One of my professional development goals is to increase student engagement during Math Workshop. I like the format (opening/work period/closing), but feel that a 30 minute work period is too long for most of my third graders' attention spans. I have been interested in using centers, but never followed through because I felt it was too overwhelming to plan and manage for my students, who are introduced to many new mathematical concepts and take their first state assessment. We are departmentalized, so I was also annoyed with the time lost transitioning between centers.Enter Guided Math in Action. Hopefully this book will help me get started next year. At the very least, it has renewed my excitement about small group instruction. Some of my favorite parts of the book have been:-The idea of having students stay at their desks to complete two centers while I lead two Guided Math groups each day.-Lesson topics for the first 20 days of Math Workshop to establish rituals and routines for Guided Math groups and independent (solo, partner, group) work.-Seven must-have centersI wish the book included more specific card/dice/domino games for each grade level's Common Core benchmarks because it takes so much time to find and format ideas. Hopefully Dr. Newton will supplement these by grade level on her blog or via Teachers Pay Teachers!