Working in a school that values ACT scores that will allow students to be accepted to top universities has pushed me to think about ways to prepare students for these high stakes tests. In my old school, we would give students practice problems to complete and then go over the answers as a class. Many students did not pay attention to the explanation and did not get better on the same type of question if it were given later.
I want to work toward a more personal approach to the thinking of individual students. The tests are written so that there are a variety of ways to solve each question, so I want to leverage the thought processes that each student already has about math. That means that students may solve a problem in multiple ways in my class, but as long as they can solve the problem we have a basis for getting the question correct. Based on the students background and understanding, I can work with them to find more efficient ways to solve the problem based on their own understanding. Without knowing where they are starting with the problem, I can't steer them appropriately.
If I direct all students to use the same process or algorithm, then I may have students that are missing an important component and they will not be able to follow the process. I know that students who are in Algebra 2 should have a base understanding to build on, but the fact is that they could pass their previous class with a 70% and have holes of understanding that are critical to moving forward with a particular method. Sometimes you have to go old school and just create a chart and find the answer or skip the problem and come back to guess.
In class, we use ClassKick to complete ACT Prep Warm Up questions. The app allows me to give students individual feedback on their solution. Students then go back and correct their answer. If the answer still isn't correct, I give more feedback and the process continues until the questions are correct.
My hope is that each student will get the help that will propel them forward and earn a respectable score on the ACT.
All juniors in the state of Alabama take the ACT in the spring of their junior year as part of our new accountability plan, so we focus on improving ACT scores for our students (and it has always been part of our culture of high expectations at our school.) This is a new app for me, but one that I will check out and share with our teachers. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteJennifer