Questions about how to implement Tabor Rotation right away--I LOVE it!
I’m sending a WOO HOO to all the educators who attended the Tabor Rotation sessions at CAMT 2010 in San Antonio this past weekend! Your attendance and enthusiasm indicated your desire to more effectively implement small-group, differentiated instruction in mathematics. Many of you requested the Tabor Rotation Time Line for Elementary School. I’ve posted it in this blog [Tabor Rotation Timeline for Elementary Schools] and in the FREE RESOURCES section of my website. More FREE RESOURCES will be uploaded every week. If you let me know what you need to begin the school year using, then I can make it available to you.
A great, big THANK YOU goes to the directors of CAMT who asked me to present and to all the volunteers who made the conference a success. The volunteers assigned to my sessions were incredibly nice, extremely helpful, and very supportive.
Thank you, CAMT volunteers!
Hi Glenna,
I very much enjoyed your session at CAMT. I was just looking over the materials and saw that the timekeeper “keeps track of the points earned by the team and records this on the Team Point sheet”. Could you elaborate on this a little more…how do they accumulate points, do you have an example Team Point sheet to share, etc. Thanks for your wonderful ideas and I can’t wait to put this into action.
Hi Glenna – Thanks so much for the inspiring session at CAMT. Of course, I let things simmer in the back of my mind until just before going back, and I’m trying to convince my team of the power that your rotation system has. Can you give some specific examples of the vocabulary work that you recommend? I remember you saying that math vocabulary has to be authentic. I know the “write it, draw it, define it” strategy, and we sometimes play charades. I also do a quick review where I say a definition and they write the word on their desk with white board markers (quicker than pulling out the white boards). Is the vocab review you suggest whole group or small? Thanks so much for your help!
Kim,
Glad you were inspired by the Tabor Rotation session at CAMT this year! I appreciate your need to let things “simmer.” You’re right on track about the Vivid Vocabulary portion of Tabor Rotation and all the ideas you listed. Keep thinking about math vocabulary in a literacy manner. Use good books like “Strategies That Work” by Harvey and Goudvis to gather new ideas.
One of the most important things you’ll do for your students is make sure you approach vocabulary in a constructivist manner by finding the connections to the word or concept which occur in the students’ world. This real-world connection is imperative if you want the students to remember, understand, and use the vocabulary which is important.
Keep the questions coming!