Prototype

My problem of practice is getting my students to use manipulatives in math properly. I want to create something that would be beneficial for my students, while also showing them that these things are just for math time, and not to build/play with. I feel that I need to separate the two from each other to really get the students to understand when it is time to play and when is it time to work on math. 

To start this prototype, I took all of the things we use during math lessons, whether it was frogs, chain links, building blocks, or base ten blocks. I laid them out next to each other to get a feel for the items I may use throughout the year. I thought about how often I use the materials and realized that there were some that I only would use at the beginning or end of the year, that could be used all year long. I then thought about how there are some materials that are on the shelf that are only used for creative time. It dawned on me, what if I separated the two from one another. 

I decided I was going to make some kits for my students. In each kit would be a variety of manipulatives, along with a few index cards. On these index cards would be a sorting chart, a number line, a ten frame, an addition sentence, a subtraction sentence, and a graph. I want to use the index cards because it allows for students to have a place to create their problems and work on them, without having to make new sheets every day. It seems like a basic solution that I have not thought of. Each student would have their own kit to keep, that would only be used for math work in the classroom. They would also still have these materials on the shelf to play with, however it would be explained to them that when they came off of the shelf, it was for play time, when it came out of the kit it would be for math time. 

The beginning of the kits

One thing that I have learned about this process, is that I have an extremely hard time choosing what to do. It was hard for me to come up with one answer, and I took more time on the assignment than I should have. Once I cleared my head of everything going on, that could go wrong, or that wouldn't work, I was able to come up with an idea of the kits.  I also had to work on the fact that it was a prototype, not a final product. If it isn't perfect, I am allowed to go back to work on and fix things. That is an extremely hard concept for me to understand, but it is something that I now know I need to work on.