My main question is how many students you have, but I'd also like to know what grade level you teach, and what courses.
I teach community college math. This semester I'm teaching 3 sections of beginning algebra. I started with over 40 students in each section.
I'm asking because I can't imagine using some of the systems I've seen described, when I have this many students. But even if you only have 25 students, I know high school teachers usually teach 5 or more classes, and that would be about the same number of students I have.
I'm adjusting my systems as the term progresses, and I'll report soon on what I'm doing. I don't think I'll know until the end of the semester how well it's working, though.
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I teach high school and I have 5 classes.
ReplyDelete1 section of Algebra 1 (25 students)
4 sections of Math Analysis (149 students total)
This means I really leave it up to students to come in and reasses. If every single student did it, I would be overwhelmed!
High School
ReplyDeletePhysics 3 sections total 60 students
Geometry 3 sections 60 students
I am the only teaching doing SBG & Mastery. No one has come to reassess yet.
Interested in what's happening in lower grades?
ReplyDeleteI'm a consultant who often works with elementary classroom teachers. This year I've worked with a lot (majority?) of classroom teachers of grades 3-5 who have over 30 students in a classroom. Too many have had more than 35! 37 even. That's like teaching 2 classes at once!
I said at the beginning of the semester that my students had to pass each mastery test at 85% or above to pass the course. I may have to soften that...
ReplyDeleteI've had better retention this term than in the past, but that may be something about the economy, rather than my 'new, improved' system.
I teach 8th grade Math and I have 4 Math classes (and 1 US History), BUT I am currently only doing SBG in my Algebra classes.
ReplyDeleteI have 2 sections of Algebra 1 (60 students total)
I have 2 sections of Pre-Algebra (65 students total)
I leave it completely up to the students to come in and reassess, but I do keep an eye on them and give a few who are struggling more reminders.
I hope that next year I will be able to start SBG in Pre-Algebra, still working on the skills list and a few other things though.
Sue,
ReplyDeleteI also teach CC math. I am doing SBG with only one class since it is the first time. It is 1st semester calc and I have only 19 students. I also can't imagine what I will do next semester when I have these same students plus others in 2nd semester calc. On the other hand, my summative assessment midterm was a resounding success. Students did better on the midterm than any class I have ever had. On the third hand (?!)I had a steady parade of students for reassessments keeping me swamped for two days before the midterm.
Sue,
ReplyDeleteI teach a class each of 5th grade math, 6th grade math, 7th grade math, and 8th grade Algebra I. I have a total of 68 students. This is my first year using SBG. I have kids who want to reassess and I am about to assign Monday as the reassessment day and I think I will have kids pick two topics to work on. This way kids can prepare over the weekend (I don't assign homework over the weekend)and I can suggest work for them to do to prepare. I don't like to test on Monday, but I see reassessing in a slightly different category: its voluntary and individualized and the kids control their work. I'll see how it goes.
High School
ReplyDeleteI use SBG for 2 non-AP calculus classes. That is about 27 students.
I have a lot of kids coming in to reassess. So far I've written over 40 reassessments, each with only 2 skills to reassess.
I have about 140 kids this year a little lower than normal but not unusually so.
ReplyDeleteI have 5 classes of 28-30 each, so 145. That is a HUGE improvement of last year, with 170 kids!
ReplyDeleteI teach 9th graders a "algebra lab" that's supposed to make struggling students pass their algebra 1 class.
My policy is to give students THREE chances to take each quiz in class (I usually give quizzes once a week, and they take two at a time - one old and one new) and then they have to come after school to remediate.
~ Surani
Sorry for the lateness...way behind on my Reader. Anyway, I have 120 students in 5 classes. They reassess on their initiative.
ReplyDelete