Math Workstations

Two years ago I was part of a teacher lab group that was piloting math workstations in our district. Debbie Diller's Math Workstations book helped our group gain an understanding of how math stations work in a kindergarten classroom, and the lab setting allowed us to be hands-on with gaining a deeper understanding of math workstations over time. Together we read the book, shared ideas, and slowly implemented math workstations in our classrooms. We organized materials, used PTA funds for additional math materials, and we made many games that could easily be taught or shared with other teachers. We each made a math workstation board, and we made a point to keep things simple. The overall idea would be that the children could do the activities independently or with a partner. The children meeting with the teacher would be high-risk or needing extra help with certain activities. It was a great way to work with children that were struggling in any area. At first it was really hard to come up with a system for partners, so I have been using small groups, instead. The groups are put together based on behavior at this time. I didn't think that leveling the groups would be as important as the children being able to work together...

So here I am two years later. I love math workstations and so do the children in my class. I will show some of the games and activities that the math groups complete, and I hope to hear some of your ideas, as well.