He remedied this by attaching rows of mail pouches, each marked with a student's name, to the classroom wall. Pupils now go straight to the pouches every class period to pass in work and pick up new materials. It cuts down time, and students seem to enjoy the new responsibility and this little piece of turf set aside just for them, he reports. N.Y. A 1996 study of eighth-grade math achievement by The Education Trust, in fact, shows that student scores tend to fall as worksheet use rises. Even earlier research has consistently shown that too much independent seatwork in any subject area is negatively correlated to student achievement.
Students benefit from interactions with teachers that provide corrective feedback.
Festa looks for ways to base a math lesson on a well-crafted story problem, one that lends itself to multiple solutions. It's a way for teachers to recognize that they are the most important learners in their classroom, she explains. If they continue learning professionally, then their students will benefit from their improved teaching. Don't underestimate gimmicks when it comes to building students' interest, says Festa. He often interjects the names of actual students into the math problems he poses, and the students are drawn into the exercise.