The students in my second grade Sheltered English Immersion classroom come from all over the world. I have students from Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Chile, El Salvador, Honduras, Spain and the Dominican Republic. They come with different levels of English language proficiency and with various academic abilities.However, they all share the same love of school and learning. They love coming to school and are often sad when there is no school because they miss their friends, their teachers and their learning activities.
What I really love about my students is how they help create a strong feeling of community in our classroom.
Most of my students have been together since kindergarten and they know each other very well by the time they reach second grade. They always want to help each other and are often more successful when working with a partner instead of independently. Our strong sense of community helps us to focus on educational activities in order to support the diverse learning styles and academic abilities in our room. I have taught second grade for twenty six years. Often people ask me why I haven't changed grade levels or moved into administration. The truth is I love second graders!
My Project
As many of my students do not attend preschool, they often struggle with number sense, place value and math facts fluency. My school has recently adopted the Math Workshop model in order to help all students achieve their full potential in math. Having magnetic place value blocks will allow me to do a mini lesson with the whole class and then work at the teacher table with groups of different abilities. The place value games and addition fact fluency games are essential for the other students to use while I am working at my teacher table with small differentiated groups.
In order for students to become successful mathematicians, it is essential that the teacher is able to deliver small group targeted instruction using concrete materials and engaging learning activities.
Having place value blocks, place value games and addition fact fluency games will allow me to help my students reach their greatest potential.
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