ABSTRACT
Rolling out the first 20 days of math workshop in your own classroom will take time, persistence, and consistency. Here is a 20-day plan to get you started. Taking the time to establish the routines is well worth the energy and the effort. You want students to know what math workshop looks like, how to act in the workshop, and how to work independently throughout the workshop. If you spend the time in the beginning of the year to lay a strong foundation, then students can get on with learning together in productive ways. Students will need to learn what to do during the mini-lesson, how to work with whiteboards for individual responses, how to take notes in the whole-group setting, and how to participate with each other. They will also need to learn how to work together during workstations. These lessons will focus on working independently, with partners, and in groups. Students will learn how to get workstations out, play with them, and then put them away. They will need to learn when they can talk to the teacher and when they cannot interrupt her. During the first 20 days of math workshop, you will emphasize mathematical practices that are the “habits of mind” and “ways of being” that students will need in order to become proficient mathematicians. There are eight practices (CCSS, 2012) to lay the groundwork for during this period.
