Data

We’re on Week 2 of review and on Tuesdays the kids take a part of a multiple choice test.

Last Tuesday (Week 1) did not go great, which was completely expected.

One of my favorite things about this unit is all the data I get to analyze. I. Love. Data. If you want me to buy into something, show me the data. If you want to really annoy me, force me to do something that has no data proving its efficacy. I’m a really simple girl. Just show me the numbers.

Back to last week.

Not great.

But I analyzed our mistakes, tailored our practice, and a week later, their median score increased by 13 percentage points, and that was with a more difficult test (shhh).

DATA!

And also, hard work on their part.

I’m reading The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got There per the suggestion of Shelli Temple, and one of Finnish teachers says that studying for a big test, to some extent, should be fun.

That resonated so deeply with me. This is the unit I hear things like “I actually really like calculus…” the most. Part of it is probably all the pieces coming together, part of it might be that rhythmic, meditative aspect of math that so many of us love, but I think part of it is that studying for something this big is satisfying. It is fun.

I told my students today that the goal is just to do a little bit better today than last Tuesday. I loved hearing them say, “I did do better!”

It’s not about perfection. It’s about growth. It’s about setting your goal high and persevering. It’s about collaboration. It’s about grit.

And it’s about having fun.