Focusing on Improvement

In Chapter 8 of our text book, Dr. Zadina discusses the need for talking about results with students rather than only focusing on "number correct." This discussion reminded me of math Sprints that have become an increasingly popular way to work on pattern recognition as well as fluency in basic math skills. I tried a couple of sprints with my classes this week, and they really enjoyed them! 

The students have one minute to complete the first page of problems. It begins with "read, set, go" much like a race. After one minute, the teacher calls out the answers to the problems; the students follow along on their paper and say "yes" if they wrote the correct answer. If they wrote the incorrect answer, they simply draw a line through their answer but they don't respond orally. Next, the teacher asks how many students got 1 correct, 2, 3, etc. until only one student's hand remains. The class claps or snaps or gives some other acknowledgement to the winner of that road. The students then take a little time to complete the remaining problems on the page to continue working on the particular skill. The students then get another page of problems and one minute on the clock. After one minute, the teacher again calls out the answers as students respond with a "yes" if they wrote the correct answer. Students add up the number of problems they answered correctly, but instead of writing how many they got correct at the top of their paper they should calculate and write their improvement. The sprints are designed so that students will more quickly recognize the pattern on the second page of problems, which leads to an increased number of correct problems. Instead of recognizing the student who got the most problems correct, the class recognizes the student who showed the most improvement. Chances are, this is a student who wouldn't normally be recognized for a strong performance in math class. Not only did my students get a chance to work on their math skills, they had the opportunity to engage in a friendly competition with their classmates as well as the opportunity to recognize students in the class who sometimes just slip by without being heard. 

Here is a link to a more detailed explanation of Sprints: 

Math Sprints