Today was our group test. I let students choose their own groups. I'm not sure whether this was a good idea or not. It seemed that some students weren't really sure who to work with. Others had a good sense but I had said that the group must be three people. This meant that those hoping to be a group of four had to decide who was going to leave. Not doing random groups today made me really appreciate doing random groups.
Each group received the test and started working on their whiteboards. I had each group start at a different question. Some groups were very efficient and others really seemed to have a hard time making headway. I went around and did lots of listening and asked if students could clarify their thinking for me.
It was pretty obvious that many students had not studied for the test. There were lots of incorrect assumptions being made along with lots of simple errors. I really like the group test because of all the discussion and learning that is taking place. I also like the fact that I have some conversations (which I recorded today) that I can use to supplement (one way or the other) a student's test results. What I don't like about this extra information is that I don't have a clean way to count it.
I struggle with how to assess the group test (and maybe it just needs to be formative). I don't want to penalize a student who learned a ton between the group test and the individual test. I also don't want students to feel like they did well on the group test so they don't need to prepare for the individual test. In any case, I do have a record of the conversations along with photos of all the work that I can use to help in making an overall judgement.
The plan for tomorrow was to do the individual test but I don't think my students are ready for that yet.
Showing posts with label group test. Show all posts
Showing posts with label group test. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
MPM1D1 - Day 43 Group Test
I've been away for the past couple of days and while I was away the class was working through some review. Ideally, had I not been away we would have reviewed on Friday, done a group test on Monday then done an individual test today.
I felt like a third day labelled as a review day might have been a waste of time so I decided today that we would do a group test. To be fair, my students were totally unaware of this until this morning. I decided that rather than assessing their work I would try to assess the conversations that were happening in the groups. I wanted them to help each other understand the concepts that were covered. I was actually surprised at how well they took to the group test without any prior warning. I didn't hear a single complaint.
The nice thing about this test is that I was able to put into practice some of the things that Peter Liljedahl showed HPEDSB secondary math learning teams yesterday. I gave the first question orally and they started working at the board right away. I circulated, listened, asked questions and tried to get groups to do a good job of documenting their solutions.
We had Maria Morris as an observer in the class today to see what a group test might look like. She also circulated, asked questions and helped out. It's always great being able to work with other teachers. I think it's something that we need to do more often.
Groups worked at their own pace and I gave them the next question as they were ready for it. Some groups worked very effectively, while others struggled a bit due to group dynamics.
Overall, I'd say it was a productive period. I did a terrible job of documenting the conversations that I heard. I wrote down a few things, but since it wasn't really a test I did a lot more talking than I might have. In any case, I did get some information down that may help me round out some test marks after tomorrow. I'm hoping to see some great results tomorrow.
I look forward to doing this again for our next test.
I felt like a third day labelled as a review day might have been a waste of time so I decided today that we would do a group test. To be fair, my students were totally unaware of this until this morning. I decided that rather than assessing their work I would try to assess the conversations that were happening in the groups. I wanted them to help each other understand the concepts that were covered. I was actually surprised at how well they took to the group test without any prior warning. I didn't hear a single complaint.
The nice thing about this test is that I was able to put into practice some of the things that Peter Liljedahl showed HPEDSB secondary math learning teams yesterday. I gave the first question orally and they started working at the board right away. I circulated, listened, asked questions and tried to get groups to do a good job of documenting their solutions.
We had Maria Morris as an observer in the class today to see what a group test might look like. She also circulated, asked questions and helped out. It's always great being able to work with other teachers. I think it's something that we need to do more often.
Groups worked at their own pace and I gave them the next question as they were ready for it. Some groups worked very effectively, while others struggled a bit due to group dynamics.
Overall, I'd say it was a productive period. I did a terrible job of documenting the conversations that I heard. I wrote down a few things, but since it wasn't really a test I did a lot more talking than I might have. In any case, I did get some information down that may help me round out some test marks after tomorrow. I'm hoping to see some great results tomorrow.
I look forward to doing this again for our next test.
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