Category: Classroom Routines

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Constant Cumulative Review (pt.1)

As I’ve mentioned, my two primary math classes start every week with a cumulative review. It is a bigger commitment than most of the practices I describe here, but I think the impact is worth it.

In brief, my system is a short mixed review sheet that I make each week. I pick problems from a folder full of worksheets from the whole year, so that it is a constantly expanding cumulative review. Students know to work on the review when they first get to class, then correct it themselves and log their results. If they have extra time they work independently on any weak points the review sheet turned up.

I’ll be back with more details, in three parts

  • How to stay sane while making weekly cumulative reviews
  • Review sheets in action
  • Implementation considerations

But for today, start with why. 

We do it because…

  1. Retaining what you’ve learned is maddeningly difficult when you only have a few hours of math a week, and you spend the rest of your time thinking about other pressing non math things.

And because I got tired of students working hard in class to learn something, only to get to an end of term review or high stakes test (or the next weeks’ class) and realize they had forgotten it. This is discouraging for everyone.

 

  1. The brain science/pedagogy: recall practice and interleaving, low stakes formative assessments, the way it set up student-lead differentiated review.  All good, research-backed pedagogical reasons.

 

  1. But really, because a student asked for it.

This student, D–, was one of my sweetest, favorite students. The kind who cheerfully worked away at a subject that baffled her, who kept at it despite setbacks, who’s going to make a great early childhood educator someday, and who paid attention to her own learning enough to know that she didn’t always retain what she had studied.

So, when she asked for review materials that combined of all of the math we’d covered, I paid attention. It was a good request, but not one I could easily answer.

The textbooks had a cumulative review at the end, but we hadn’t done every unit, so that wasn’t so helpful. And I didn’t have a custom one ready for her. Making a custom one would require digging back through all of the units we’d done over the last six months, and that would take time (which is always limited)  I think/hope we did a review day soon after, but mostly I kept thinking about her request.

  1. And I do it because systems solve things.  (personal philosophies…)

No, I didn’t have a stack of perfectly aligned cumulative reviews when she asked for them, but by September, I had figured out a system. We could have them going forward.

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Metacognitive exit tickets (work in progress)

This was one of my teaching goals for the school year, a way to build in a tighter feedback loop so I’d understand something about my students’ thinking each class and so they’d start to understand something about it too.

I hoped they’d pay attention to when they struggled and when they had success, what study strategies or teaching modes they preferred, how they were progressing, all the big questions.

In August it seemed simple, hand out a quarter sheet of paper, write a question on the board, collect responses. Go. It would be great.

(Oh, August. Always so hopeful.)

In practice, it was ok.

But I had to come up with a question every week targeting some bit of metacognition. And truthfully, it was often the last thing I planned, on the fly, rushing to get everything ready. It didn’t always get my best thinking. (Hi there, decision fatigue).

And they had to understand the question well enough to write an answer so they could get out the door (at 8:30 pm, after a full night of math, when they were kind of fried)

So, this winter, we (I) got a little more structured. I stumbled across this article , and decided to adapt and adopt the traffic light exit ticket.

I’d ask my students the same question every week: identify one moment when you were stuck, when you were slowed down, OR when you were cruising along.

I’d save the bit of brain power I’d spent on other questions for something else, they’d get good at answering this one question, it would teach them to self-monitor. It would be great. (January, also hopeful.)

In reality, a few weeks in, some students are still better than others at it. Some are distinctly perfunctory.  Some are beautiful. Some go in my ‘reminders for a bad day’ file

DSC_1509

The common question is worth taking a decision off my plate, though, and has made it easier for the students to focus their thinking. And, I’m hoping I’ll be able to give each student their own pile of tickets at the end of the term and have them look for patterns in their thinking.

I may refine it for next year, but I think it’s already better than the previous version.  And both are better than nothing.

If you’d like to try it in your class, here’s a version of my ticket. (updated Jan. 2020)

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Classroom routines (aka: You will metacognate)

My first tries at incorporating metacognition were, umm, less than fully successful. I asked new students about their knowledge, their preferences, their goals. I asked the class to reflect at the end of the term. It was one-off, well intentioned, added in when I thought the calendar called for it.

Or, I’d drop in soapbox speeches about study skills, or lessons that included information about learning.

And they did their best, but mostly my students looked at me like I was a little odd. Their faces read: I don’t know? Why are you even asking?  or How should I know about learning? We didn’t do this in high school. My other teachers don’t make me do this.  or How will this help me get my HiSET?  or Aren’t you the expert, teacher?

They still think I’m a little odd that I keep asking about their thinking. But they’re no longer surprised.

Because, routines.

I love routines.  For many reasons. One reason: routines make sure my students get asked to think about their thinking at least three times every single class.  And practice makes, if not perfect, at least progress.

(Context reminder, my adult students have math one evening a week. If you meet every day, you might spread these out)

 

  • We start with a quick cumulative review (Every.Single.Week. Because I and my students are tired of them forgetting what they’ve worked hard to learn) They put it in a folder, and they write a comment. (Metacognition #1) [Updated: Here’s a description of our review system]
  • We end with an exit ticket. Not an assessment, a quick reflection. A sentence or so about what worked or didn’t work for them during class. (Metacognition #3) [Updated: Here’s a description of our exit tickets]

I’ll be honest. None of these metacognitive moments are guaranteed to be particularly reflective or deep. I get a lot of “It was good.” or “It was hard.” comments still.  And I content myself with building habits, and self-awareness, remembering slow and steady progress.

But, sometimes I get gold.

I get “It was hard but I kept going and I figured it out by doing X”.  Or I get the comments that keep me going, as much as the students, the ‘I think I’m starting to get it’ and the ‘math isn’t as hard as I thought’  and sometimes even ‘math is becoming fun’

Student writing: "taking what I know from what you've taught me and previous notes, math is becoming fun when you know how to do it :) thanks

Coming attractions:  I’ll be back with  more detailed descriptions of each of these routines