use a textbook series for our math curriculum, so my assignments are usually 10-15 problems from the lesson we covered that day. The issue that arises with this center is that you will have one group that needs to start their day at homework, without having gone to the teacher center. I have my advanced group always start here, since they can usually do the homework with little introduction. Then by the time they get to my center, they have practiced on the homework and are ready for the enrichment problems!

Hands-on Center: This center is by far the most loosely defined (and sometimes the hardest to plan for!). A lot of times, at this center, I will incorporate math games that either review a past concept or relate to what we have recently learned. This free Connect Four: Multiplying Decimals game is an example of a game I created for use at this center. Other times I will create a more hands-on activity for them to complete. For example, when multiplying fractions, I had students use fraction dice and cards to create their own problems. They wrote their work on the answer sheet (FREE!) found in my TpT store at this link:

Fraction Multiplication Answer Sheet 

I love these Problems of the Month from Inside Mathematics!

Technology Center: This center can also fluctuate a bit. Our school IMC has iPads available to check out, so usually on Thursdays and Fridays I have students play math apps (from a list I have pre-selected!) on six of the iPads that I have checked out. On days without the iPads it varies greatly. I sometimes don't even use technology and have students working on these awesome (and once again free!) Problems of the Month, which are from the Inside Mathematics website. These problems are progressively more challenging applications of recently learned concepts and skills. I print and laminate six copies of one of these problems to have ready to go at the center. Students have about a week to work on each problem. The great part is that there are different levels, from easy to difficult, so students can work at their own pace. What you use for technology will really depend a lot on what you have available for you at your school. Be flexible and creative with what you have students working on!

Some common questions arise about starting math workshop, so I will try my best to answer a few. One of the most common is how and if students stay on task at all of the different centers. This was my biggest concern going into math workshop. After using math workshop for about a year now, I've found that if anything it has been easier for kids to stay on task. By moving around and changing activities every 10-15 minutes, it helps them get a quick movement break and refocus on a new activity. Sure, there will always be behavior issues at times, but these behavior issues probably would have occurred if students were being asked to sit through a "normal" class and worktime. Setting up routines at the beginning is very important and I have already done a better job this year compared to past years. I'm sure, like everything in teaching, I will find a way to make it that much better next year. I also use a behavior system where the class starts with four letters P-U-M-A. If I need to take away all four letters for not following expectations, then we lose math workshop for the following day. This is pretty good motivation for them, especially when we are planning to use iPads the next day!

Another question that comes up is the amount of preparation. To be honest, it is quite a bit of preparation up front. Having a bank of math games and some form of technology for the technology/hands-on center has been important for me. I do spend a lot of outside the classroom time getting things ready and creating activities, but it hasn't been completely overwhelming. I have been using math workshop for a few years now and I am already starting to notice less preparation because of materials I have ready to go! If you are just starting and want to stock up on a bunch of resources all at once, I have all of my 6th grade materials included in a Math Workshop Full Year Mega Bundle (Upper Elem/MS). This Mega Bundle (8th Grade Math) includes my 8th grade resources. I put these at a HUGE discount when compared to purchasing everything individually!

If you plan to start a math workshop structure in your class, my advice would be to find what works for you! I know some teachers who don't have a schedule that allows every group to go to every center each day, so they have them go to one or two centers per day. As far as I am concerned there isn't one right way to use math workshop. I would love to hear any ideas or answer any questions that you have in the comments section below!