And then this week, while at a workshop analyzing our testing data, I was looking at the results from the student engagement surveys (the students complete these surveys for reading, writing, and math right before they do their yearly standardized testing.) I was saddened. Two of my students said they don't enjoy math, and another two said they only sometimes enjoy math. That equated about one quarter of my students. And not surprisingly, these four students also did not meet the provincial standard on the test. Heartbroken. I went home and decided something had to change.
I have always done reading engagement and interest surveys at the beginning of the year, but I hadn't thought about doing them in math. So, last night I made a math engagement survey and we completed them today in class. This weekend I will go through the surveys and analyze the students' honest answers. I'm hoping, if I can pinpoint those students who are not engaged in math class right from the beginning, I can begin to work with them more closely. These aren't necessarily the students who struggle in math (I already know and work closely with those students). These are the students who might fall between the cracks ... and with a little extra work from me to find out what motivates them, include their interests a little more in math class, and develop their leadership skills in math, well, I'm hoping that just might win them over.
Just click on the picture below or HERE to grab a copy for yourself and your students ... it could be that little difference you were looking for and didn't even know it.
Happy Thursday!
