It is the L2 Chemistry exam today. I went to talk to my students before they went in. Most have been strategically picking which papers to do and focusing their efforts.
The students seem upbeat and were surprised and happy to see me, saying that I'm the only teacher who has been to see them before their exam. I encouraged them to come and see me afterwards to tell me how it went.
Monday, 21 November 2016
Friday, 11 November 2016
Success on resubs
I have been working with some of the chemistry students who failed achievement standards earlier in the year. All those who stayed in the class for the full year have managed to achieve all the credits they were entered into, which means they are entering exams with 10 Chemistry credits under their belt.
They are also all intending to do Chemistry next year. I am quite pleased with that even though I still don't know who is teaching the Level 3 next year.
The last students to get their assessments needed more practice time. For the repeats I gave them lots and lots of practice questions until they felt ready. Part of it has been the maturing of the students.
This year I have identified the weaknesses that have come through from the Level 1 classes and I am planning how to ameliorate those at the start of the year to make the classes confident in their abilities from the start. Hopefully this will also address the relatively high attrition rate. Some of the attrition was due to bad course selection, but a few I think were because they felt discouraged when they didn't pass the first Achievement Standard.
They are also all intending to do Chemistry next year. I am quite pleased with that even though I still don't know who is teaching the Level 3 next year.
The last students to get their assessments needed more practice time. For the repeats I gave them lots and lots of practice questions until they felt ready. Part of it has been the maturing of the students.
This year I have identified the weaknesses that have come through from the Level 1 classes and I am planning how to ameliorate those at the start of the year to make the classes confident in their abilities from the start. Hopefully this will also address the relatively high attrition rate. Some of the attrition was due to bad course selection, but a few I think were because they felt discouraged when they didn't pass the first Achievement Standard.
Thursday, 3 November 2016
Peer Assessment
I tried a new style of assessment and marking with my Year 9 class.
For the end of astronomy unit they had to research astronomical cycles and their effects on the earth. There was a limited scope for personal choice, as there was a number of cycles they could choose from. The real difference was for them to do the marking of each others assignments.
For this I gave the students copies of the marking rubric and explained how to use it. The students worked in groups to mark each other and to feedback and feedforward to each other. The purpose of this exercise was to get the students to link the intructions of an assessment with the marking of it, to start showing them how the two are together so that in the future they can better tailor their efforts to where it will make the most difference.
Students took to the exercise and were very positive in their feedback to each other. The marking was accurate.
Some students didn't submit their work, but the exercise will have shown them the work that goes into marking regardless and hopefully will encourage them to respect deadlines.
For the end of astronomy unit they had to research astronomical cycles and their effects on the earth. There was a limited scope for personal choice, as there was a number of cycles they could choose from. The real difference was for them to do the marking of each others assignments.
For this I gave the students copies of the marking rubric and explained how to use it. The students worked in groups to mark each other and to feedback and feedforward to each other. The purpose of this exercise was to get the students to link the intructions of an assessment with the marking of it, to start showing them how the two are together so that in the future they can better tailor their efforts to where it will make the most difference.
Students took to the exercise and were very positive in their feedback to each other. The marking was accurate.
Some students didn't submit their work, but the exercise will have shown them the work that goes into marking regardless and hopefully will encourage them to respect deadlines.
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