Observations in Newark 9

Today we continued with the test prep by having class in the computer lab and having them take a practice test again. The continued exposure to these practice tests will hopefully give the students familiarity with what’s expected of them on May 15^th when they take the written state exam. The students acted pretty much the same as they did the week before when they took the practice test for the first time. Many of them were not interested but some of them gave it a legitimate shot.

            When a student would ask me for help I would in turn ask them questions to get them to think about the question differently and have them figure out the answer based on that. I want to get the students to think more objectively about the questions and see if they can figure it out if the answer isn’t immediately available to them. I had one student who told me that they need a calculator to do this problem, so I went over and helped them work through the question in their head and they eventually got the right answer. We will not be able to help the students when they are taking the real test but helping them think more critically when they ask for help on the practice tests can only help.