12/01/08

Today was an ordinary day at school. It began with a test in Advanced Math followed later by a test in 6th grade. The test in 6th grade was one I had held off on doing and brought it back a little later. I had told the students that I wanted to give a review before the test to be sure that they remembered the older material and would do well. They all started telling me to give them the test that day. It was the strangest thing. Normally, when I tell them it is a test day, they squirm and act terrified. Today, they were all asking for it. So, I asked them, to raise their hand if anyone didn't want it. No one raised their hand, so I thought that maybe they would be afraid to put their hand up if they were one of the only people who didn't want it. I asked them again to raise their hand, but this time if they did want the test and they all shot up in a hurry. So, I passed the test out to them as they wanted. They seemed so confident, but I knew that some of the material on the test would be difficult to remember such as the process they go through to find the least common multiple and greatest common factor of two numbers. Well, sure enough, they all started raising their hands wondering how to do certain problems, but I told them I couldn't help. The main lesson they learned today, wasn't over the material on the test, but to be sure you are ready for a test before you take it. For me, it was interresting to see who retained the older material.

I like seeing certain patterns in the students' work because it helps me determine what I need to spend more time on and what comes easy to them. My roommate, Jonny, teaches all of 8th grade and for one hour, he goes over to the 7th grade to teach math. Between Jonny and I, we teach all math from 6th grade through 12th. I am curious to see how well my 6th grade students will compare next year to the 7th grade students he teaches now. It will give me more of an idea of what I need to work on. Then, next year, I can tell him how his current 8th graders are doing as freshmen and give him feedback. Between the two of us, we should be able to turn all of these students into math machines!