I teach at an urban, Title I school where over 90% of students come from low-income households. Federal funding provides free breakfast, lunch, and snack for every student. Even with parental support, I would love to say that my students have everything that they need to be successful, but they don’t. Our classrooms lack much of what is now considered standard in elementary school classrooms due to district underfunding.
Despite the basic inequities and challenges my 55 awesome 3rd graders experience daily, they still come to school every day, excited and ready to learn.
The three math classes that I teach include gifted students, students with special needs, students from single-parent households, students in foster care, and even three sets of twins! In their short lives, many of my students have lived through various forms of trauma, and this has seriously inhibited their ability to learn. the average performance of my students in both reading and math is on a first grade level. Because of these deficits, I am always looking for new, innovative ways to help my students grow and succeed!
Teachers are inundated with data. When presented properly, it helps us grow as educators and motivates us to do even more with our students. Last year was my first year teaching and towards the end of the year, when I started sharing my students’ own data with them in a meaningful way, it motivated them to achieve.
My students will set SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Based Goals) about their math and science learning using math and science materials created by teachers on TeachersPayTeachers.
Their goals will be posted in their personal goal binders and updated weekly by the students themselves as they track their own individual progress.
These binders will help my students access the math and science curriculum in ways that they haven’t before. Previously, after taking a science test or doing an experiment, students would receive a grade and that would be that. Now, our focus will not only be on what we learned but additionally, the steps we can take to improve our understanding further. By placing our focus on data and growth, it will help improve my students as scientists as they consider the variables that go into their own improvement.
With the help of Tom’s of Maine and you, my students will better access their science and math learning. I can not wait for them to take ownership of their own understandings!