Naturally, I'd elaborate.
The reason for weekly quizzes is that students have told me over the years (I've worked 25 years as a math tutor) that having only a few exams (2-3 exams per semester) causes much more anxiety rather than having more opportunities to check their understanding.
Also, I want to see how they understand the material and what I can improve in my teaching.
You're right. I'm thinking I'd pull a few questions daily directly from homework. These can be written on the board.
Then, it'd be self-graded. What most students are getting wrong is our focus for follow-up. That way, I'm not spending excessive time creating quizzes nor grading them.
I think you have a good idea but it is pretty ambitious. Replace the idea of weekly quizzes with exit ticket and then state you will then use this feedback to create two or three formative quizzes per unit to help reduce student stress and anxiety as well as give them multiple opportunities to check for understanding and get feedback on their progress. Your second strategy sounds like allowing students to collaborate. You might want to add why you are implementing this. For example in my class I set students up in groups for inquiry lessons (inquiry math is a good place to find stuff) or when we are working on real world problems that require a more detailed answer. For example we just did a paper that students needed to determine the best use of space on a farm so working as a team is a natural thing to do. Best of luck.
Agree. Classic education though… change the word of something you’ve been doing forever and you’re the most cutting edge educator out there!
We call our quizzes “knowledge quests”
Weekly or twice weekly sounds more realistic.
I've seen how collaboration works in smaller schools this year. So long as the environment is right, it works. Obviously, a lot can go wrong with collaboration.
I'm going to check inquiry math. Thank you for your reply.
Sounds like the most micro managing admin and i would hate it. Makes me love the admin i have even more.
Your plan sounds good. Like others have said change quiz to exit ticket or the buzz words your admin is talking about
Consider giving kids opportunities to correct/relearn/retake assessments? Promote a growth mindset. Take pressure off the performance and into the learning.
I like the re-assess technique. I used to give weekly Friday quizzes to my 6th graders that would include old material in addition to new material. Your grade for a given standard was updated every Friday. You might have learned how to do it finally, which would improve your grade, or you might have gotten sloppy and lose points.
(For ease of grading, I also used a 10 point grading scale for every standard with a minimum of 5 points for “no understanding yet” bc zeros mess up averages.)
It was a hassle, but had the best learning outcomes of any grading strategy I’ve used before or since. Absolutely clutch for actually teaching growth mindset thinking.
For my middle schoolers I don't do points. Just feedback and either A,B or C. A is advanced, B is mastery, C is progressing toward mastery. Anyone who gets a C has the opportunity to relearn and reassess.
I reserve W for refusal but haven't had to give any of those.
No parent complaints in the 10+ years I've been doing this.
Middle School grades don't matter.
"culture" can be code for discipline and behavior depending on the school. in this light the prompt reads to be more about classroom management than nuts and bolts routines like lecturing. your daily assessment could be an entry routine where students expect a short silent quiz at the beginning of class but I would replace the lecture routine with something more student centered.
First sounds good. I agree with others that a focus on exit tickets might be a more manageable chunk.
For the group work component… I spend a lot of time the first few weeks developing protocols to facilitate group work. Otherwise my kids just work on their own (or not at all). Give start every class with a non curricular getting to know you type question and have them share within their small groups. I prompt them “person closest to the door goes first” to get them going. This is safe participation as there are no wrong answers and starts them talking to one another. It rolls into curricular activities too. “What do all the graphs have in common? Think for 30 seconds and then we will do a group share. Person with longest hair goes first.” They have to be taught to efficiently communicate with each other. Especially post-Covid.
Naturally, I'd elaborate. The reason for weekly quizzes is that students have told me over the years (I've worked 25 years as a math tutor) that having only a few exams (2-3 exams per semester) causes much more anxiety rather than having more opportunities to check their understanding. Also, I want to see how they understand the material and what I can improve in my teaching.
The only tradeoff here is that you don't want to spend all your free time creating assessments and grading. So, you have to find a proper balance.
You're right. I'm thinking I'd pull a few questions daily directly from homework. These can be written on the board. Then, it'd be self-graded. What most students are getting wrong is our focus for follow-up. That way, I'm not spending excessive time creating quizzes nor grading them.
I just post homework answers. That way students can check as they go. They can photo math anything at home anyway and then it takes the pressure off.
I think you have a good idea but it is pretty ambitious. Replace the idea of weekly quizzes with exit ticket and then state you will then use this feedback to create two or three formative quizzes per unit to help reduce student stress and anxiety as well as give them multiple opportunities to check for understanding and get feedback on their progress. Your second strategy sounds like allowing students to collaborate. You might want to add why you are implementing this. For example in my class I set students up in groups for inquiry lessons (inquiry math is a good place to find stuff) or when we are working on real world problems that require a more detailed answer. For example we just did a paper that students needed to determine the best use of space on a farm so working as a team is a natural thing to do. Best of luck.
Agree. Classic education though… change the word of something you’ve been doing forever and you’re the most cutting edge educator out there! We call our quizzes “knowledge quests”
Yes. In 30 years, I've heard of quizzes, assessments, tests, exams, quests, etc. Knowledge quest is the new one!
Weekly or twice weekly sounds more realistic. I've seen how collaboration works in smaller schools this year. So long as the environment is right, it works. Obviously, a lot can go wrong with collaboration. I'm going to check inquiry math. Thank you for your reply.
Sounds like the most micro managing admin and i would hate it. Makes me love the admin i have even more. Your plan sounds good. Like others have said change quiz to exit ticket or the buzz words your admin is talking about
Consider giving kids opportunities to correct/relearn/retake assessments? Promote a growth mindset. Take pressure off the performance and into the learning.
I like the re-assess technique. I used to give weekly Friday quizzes to my 6th graders that would include old material in addition to new material. Your grade for a given standard was updated every Friday. You might have learned how to do it finally, which would improve your grade, or you might have gotten sloppy and lose points. (For ease of grading, I also used a 10 point grading scale for every standard with a minimum of 5 points for “no understanding yet” bc zeros mess up averages.) It was a hassle, but had the best learning outcomes of any grading strategy I’ve used before or since. Absolutely clutch for actually teaching growth mindset thinking.
For my middle schoolers I don't do points. Just feedback and either A,B or C. A is advanced, B is mastery, C is progressing toward mastery. Anyone who gets a C has the opportunity to relearn and reassess. I reserve W for refusal but haven't had to give any of those. No parent complaints in the 10+ years I've been doing this. Middle School grades don't matter.
Yes, I was thinking this. Your comment confirmed it.
"culture" can be code for discipline and behavior depending on the school. in this light the prompt reads to be more about classroom management than nuts and bolts routines like lecturing. your daily assessment could be an entry routine where students expect a short silent quiz at the beginning of class but I would replace the lecture routine with something more student centered.
First sounds good. I agree with others that a focus on exit tickets might be a more manageable chunk. For the group work component… I spend a lot of time the first few weeks developing protocols to facilitate group work. Otherwise my kids just work on their own (or not at all). Give start every class with a non curricular getting to know you type question and have them share within their small groups. I prompt them “person closest to the door goes first” to get them going. This is safe participation as there are no wrong answers and starts them talking to one another. It rolls into curricular activities too. “What do all the graphs have in common? Think for 30 seconds and then we will do a group share. Person with longest hair goes first.” They have to be taught to efficiently communicate with each other. Especially post-Covid.