C. took another test this week, and came home saying it was "easy."
"Easy," on the last test, translated to a score of 80, which is only 4 points above the 76 he received on the reteaching test prior. Four points is four points; I'll take it. But it's not as large a gain as I'd like to see.
However, that was the test he forgot about and took cold. There's never been a time, in the entire two years he's been in this class, that he could have taken a math test cold and scored an 80.
He studied for the test he just took. Unfortunately, he had to study almost entirely on his own because we went to the candidate's forum.
It'll be interesting to see how he does.
Regardless of his grades, it's obvious that preteaching is absolutely the way to go. I can tell by working with C. that he's getting the material, not struggling horribly with it, not lost at sea -- none of that stuff.
short attention span theater
One of the gigantic advantages of preteaching is that attention lapses in class aren't fatal.
If C. misses a point, or spaces out for a minute, or gets distracted by the other kids (apparently the class is rowdy) he can get back on track because he's already learned and practiced the material once.
My neighbor told me that next year's teacher gives reading assignments in the book.
The kids read the text (in theory), and come to class knowing a little something about the material that's going to be taught.
That sounds like heaven.
With C.'s class, every day can bring a fresh surprise!
preteaching, not reteaching
success
success, part 2
more preteaching results in the offing
preteaching saves the world
preteaching wonders of the world
"My neighbor told me that next year's teacher gives reading assignments in the book.
ReplyDeleteThe kids read the text (in theory), and come to class knowing a little something about the material that's going to be taught."
Revolutionary!
That is incredible!
ReplyDeleteThere is a big point of reading the theory before it's explained in class.
I remember my history and geography teachers did exactly that in school - chapters were assigned for reading and summarizing BEFORE they were taught.
Somebody mentioned already that method used in college classes...
Revolutionary!
ReplyDeleteyes, well.....
book larnin'
'pears to work
who'd a thunk?
You know, I don't think I was ever assigned reading before classes in college (except for in a literature class).
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it.
I guess my classes used the lecture to set up the reading, which is fine, too.
ReplyDeleteBut C. absolutely needs something to set up math class.
When I took classes in college in NY (biologies of various kinds, chemistries etc...) all the readings were assigned BEFORE the lecture.
ReplyDeleteI did't have to bother with it because it was a second time around for me (after DVM degree from Ukraine) but for many students without background (especially those right out of HS) is was a good thing. I saw how many of them struggled next to me to follow the lecture if they missed to do their reading.