“Why do you do all that extra work for a transformation?”, is the number one question I get from other teachers at my school. My main motivation is simple - Because my students LOVE it! But the three real reasons I decided to start doing them are way more complex. The three main reasons I started doing transformations in my classroom are because they are engaging, they always review the standards, and I can make new connections with my students, especially students who I may not have otherwise connected with.
Don’t get me wrong, they can be A LOT of work. But do I ever regret doing them?! Never. My students always love them and they are always so thankful to have some extra excitement in the classroom.
Engagement
During a room transformation, the engagement my students have with the content is unmatched to any regular day of school. Because the environment is different, they work so much harder than just a “regular day in the classroom”. Now, I do not have elaborate activities at each station but students are still excited. For example, in my Football Transformation I have five stations that are all just like regular place value centers I use on a regular day, however, all the centers have a football theme. I transform the classroom to match the theme (football), and I use a fun timer for each rotation. To be honest, the work within each station takes no extra effort on my part.
Review of the Standards
Just as I explained above, my students are super engaged with the math content, even without me making crazy station activities! I always make sure my stations during the transformation are aligned with the standards I am currently teaching, or in most cases are a review of our unit, right before the test. I teach two classes that are very different. One class is a co-taught class and my other is a mix of ESOL and gifted. Because of this, I try to have differentiated alternatives and “early finisher” packets for each of my transformations. A simple differentiated example from my Football Transformation is word problem comparisons, instead of fill in the blank comparison statements. With my Glow Day Transformation, I have the early finishers packet that my students love because they use a highlighter to answer questions, instead of a pencil. Just this simple change gets them excited! Students get the packet in the morning, use it for morning work, and then work on it whenever they finish a center early.
Making Connections
During my math room transformations, I do NOT pull a small group. I walk around to the different stations assisting where I am needed. This is different from my day-to-day math block because I am typically either at the board teaching or pulling a small group. While walking around to the different stations, students seem to be more laid back and “chill” while working. They more often have conversations that come up on topic. For instance, during my March Math-Ness Transformation, I learned a student’s dad played in the NBA and they still go to events and parties with players' families. I was shocked! Like how was this not a fun fact you shared before?! Things like this ALWAYS happen. I love sports, but students don’t seem to make the sports connections until they are in a sports environment. Mind you, this is coming from a teacher who plays sports with the class at recess. I had played basketball at recess with this child multiple times and it never came up. Another example was during my Hospital Transformation last year, I learned a student’s dad is a brain surgeon at a major hospital near us. He shared with us some crazy stories that his dad shared with him. These kinds of conversations really help students become a community, and make it easier for the more shy student to also share.
Although these transformations require some extra work for set up and planning, I feel the extra time really does not outweigh the experiences and engagement I see in my students.
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