It is time to get the math curriculum started, but where to begin? How?  There are so many components of the Eureka Math curriculum to use.  After gathering technology resources and manipulatives there is EVEN more to use now!  Let’s bring it altogether to make this the most powerful math teaching experience you have had yet.
 
Where Do I Start?
 
Getting started is the most challenging part.  The first place to start is with knowing your materials.  If you wait until you need them, there will be days you wish you knew you had what you had when you needed it.

Eureka Math is a fully loaded program that has so many materials there for you. 

What makes it great is that there are so many different resources to choose from for support. 

One of my favorite resources is the Practice Book for sprints. 

​If your district did not purchase this book, all of the sprints for each lesson can be printed on engageny.org.

Have you ever been driving into work after a crazy morning and think, “What am I teaching in math today?”

I know I have. 

​For some reason, even with all of the long term planning and knowing what lesson am I going to teach, sometimes in the moment, I am wondering how exactly I am going to teach math today.
 
I think also at times the students need me to break up how we work our daily math block and make it more engaging.  
 

One of the best things about the Eureka Math Program is how many parts of the program that there are. 

Most math programs include a workbook for students and a teacher manual. 

Not Eureka Math. 

​Which Resources Do I Already Have?

This program includes a book for the content development part of the lesson, or new learning.  This book is titled Learn and is great for classwork practice! 
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When we think about differentiation, we often think, how is that possible? We as teachers try to actually plan at various levels and create separate objectives at times. 
​ This scenario works great in a perfect world.  When we get into that groove, it goes well for a while, but I haven’t yet found that method to be sustainable.  

​How to Make it Work
 
How do I make sure students are being provided with leveled materials and increasing their skills? I use center based activities!
 
Let me explain, so again, it can also make a fear and anxiety feeling of how much work that it can be to organize, plan, and prep.  However, if you have a few rotating centers with small changes for leveling, it can be done effectively and easily!

The Eureka math curriculum was carefully and thoughtfully created in every aspect, including vertical content alignment. The content considers what students should already know and what the upcoming lessons will entail. Long term planning is a crucial aspect to the program's success, specifically, to ensure student mastery and continuity as each student progresses up through the program.  The design of the program considers how to best create a tight-knit, year-long curriculum as described in detail in the previous article Pace yourself- A Year at a Glance. 
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Think beyond this current curriculum year.  Think about a longer term goal.  How long will this content serve the student? We want students to be able to take the skills they learn now and apply them year after year to create even stronger connections and skills.  

It is a bittersweet feeling when the summer is winding down and work has begun to get the new school year started. 

This summer really was a time to reflect and rejuvenate.  Instead of feeling sad that the summer is ending, I am feeling thankful about it.  I feel thankful that I had this summertime with my family. 

​I took things slower than normal, and I really tried to soak it all in.  I worked at being focused on the positive.  I celebrated that I was fortunate to have this time to reflect and revive myself.
 

As I have mentioned in past blog posts, I am a planner. I like to know what is going to happen and when. I'm not a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal. 
 
When I switched careers and began teaching, I quickly learned that while there is a plan for what to teach that is calendared out each semester and sometimes through the entire year, after that, no actual plans have been made. Your mentors hand you about 8-10 very large books per subject area and say, "Here you go"! Everything you need is in there. 
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Um, no it's not. Where's the magic little genie who is going to read all of those individual lessons and tell me what I am supposed to be prepared to do?