Educators Archives - SciMath Education

Build Confidence

One key test-taking strategy that teachers can incorporate in the classroom is building confidence in their students. Teachers may find it helpful to spend some time on counterbalancing all of the negative input your students have heard about themselves, their school and the test. Have your students write words of encouragement for themselves or their peers. They can write lines such as, “fear is the only thing that is feeding the test’s power over the students” or “I will enter school ready and prepared like a cowboy in a showdown.” The point is to encourage students to take the test and not to let the test take them. Remember, when it comes to testing strategies there is no single way to prepare students. Many strategies are based on the classroom and the student’s individual...

Give them strategies for when they want to give up

Many students have feelings of frustration when they are given a test. If you are a teacher consider these encouraging strategies that could help your students succeed. Teach them how to “chunk test” so that they tackle little bites at a time. • Teach them how to break sentences down into their parts so that they can highlight the subject and predicate in their brains. • Teach them how to visualize the concept or gist of a passage. • Teach them how to activate prior knowledge or make connections to the material. For many students, this is easier said than done. Teachers have to show them that they already have far more knowledge of the content that they may realize. Chunk Test “Chunking” is a lot like filing. The idea is that you want to open only one “file” at a time so that you can stay focused and “file” the information easily. This process will save time and it will also help you to understand better and to remember more effectively. Some basic principles of “chunking” include: • Break up studying into 45 minutes to 1-hour “chunks,” focusing on one subject at a time. This is the maximum time most people can stay attentive. • Break up reading or study by units of information (chapters/topics). This way, your attention will be focused on a topic for easier filing and retrieval. • As you read, annotate text in order to better understand and label the information you are processing for future reference. • After lectures and reading, add new information to maps or outlines so that it is “filed” appropriately. • Write a summary after you complete each “chunk” of reading or at the end of your lecture notes so that you can check your understanding and clarify what you have learned. This assists the way you “label” your information “files,” and it will be easier to determine which “file” to open when you come across new information. • Look for connections and relationships between ideas– categories, similarities/differences, cause/effect, etc. Using visual organizers and asking questions at all cognitive levels will help you to do this. By chunking your reading and other study tasks, you will find that new information will make more sense. This is because you will be connecting it to what you already know about the subject. You will also be better able to make the connections you need to make with other information that will help you to thoroughly understand and...

Show them the data and set individual goals

Ownership is a huge part of success. Have each student examine their previous scores, setting goals that they agree to reach for. Break things down into concrete chunks. If students see that only one or two more questions answered correctly might have put them in a higher category, they can set tangible goals in the form of an informal contract, a bar graph, or a reflection paragraph. Remember that “Do better next time” can’t be achieved without...

Study your data and model how to use it formatively

Teachers, do not be scared to analyze your own data. Use it to make prepping more efficient. Read and understand the data about your prior and current students. Determine your lessons not on what you have not yet taught, but rather on what the data shows they do not understand. This style of teaching is known as date driven instruction. Combine this with the knowledge of what you know you need to work on and focus on those weaknesses. Spend time on what your students do not get and what might not come naturally for you—not on what they have already achieved or what you have already covered with...

Test Prep doesn’t have to be overwhelming: Use technology in a targeted way

Testing for the ACT and SAT are just around the corner. Schools nationwide are planning for additional meetings, sending out automated voice messages to families that reminds students to “get some sleep” and in-class test prep. Test prep generally takes the form of practice questions, daily drills and putting a pause on regular curriculum to pass around packets of daily test questions. While educators typically spend a great deal of time prepping for standardized exams, there are ways to tackle test prep without sacrificing classroom time. Use technology in a targeted way Some students are given the opportunity to use a tool that read the text to them. Teach students to look for this tool on different assignments before they even sit for a test. Teach them the typical icons to look for that represent this function. Develop lessons that ask students to access Read&Write for Chrome so that they can trigger documents to be read to them. Use a Variety of Tools: Develop lessons that ask students to digitally highlight phrases or select terms and move them to other areas of a document. If students do not have an ease in using these kinds of tools in class, they will it when they take a test. Create Interactive Files for Students: Online tests are documents with hyperlinks. They include text to read, videos to watch, and images to view, and they ask students to click on, write about, drag, etc. Develop some assignments that adopt this kind of multimedia information delivery system....