Starting Math Centers in Middle School

I taught elementary before moving to middle school and loved math centers (also known as math workshop or math stations). I knew that I had to try implementing math centers in middle school when I moved up because I found that students were more engaged and loved the group work. Math centers helped students work on developing social skills, reading skills, and problem-solving with others on top of the math skills they practiced. Math centers also helped boost self-confidence and I’ve heard many students change negative math mindsets through using this model. Math centers are also a fantastic way to differentiate learning and scaffold skills learned. Hopefully, this post will help you gain the courage to start implementing math centers in your classroom.

Using Math Centers in Your Middle School Classroom

I absolutely love math centers. My favorite part about them? How I can easily change things up to work with my ever-changing schedule, and the added bonus of having students engaged and flourishing in math class! When I first started with centers, I wasn’t sure how it would work. Was I wasting my time setting up centers and activities? Were my students going to enjoy them? Was it going to improve their academic abilities? Was it necessary? Do I even have time? After using and adapting math centers for a few years now, I can definitely say it is worth it - even in a middle school setting!

Quick Start Guide

Start Small

Whether you’re feeling great about diving into math centers or not, you should start small. This will also help your students get used to a new structure and you will have more control over the situation. Here are some ways you can get started with math centers:

One group at a time

This is easy! Pull one group at a time while the rest of the group works on something else. I love doing this during review times. Pull a small group to assess how they are doing while the rest of the group works on a quiet review activity or assignment. I like to use task cards and individual whiteboards for students to work on different questions. Then I ask them to secretly write down their level of understanding and take it down for myself. This is also an easy way to check back with students before the assessment to make sure they get the support they need.

Weekly Stations

You don’t have to do math centers every day! You could have a day with group instruction, and then break things down the rest of the week. You could even reserve stations for the end of your units when you want students to review. It is completely up to you.

Be clear with instructions

It is important that your students know the expectations for them (behavior and otherwise) during math centers. Have clear boundaries. What should their talking level be? What group should they be in? What happens if they do not finish the task in the allotted time frame?

What kinds of stations should I have?

When starting small, a good starting point is the M.A.T.H framework. It’s easy to remember and to implement.

M - Meet the teacher

A - At your desk or Assignment

T - Technology

H - Hands-on

Planning and setting up your math centers

Be mindful of your time

Some of you may have 40-minute blocks and others may have 60 or more. Starting small will help in either of these situations.

Choose your activities

Here are some ideas using the M.A.T.H model mentioned above:

Meet the Teacher: As the name states, groups meet with the teacher. You can adjust this to the needs of your classroom. Using task cards and personal whiteboards is my personal favorite way to do a quick check-in. Give each student a task card to solve on their whiteboard for a quick way to differentiate. Exit cards are another great tool for this station.

At your desk/Assignment: This can be an assignment or an activity such as a math maze, color-by-number.

Technology: This could be a program such as IXL or BrainPOP or even activities such as Boom Cards, Mystery Pixel Art Activities, or drag-and-drop activities.

Hands-on: Task cards and board games are great for this station. You can also have students working with math manipulatives and models when appropriate.

Make your groups

Keep groups small (no more than 6) and change them up once in a while. Depending on your class size, you may have to double up on stations to make it work with the timing.

Some More Helpful Tips for Math Centers

Have a large, visible timer projected onto your board so students know how much time they have left. You can find really great timer videos on Youtube (just be sure to skip ads before using them).
Use self-checking activities or provide an answer key for students.
Be sure that your activities take roughly the same amount of time to complete (avoid having one station that takes 20 minutes while another only requires 10.).
Have a plan in place in case a group finishes too quickly
Don’t be afraid to randomize groups, especially after your routine is established. You may be surprised at what different groupings can accomplish!