Last week at school was very hectic; grades closed for progress reports and the computer grade program was acting up, and it seemed like there were a million other things going on. For my biology class we were struggling through learning cell division and the first quiz the class took was a big bust for most of them. I was really frustrated with this and spent most of the next day trying to come up with ways to review and reinforce the concepts without completly reteaching the lesson. We ended up doing a whole bunch of different activities, including the songs I posted about previously. We also did a mitosis card sort activity; which you can find in my store here. As well as the mitosis 4x4 puzzle which is also in the store. And just to really drive home the message students took the list of objectives from the chapter and used their book and notes to make a study sheet which would help them study for the test. We took another quiz on Friday and the results were much better so I think all of the review efforts payed off. I am very glad that I didn't just continue to move on when it was apparent that the majority of the class hadn't gotten the concepts. I am really trying to stress to this gorup of students that it isn't just about getting through a chapter and moving on but that the goal is for them to understand the concepts and be able to use the information they learn. It was a tough week but the results of the quiz on Friday were uplifting. I am hoping that by Monday the students will all do well on their test. I don't usually test on a Monday but the remainder of the week is our high school winter carnival so we need to wrap up this unit before then.
Ok, so here is the link for Successful Saturday Weekly Linky! I hope to see others joining!!
Thank you sooo much for joining in the very first edition of Successful Saturday! I'm so glad your efforts paid off! It's so easy to get stuck in the mindset of having to rush through just to get everything "taught" before then end of the year. We have to step back and think about what was LEARNED not just taught since we all have those times when things don't "click" like we hope the lesson will do. A new Successful Saturday post is up. I hope you've had another successful week to share!!
ReplyDeleteLisa
The Lower Elementary Cottage
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