Over the last six weeks, I have been feeling a bit frustrated about the progress my class was making. Each week the class has learned new concepts using the 5-step lesson plan. The students have learned the Power Pix for each standard, practiced, used the three check for understanding strategies, and used critical thinking. At the end of each week, the class would have a multiple choice test on the week's standards. Unfortunately, each week the results were very disappointing. There would be less than 10 students with scores of 80% or higher, which is our goal.
I was starting to wonder what I was doing wrong. The other 3rd grade classes were doing much better than mine. Was I going too quickly? Maybe Whole Brain Teaching just wasn't working. I would ask the class each week, why they thought the class wasn't doing well, and I would get the same answers each week: not paying attention and talking too much. The problem was, during the week the students appeared to be paying attention, and most of the talking was during "Teach""OK".
This week, we were finally able to have a review week. There were no new standards to teach. The class had time to review all 20 ELA Power Pix that we have learned so far. We spent each day reviewing a different concept. On Friday, we took a review assessment. At last, the students did very well. The students had retained all of the information that they had learned all year! 20/30 students earned 80% or higher, and 6 more earned 70% or higher. Only 4 students earned a score under 70%.
This assessment showed that the repetition of the Power Pix is working for my class. The concepts that we learned longest ago, the students did the best on because they have repeated them the most. The concepts that we just learned last week were the concepts that the students struggled the most on, because they have not had enough repetition and practice.
Seeing such amazing progress has given me more confidence in using Whole Brain Teaching. After all, practice makes permanent!
Krystal,
ReplyDeleteGreat reflection! It is exciting to read about the impact WBT is having on your class results! You need to send me your folder of forum and blog posts, along with any CP Medallions already earned. I want you on my official list of candidates for WBT certification! Let me know if you have any questions.
Nancy
Mrs. Stoltenberg's Second Grade Class