WHAT THE HECK??!?!? I TAUGHT MY BUTT OFF!!!!
It can’t be that they’re ALL stupid (although I might have said something along those lines, purely out of frustration!).
And then, the inevitable question of “what do I do now?” arises. Do I review the concept quickly and hope that sticks when the “real” lesson didn’t? Do I go back and reteach the whole thing? Do I say “oh well” and move on with pacing?
Well, first, let’s talk about the difference between Review, Reteaching, and Remediation.
Review is spending a shorter amount of time just looking at the content again (re-view). It’s that study guide before the test, the review packet before the exam. It’s a game where we get to look at content from a while back. It’s where you tackle 3 months of content in one class period. Everyone needs review.
Reteaching is where the majority of kids didn’t get a concept and you need to try to teach it again, another way. Maybe you tried the first time with a reading and now you’re going to try a concept map. Maybe the first lesson was video-centered. This time, try a graphic organizer. Most kids probably need that lesson retaught.
*Note: Reteaching requires teachers to make pacing decisions. You WILL have to determine if you take less time on another topic to reteach this one.
Remediating is where you fix a problem, particularly student-by-student. To remediate is to try to address a problem -- like, if Student A didn’t get Concept B. Remediation is more student-specific and attempts to target a problem with a specific piece of content or a skill.. Remediation isn’t the same as reteaching, although they’re often mixed up together. Remediation is more targeted and more clearly defined.
Let’s look at the difference when we look at a one benchmark.
If I were going to REVIEW Civics Benchmark 2.4 (Bill of Rights), I would go back over the Bill of Rights, maybe including it in a review game or playing a video and asking kids to reflect after the video.
If I were going to RETEACH Civics benchmark 2.4, I might start with teaching the hand signals for each amendment (to engage tactile learners) and help the kids organize slips (with one amendment written per slip) into categories. I think I would finally give kids scenarios that had them applying the amendments to a particular topic.
If I were going to REMEDIATE Civics Benchmark 2.4, I would first check my data to see which kids struggled with that benchmark. Then, I would use formative assessment data from my class (I might need to make one) to see WHAT PART of the benchmark (or which benchmark clarification) the kids missed. Then, I would specifically create a lesson or a mini-lesson to address and fix that deficit. Maybe we would look at just the amendments they did NOT get -- maybe they got the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 9th and 10th. So we will work on the others (4, 5, 6, 7, 8) in a small group, using the hand signals and having the kids illustrate those particular amendments. 
So what do we do after the main teaching?
It depends on IF kids bomb, how MANY kids bomb, and HOW they bomb.
We adjust from there.
There’s no silver bullet. But there are plenty of ways to adapt to moments where kids don’t learn what/as much as you want.
Think about using review, reteaching, and/or remediation to help your kids tackle stuf they need to tackle.
As always, let me know how it goes!
Email me at newmantr@pcsb.org
-Tracy
No comments:
Post a Comment