- Liked opportunity to improve grade
- Pushed kids to study what they didn't know, not just what felt easy
- Getting a "4" on a topic built confidence for the exam on that topic
- Loved having to take them "cold"- gave a real picture of current understanding without stress of low score
- Gave accurate portrayal of what AP questions would be like
- Enabled you to correct your mistakes and feel okay being wrong/asking questions
As expected, it wasn't all sunshine and daisies....the kids has some (mostly) constructive feedback on things they didn't like too:
- Didn't like having to remediate to retake; just wanted to be able to retake
- Deadlines for retakes stressed some kids out since we were doing multiple per week
- Frustrating for students who understand concepts but make small algebraic or arithmetic errors and don't get the "4" they want so badly
- Wanted time in class to retake since finding time outside class can be difficult
- "Annoying" (Such helpful feedback, I know)
- Hard to find motivation with senioritis kicking in big time
Overall, I thought it was a success and will definitely be using this strategy again in the future. I was able to see a huge amount of growth in the students that took it seriously and we were able to comb through misconceptions with a fine-toothed comb. I was able to grade extremely critically since students were striving for a perfect "4" instead of settling for a 95% or 97% and not really examining what they did wrong. I whole-heartedly agree that it was a lot condensed into a small time period and the deadlines were constrictive for some students and I'll be adjusting for some of that next year.
The Google Form I used as a sign up was an absolute must - I could check it daily and was able to track student data through it, as shown here:
Overall, kids took 82 retakes on the 9 quick checks. Most kids said they wish they'd done more. And the growth mindset message seems to be getting through:
Can't believe we're so close to the end!
