First Test

Today my honors class had their first test. It was far more qualititative than in past years, had no multiple choice, and a wide variety of completion times. I'll grade it over the weekend. Progress reports are due on Tuesday, so I really need to gather my evidence and figure out where all my students stand.

Looking back at the CVPM unit as a whole:

What worked:

• Spending most of our time on qualititative representations. Not only did the students (of all levels) spend less time stumbling over math, they also didn't use it as a crutch.
• The graph matching and Classroom Orienteering activities. Moving their bodies through the graphs and around the definitions of distance, displacement, speed, and velocity seemed to clarify the concepts for most of the students.

What didn't work:

• Pacing. We've spent far too much time on CVPM,and only one class has tested on it. Next year, it has to go faster.
• Sequencing. Next year I want to do Classroom Orienteering earlier, and save the lab practical for later.

Next week, on the other hand, I'm just going to enjoy taking out the hovercraft and talking about balanced forces.