Final reviews

We are coming into our last week before the SOL and I wanted to share how my team has reviewed. We based the material we reviewed on(for the most part) on a mock SOL we gave-the released 2009 8th grade SOL. My colleague and I then made a calendar out four weeks with different material being covered for the groups we made up in the classes we had. The students are grouped by what areas they still need to learn to achieve a passing score on the SOL. My colleague appointed "team leaders" in her class that were students who have pretty much mastered the material. Their job is to help the students in their team when needed and to help them stay on task. I didn't do this in my classes, but I am going to be curious to see the results from her class. I'll let you all know how we fared after the test!

Capital B

My students are constantly forgetting the difference between b and B when used in formulas (base vs area of base). They see the that it is a b and it doesn't matter that it is capitalized. They make the same mistake over an over and over and over when trying to find the volume of a pyramid. I'd love suggestions on how I can get them to remember the difference. My telling them over and over and over again is not working! I have no doubt that they are going to have to find volume of a pyramid on the SOL and I don't want a simple mistake like that to hurt them.

Grades and Achievement

As we are wrapping up the year I find myself in a familiar but very uncomfortable place: grades. There are students who have worked very hard and made marked improvements over the year and improved their testing scores by 20 points or more, but they are still failing. I have students that come to me, as I am sure we all do, that are significantly below grade level. Adding with decimals should not be a big issue in the seventh grade, but it is.

So, when you are faced with a student that is clearly not performing at grade level, how can they receive a passing grade in your class? At the same time how do you send a student who has worked diligently all year long home with a failing grade? I know this is a can of worms but I struggle with this and would love to hear some opinions.

Math Playground

Someone recently shared a website with me that I like MUCH more than brainpop. Here the games are actually math based and lesson specific. It is better for remediation on basic skills but has some more advanced lessons as well (algebra). Another really helpful feature is the videos. They are very clear and detailed. Even shown in a note taking format!

http://www.mathplayground.com

SOL Review

I have found that the biggest problem with the SOL tests is that my students freeze up when they see word problems. To help ease this problem I took the released tests and broke them up into the 5 strands. Then I make copies for the students and we go over the questions highlighting what is important and talking about what the question is asking them to do. We also look to see if there are answers that can be eliminated right away. Then they work the problem out and we talk about how they solved them. This has worked in the past to help eleviate some of their anxieties.

Smartboard

Our school only has one Smartboard that we all have to share. I have reserved it for the next two weeks and my students are loving it. I have seen such a change in those actively learning and more and more wanting to be involved in the learning. They love that when they use their finger the words magically appear. I also gave a mini-lesson to another teacher on how to use the smartboard in her classroom and she got excited. In Suffolk it has become a lost treasure and they are working on moving away from the Smartboard to simply using the Interwrite software/hardware with the MPCarts. It is such a disservice to our students who are apathetic to the learning already. I have invited my principal to come in and check out the difference it is making in my class. If you have one in your building I'd love to hear success stories it has created in your classroom. I am really trying to push one for every math teacher at least(wishful thinking considering the budget "crisis"). I even asked one for mother's day from my husband...he even laughed at me.

Websites Oh Websites (WOW)

Last time around so I wanted to share with my friends some of the places I'll go to generate ideas for my classes. Many of you already visit these sites -- some of you may have more to share. Enjoy :)


http://illuminations.nctm.org/

http://classrooms.tacoma.k12.wa.us/gray/eschlytter/index.php

http://www.pppst.com/math.html

http://guest.portaportal.com/aaswanberg

http://www.math.com/

Student Monitored Progress

As we are remediating students on weak areas from their last benchmark, I created a form to track their progress. Last year, I kept track of their growth and filled in the form for them. This year, I am letting them do it to see their progress. On the form, they have their percentage on each SOL. When I pull them to work in small groups, they first check their benchmark percentage so they can understand why their working on the particular strand. After our remediation, I give them a quick quiz and have them record their new percentage. The excitement in them as they record the new score and see their progress has increased motivation. I now have students asking to work in small groups more to target areas where they once struggled. This has greatly affected in a positive way their attitude and confidence in their ability to succeed on the SOL.