Guided math sounds amazing, but there is just no way on heaven or Earth that my students can handle task time. The classroom will completely fall apart while I teach my guided groups! Take a deep breath. Better? Good, because I’m here to tell you, heck yes guided math is amazing and yes your students can totally handle it! Classroom management during guided math can seem like a mission that’s set for failure, but follow my tips below and your guided math classroom management is sure to be so rockin’ that you’ll wish your administrator would come to observe you all the time (ok maybe not all the time!)
Classroom Management Strategies for Your Guided Math Block- Tip #1
Have you ever heard the saying, “have a plan or your students will have a plan for you”? Let me tell you teacher friend, that phrase perfectly captures the image of the first year I dabbled in guided math. Well, what I thought was guided math. That year I had grown so fed up and discouraged with my math block and instruction and decided to find a better way. I hunted high and low and combed every blog post available at the time and guess what, I still fell face first and hard. I learned all about the guided math setup, but no one prepared me for the management shift and classroom management strategies that I would need. So let me say loud and clear, have a plan or your students will have a plan for you! Plan how you are going to teach them the ins and outs of your math block. Show them the components and centers. Finally, active model how each component should be done. You will be so glad that you did!
Classroom Management Strategies for Your Guided Math Block- Tip #2
The second tip I want to share in this Classroom Management Strategies for Your Guided Math Block blog post is to set your classroom up for success. When you are thinking about your guided math block this year, how do you want it to run? What components do you have time for in your block and thus stations/ centers you will need to set up? Once all that is laid out, stop and think about how you can physically organize your room for success. I remember my first year teaching guided math, I felt so stressed about letting my students freely use the math manipulatives because I didn’t have a clear system to keep them organized. How will your kiddos be able to navigate the classroom while you are leading guided groups if you don’t have any clear systems for them?
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Classroom Management Strategies for Your Guided Math Block- Tip #3
Teaching expectations and organizing the classroom sound pretty easy right? They absolutely are! Here’s the thing though teacher friend, you can have the best active modeling in the world, the clearest systems, and still find your math block is a hot mess express by Halloween. Why? This is because all classroom management needs a booster or two throughout the year. As my dance instructor used to say, “practice makes permanent.” So in order to have classroom management success during your math block, make sure you plan to reteach and practice those expectations after all major school breaks.