Wednesday
we will have an Algebra test on the material we’ve been studying. You are likely to be the most successful on
the test if you set some goals for yourself. Today you will do just that.
Please answer the following questions as you decide
on your goal(s); you
will spend between now and Wednesday preparing to meet these goal(s).
Do you want to meet your goal(s) by:
1)
Avoiding making a certain number of careless
mistakes? (If so, how many?)
2)
Making a certain grade? (If so, what grade or percentage?)
3)
Spending a certain number of minutes studying each
night? (If so, how many?)
4)
Doing something else? (If so, what would you do?)
5)
How easy do you think it will be to achieve your
goal? Are you ready for it?!
[You
will be most easily able to do your best on any test for which you spend more
than one night studying for at least 20 minutes. Some of you will spend longer
and that’s okay!]
|
Monday
3/25 |
Tuesday
3/26 |
|
1. I’ll
spend ______ minutes studying tonight, practicing problems I’m having trouble
with and writing questions about problems I still don’t understand. |
1. I’ll
spend ______ minutes studying tonight, practicing problems I’m still having
trouble with and quizzing myself from the review sheet. |
|
2. Number of minutes you spent finishing homework: |
2. Number of minutes you spent finishing
homework: |
|
3. Number of minutes you spent studying: |
3. Number of minutes you spent studying: |
|
4. Total number of minutes spent working on math
on Monday (homework + studying): |
4. Total number of minutes spent studying Math on
Tuesday (homework + studying): |
Wednesday before the test:
-What was/were the goal(s) that you decided to set?
-Before taking the test, can you predict whether
you’ll meet your goal? Why/ Why not?
After the test:
1) Did you meet your
goal? (Explain.)
2) Are you happy with
your test? Why/Why not?
3) If you were to set
a goal for your next test, do you know what it would be? Would you change
anything in preparing to meet your new goal?
Sample student responses to “After
the Test” Questions (numbered 1-3).
Student 1: 1) Kinda, not exactly though. [Student’s original goal was to
make an A.] 2) Sorta, I made a 79% . .
. at least I passed!! 3) Study more, & my goal is to do better!
Student 2: 1) No. 2) Yes, I still made a B. 3) Study more, try harder.
Student 3: No b/c I didn’t get to finish. No b/c I didn’t understand some of the stuff. 2) Nope cuz I did bad. 3) Yes I would study
more and ask more questions.
Student 4: 1) Yes, I got a 91 [student’s goal was 90 or higher.] 2) Yes b/c
I passed. 3) To get 2 pts. higher. No. [Student wouldn’t change anything.]
Student 5: 1) No, I made an 85 and made a lot more than four
mistakes. 2) No, I think I could have
done a lot better. 3) I would set the
same goal and I would only change the amount of study time I would study more.
Student 6: 1) Yes, I got above an 80.
2) No, it was one point from a B.
3) No no.
Student 7: 1) No. 2) No, I would
have like to have done better. 3) No I
would keep the same goal but study more.
Student 8: Well I got an alright grade but I didn’t study enough. 2) Yes, b/c I didn’t really study but still
got a ok grade. 3) Study more.
We can see that though the answers varied, the students were responsive to the idea of goal setting. I would consider this assessment technique successful and extremely helpful to me as a teacher. If I were teaching these classes longer I would use the goal setting set up here as the course continued.
copyright © 2002 Teresa K. Hayne