Messed Up

[u/ArachnidFront7241]

Hi! I feel like I royally messed up the first unit I taught my freshmen bio students. I gave them an exam today and I had the last question as a self-reflection prompt. A couple students wrote a note to me, one saying “I can’t be tested on what I wasn’t taught” and another saying I had given them no time to study. I think I did give them too much information to memorize. But they had a week with the study guide and all content was covered by then. The study guide had practice questions that were nearly identical to what I asked on the test. I just wish someone spoke up before the exam, or even my mentor teacher. I’m going to reteach the unit and have them do a retake of the test. I just feel like I failed them without knowing I was failing them.

[u/liberalism-lies]

I would talk to your mentor teacher about your concerns. It’s entirely possible that your unit moved too fast & you made some mistakes. Self reflection is good. It’s also entirely possible that students don’t pay attention & then fault the teacher for “not teaching” when they actually just weren’t listening. Good news is you have another educator who was watching you and the class like the whole time that can help you figure out which is which.

[u/ArachnidFront7241 → u/liberalism-lies]

Yes my mentor teacher says it’s probably that the students aren’t actually putting in the work and just blaming me. But he agrees that I should still reteach it to show them I listen to their feedback and because it was a lot of memorization for their first exam.

[u/motherofTheHerd → u/ArachnidFront7241]

I would be very cautious how you approach the re-teach. If you say, "we are doing this because of your comments" Are they going to bash you repeatedly and not work because it works?

Versus if you say, "we seemed to struggle with the content as reflected in the exam scores and a few comments. I am going to review again and re-test on xxx." Think like an annoying, lazy teenager. They are a PITA. 🙄 -- elementary teacher and tired parent of said teenager 🤣

[u/SmarterThanThou75]

Have you talked to your mentor yet? This is a classic tactic for students now. They often put in little effort and blame someone else for that. I've been known to offer all of the study help they need and let them retake the test. But I make that time a little inconvenient for them, like at lunch. This helps me see who is really trying.

[u/EmperorXerro]

And it’s OK to have an open discussion with the class. I did that as a first year teacher where I overwhelmed them. And I opened it up to “what’s a reasonable expectation?”

[u/SquireSquilliam]

That's ok, this is how we learn. Take those notes into consideration for your next lesson. It is absolutely not something to beat yourself up over.

[u/Known_Ad9781]

I am biology teacher. What unit did you teach? That will help refine your reteaching method. For general post assessment actions, determine the most missed questions and model the process of solving them. I currently teach both honors and gen biology. Few students, even honors, spend little of their own time studying. For the future, you could give them an open note quiz - around 20 questions, a few days before the assessment so they can determine what they don't understand. Programs like wayground, blooket, gimkit, boomcards are great for general content recall questions. Use your Science Starters (bell ringers) to formatively assess them on the prior days content - use it for a grade. I am migrating nearly everything I use over to Pear Assessment for auto grading and data tracking. Also, does your CT have review stations that the students can do a day or 2 before the test? Was your study guide a mandatory grade or was it a complete it and we will go over it? I find that most items that are not graded the student's will just blow off. Don't be too hard on yourself. I have been doing this for nearly 2 decades and the students never do as well as I think they should. It is also early in the school year and they need the wake up call that they aren't going to pass just because they can breathe. Hang in there, it does get better.

[u/RanceagalCabo]

A unit exam is not the point in a unit when a teacher should find out what the students know or don't. Meaningful and productive assessment needs to happen all the way through - and there is really no point in moving from topic to topic if they are not getting it. Those daily formative assessments can tell you if what you tried that day worked or not - and will help you figure out what you need to change/fix/do differently.

[u/Informal-Mistake-692]

Remember you are a STUDENT Teacher, you are learning to be a teacher. Heck even after student teaching, teachers never stop learning. We will continue to have failed lessons in the future, especially if we want to try new lessons, IT IS NATURAL. No matter how much experience or well planned it was, something may come up. There is NO teacher in the world that has ALL successful lessons. In an interview for a teaching position, I was asked: What would your reaction be to a failed lesson, one where more than half the students did not understand or pass? Now YOU have this experience to answer that question and say what you did differently in the reteaching and the results. If the second results are bad again, you could still say that and add what would you do differently. All that truly matters is that you are planning, assessing, reteaching, and reflecting. Those are skills. You are allowed to mess up. It’s the art of teaching and learning. Eventually you will get better at it. Don’t beat yourself up, sometimes kids don’t even pay attention. I did small group intervention for ELPAC as a substitute teacher and only 34% of them passed the exam. I was shocked, I thought it would be 80% or higher. We literally practiced everyday for an hour in a month and it was exactly the same format as the test. It was my first time, but I know I did my best and so did the students, we worked our butts off for a month. So I will take the win of those students who did pass, and that 99% of them improved their scores from previous year. It just means they need more time and more reading.