This is so frustrating

[CO teach]

My fourth graders have just taken a test over material we have been covering for about three weeks. Multiplication and division strategies. We have taken intermittent quizzes to check on their understanding and they were almost all doing very well. But we get to test day and it is like they have never seen the material before!!!! Hello! It is the EXACT same things that we have been working on for WEEKS! You did the same thing YESTERDAY! I don't know how to get them to make the connection. I am not trying to throw any curveballs here, just assess whether they have learned what we have been practicing!

OK, I feel better...thanks for listening and letting me vent.

 

[Carolyn]

Drives you crazy, doesn't it?

I had the same experience when I taught fifth grade. Only they were taking the end-of-grade test in math when I saw them do it. Arrrgh. Of course I wasn't allowed to say: "Oh, didn't we cover this just recently and with great, painstaking time and detail, and shouldn't it be oh, so fresh in your brain???"

 

[brooke]

practice

I teach fourth. What I've found is that some kids take months to master multiplication and division. I'd guess that if you looked at your class grades, many students mastered the concept. The others probably don't know their multiplication facts. When I begin 2-digit x 2-digit multiplication in late November, most of the kids will fail practice work for months. Again, what these students have in common is no mastery of multiplication facts. Keep at it. Don't expect them to master it. I tell my kids I don't expect them to get it right away. Practice makes perfect.

A site I used to collect a lot of practice sheets is http://themathworksheetsite.com/. Every morning my students get morning work that is corrected and sent home if they have failed. Work them up to mastery. Good luck.

 

[Miss C]

I feel your pain!

I just went through a week of re-teaching the past nine weeks of language because 75% of my class failed the 9-weeks exam. It was VERY frustrating! However, they did pass the re-test, which was nice. Of course, now my long-range planning is all messed up and I may not finish the textbook this year, but that's alright. I needed them to know this stuff before we moved on! Happy teaching!

 

[CO teach]

I am glad to know that others feel my pain!

I am not expecting them to master, or memorize, anything. All we have been working on are strategies to make multiplying and dividing easier. I am just so frustrated that we work on several strategies in class, but they can't take that strategy and apply it in an independent situation. I am honestly not worried if they master multiplying and dividing, I just want them to have ways of going about figuring it out so they understand the concept.

Thanks to all for your replies!