#EFAMath Challenge

So I kind of failed at writing my #EFAMath Challenge post by Thanksgiving... sorry about that! :) This year hasn't been my best one blogging wise. I need to get back into the habit! I think I have to agree with Megan that writing a #180blog has really taken its toll on this blog. I am going to *try* to be better. I know I do better when I have challenges, so if anyone wants to post a blog challenge for me to try... (#mathmeme, Tina??)

Here's one of the strategies I tried as part of this challenge...

Red, Yellow, Green
Over the summer, I had posted about purchasing red, yellow, and green cups from a local party store and then posted again about putting them into my group buckets, but I had never actually TRIED the strategy until recently. As AVID Coordinator for my school, one of my weekly duties is to write an email to share best practices with my district and so near mid-October I shared the Red/Yellow/Green strategy the teachers in my district. The email mentioned several ways that you could use RGY, including the cup idea that I had yet to try. The next day I received an email from an entry-year teacher (that I happened to have taught about 10 years ago) and she was gushing about how much she loved the strategy and that she had used it during her observation lesson and the principal also loved it. Okay, that's it, time for me to put my thoughts into action and try it as well. A few days later came an opportunity to try the cups...

OMG - I LOVED IT!!!

Now I understand why the entry-year teacher gushed about it! The use of the cups let me immediately gauge how groups were doing without a need for me to be constantly eavesdropping and swoooping in to save the day! One student even said "Teacher, we need the cups to be a permanent part of group work!!" Even when the students don't have cups on their desks, they will raise their hand and say "Red Cup Alert!!!" LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

For more on the Red/Yellow/Green strategy, read the entry on my #180blog - Day 64