Some students struggle, even with review

Josh Adams

Friday, Sept. 12, 2008 | 2:47 p.m.

Week three has come and gone, and with it, the first chapter tests of the year. Each of my classes has taken their respective tests and individual grades have taken some major swings for some students. Those who did not study are beginning to realize just how important the chapter review can be and those who paid attention and worked hard are beginning to see the benefits.

With the first chapter done in each class, we are starting to get to some material that some students haven't seen before. This always brings some challenges, but it's the challenge that makes it all worthwhile.

In one the Algebra 1B course, we talked part of this week about solving equations. This is possibly the most important concept in all of the Algebra 1 textbook, and I know from experience that if we do not reach a certain comfort level with it, then the rest of the course will be very, very painful. I had planned to only spend one day on it, since it should have been review for everyone, however, it appears as though some students might have forgotten it, because it just wasn't sinking in as well as I would have liked. So today I made a decision that we would not move on to new material and would instead focus on this topic again. I want the students to have as much practice as they need on this so that by the time we get to chapters 3 and 4 it is old hat. For the second time through the concept I tried a new approach and focused more on the step-by-step procedure. It seems to have worked, but the true test will be if they remember it on Monday.

Overall, it was a great week, but certainly not one without challenges.