BooHoo...Midterms and Finals

I have been very concerned about MIDTERMS and FINALS. There is a "sense" from students that "very few people do well on them".

A think the following should happen to increase success...

• midterms and finals should be created/modified during the summer so that all teachers can see the depth of the questions
• midterm and final review packets should be given at the beginning of each semester
• study skills need to be taught every year even high school
• should they be scaled like the state standardized test

Any thoughts?

Homework Grading Policy and Follow Up

Thank you I SPEAK MATH for getting me to reflect weekly!

As far as the stations from last week went...they did not go. We had a surprise day off and it threw off the week. I promise I will try the stations in one of my classes!

The review for the Algebra I quiz...we spent one day working with peers to answer all the note cards and the next day was "studying" as if we were at home. Students were expected to go through the cards over and over... categorizing the cards in I got it and I still need to work on this. Quiz is Monday so we will see how it goes.

Homework Grading Policy is different based on the course and the class personality. I have used the following in my high school classes...

+ 2 pts for homework completion
+ collect for accuracy grade
+ if a student is absent for the lesson I will not ask students to make up the homework instead I expect them to pay attention during homework review so they can learn the material
+ revolving homework collection (this is an idea from my student teacher, which works okay if you homework is consistent), everyday pull Popsicle sticks out and collect those students homework. Grade on a rubric...+2 neatness +2 completion +2 accuracy +1 pencil  Once you have pulled all the Popsicle sticks - start over.
+ I will walk around the room and check my students homework but only record for information. I mainly do this in my Algebra II CP class. As many of us know for students there is a direct correlation in not doing homework and grades. But for others in class lessons and questions is enough.

Stations and Study Skills

It's Sunday evening and I am sitting in front of the TV with my laptop. I am thinking about what I upcoming this week as well as the MS Sunday Funday Post from I Speak Math. This weeks topic is Stations. I have never used Stations at the High School level. I have always wondered how the elementary school teachers structure these stations. In any case, here are my research questions...

I have 42 minutes for each class I teach. Would I need to do this over two class periods? How much time should I really count on of those 42 minutes? So how many stations? Would the questions need to be more process oriented? How do you make sure the high school students stay on task? Could one station be a Study Island? How many students should I include in each group? How long do they stay at each station?

This weeks topics:
Algebra I: writing an equation for a parallel line, quiz, scatter plots, line of best fit
Geometry: exterior triangle = sum of two remote interior angles
Algebra II: domain, range, inverse functions, simplifying radical expression

Should I create a station setup for Algebra I Quiz Review?

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I do have one other objective for the week --- teaching Algebra I study skills! I have created the quiz review but I created the quiz review so the paper will be single sided with each question about the size of a note card.
I want the students to cut out the questions and complete the work on the opposite side of the paper.

Should I have students complete the work in class? homework?
Should it be graded for accuracy or completion?
If graded on accuracy should I allow corrections?
How do I get the students to review the cards until they have understanding?

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I think this is enough thoughts for the week. I will let you know how it goes and what I did for each.

Getting Students Caught Up

I teach an inclusion setting of Algebra I A at the high school level. During each unit the students will complete "Concept Tickets". These are short quizzes (like exit slips) given when we have completed a concept. For instance, we are in the Linear Functions chapter. So far we have had a "Concept Ticket" on Slope, Classifying Linear Formats, Parallel Lines, Graphing in slope-intercept, and Graphing in standard form.

There has one been one student having trouble with the graphing concept tickets - in this case - I will or the special education teacher will meet one-on-one to review the misconceptions.When there are too many students not understanding. A class conversation takes place on the misconceptions and how we can prevent these from happening again. In either case, students are allowed to re-take a concept ticket.

Students also have the option of going to the Math Help Room. Every period at our high school a math teacher will be available to assist with math concepts.

For my Algebra II classes, students who choose to redo their concept ticket need to explain their mistake. Students can ask myself or a peer for guidance.

As I type this I have some concerns that I need to fine tune:

• should I have a set percentage that students must redo
• should certain classes have tighter time frames
• should students who are looking to increase their grade be allowed to redo these at the end of the marking period