MATH STATIONS/CENTERS

WHAT ARE MATH STATIONS/CENTERS?  Areas in the classroom where students work with a partner or in small groups and use instructional materials to explore and expand their mathematical thinking  Activities that reinforce or expand prior instruction  Problem solving while reasoning, representing, communicating and making connections  Differentiated math instruction  Teachers interacts with individuals and make observations

BENEFITS  “In centers, children are making sense of the mathematics in their way, bringing to the problems only skills and ideas that they own.” —John Van de Walle  “Learning centers provide students with the opportunity to make decisions and take responsibility for their actions.” –Marilyn Burns  “Small groups provide a forum in which students can ask questions, discuss ideas, make mistakes, learn to listen to others’ ideas, and offer constructive criticism.”— NCTM 2004  “Learning centers can promote independent learning, while differentiating and individualizing both learning and instruction.” –C. A. Tomlinson  “By having student work together, individually, or in small groups, the teacher creates community learning experiences and attends to individual needs.” —J. Tomilson

Heterogeneous vs. Homogeneous Grouping  Homogeneous Grouping-  Easier to Differentiate  More challenging work for advanced students  More support for lower level students  Lower students are more comfortable working in groups when grouped with students with similar abilities Heterogeneous vs. Homogeneous Grouping, Brian Audet, ExEd Program  Heterogeneous Grouping-  Learning to work with individuals who have a variety of abilities more closely models what we consider "real- life".  Students must work with and learn from others The Benefits of Heterogeneous Groupings over Homogeneous Groupings

ACCOUNTABILITY  Effective learning in groups must have at least the following elements (Marzano, et. al, pages 85-86):  They must include every member of the group  Each person has a valid job to perform with a known standard of completion  Each member is invested in completing the task or learning goal  Each member is accountable individually and collectively Students need to know exactly what to do and how to act in math workstations, and they need to know they will be held accountable for producing work, even when the teacher is not watching. --Donna Boucher

REFERENCES/RESOURCES      for.html for.html