[ High School and Self-Education Board ]
Posted by LoriM on 18:48 Jun 17
In Reply to: (butting in, sorry) Martha raises an interesting point, Lori, about silly errors.... posted by Nicole
I teach the "self-checking and self-correcting" method. First of all, I am not the first person to "grade" or "correct" a test; my child is. So, while she works the problems in a timed environment (finish this in an hour), when she's finished I hand her the answer key--answers only. She checks her answers and has 15-20 minutes (depending on length of test) to make corrections.
THEN I grade the test. Typically at that point, every "silly" mistake is cleaned up. There may still be some errors; it's amazing how many ways you can work a problem and arrive at "5" but work it incorrectly. GRIN. Errors are addressed in a "meeting" between the two of us, and if necessary, we retest on those concepts in a couple of days. She always rewrites correct solutions for the errors that might have occurred.
That's it. No grade. No fuss over errors. Lots of time to learn how to self-check. Reminders (daily) that self-checking can occur *without* the correct answer at hand, simply by plugging in the answer she's gotten and ensuring it works. (She does that on the majority of homework problems.)
Anyway, I think the vast majority of the math my girls learn is when they correct their errors/silly mistakes, not when they were learning the solution methodology in the first place. Heaven forbid I gave them "C's" for working diligently on the learning process.
I don't claim this is the only way, but I do know that my previously math-phobic dd is now talking about majoring in math in college. The one who always claimed she was a "writer" and an "artist" and "not good at math"...but she really enjoys it now. I don't know how much enjoyment we'd have if I'd been nitpicking every mistake she ever made her whole life. I'm happy with a 17yo dd who can't wait until the fall when she "gets to take" PreCalc at CC (not is "forced to take"). I guess she still has time to learn to hate math (ROFL) but it won't be because I sucked the fun out when she was in high school. (c: