Best Teaching Practices
2016-2017
Feedback on Assignments and Assessments
In math especially, I find it is very important to provide detailed feedback to students when they miss questions, or even when a problem can be thought of in multiple ways. I work hard when grading to provide students with detailed and personalized feedback for each missed question. I have started organizing commonly missed question feedback with worked out solutions to help me save time and easily provide the students with a wealth of resources. While you won't see an "exceeds" in grading on my evaluations this is not due to lack of feedback! I find that I cannot possibly grade nightly during the traditional school year.
Extra Learning Opportunities
I have begun embracing extra learning opportunities to help students master missed concepts. Sometimes a large number of students will perform poorly on an assignment or assessment. Instead of simply dropping the grade after the course closes, I prefer to give students an opportunity to go back and attempt to clear up their misunderstandings. I have used a combination of standard specific test prep sites like USA TestPrep and Shmoop, along with remediation worksheets of my own from my face to face classroom. I have been somewhat surprised and disappointed that all students take advantage of these opportunities. I am looking for ways to increase participation in my extra learning opportunities.
Communication
I use a variety of communication tools to keep students on track. I like to post personalized news announcements for students who do not turn in major projects and assignments on time. The student's name shows up in the urgent looking message so that they know they have missed something important. After due dates, I also send emails to all students who are missing work so that parents know the assignment has been missed and students have a chance to complete the work before the final late deadline has passed. For major projects and tests, I will often call home to alert the parent that a major grade has been entered into the grade book as a zero. The number one reason for failure in my courses is missing and late work. These proactive measures have drastically reduced the amount of late and missing work in my classes.