Assessment

Overview:

To support student agency and self-awareness in math, I regularly use reflection slips alongside homework checks or assessments. These short, structured reflections prompt students to name their strengths, identify areas of struggle, and reflect on their performance. The goal is to help students take ownership of their learning and build confidence in their mathematical thinking.

How It Works:

Students complete a brief reflection—typically a half-sheet—during class or with homework. Prompts focus on:

• What students feel confident about,

• What they’re still working through, and

• How they think they performed on a recent assessment.

Once assessments are returned, students revisit their predictions and compare them to their actual results. When there’s a disconnect, I invite them to reflect on what contributed to the gap and talk with me about strategies for improvement.

Sample Questions:

1. What are two things you feel confident about this week?

2. What’s one concept that’s still unclear?

3. What grade do you think you earned on the quiz/test, and why?
   
   

Why It Matters:

This process shifts assessment from judgment to reflection. Students begin to see their learning as a journey, not a label. Pairing self-predicted grades with actual results helps them recalibrate expectations and build metacognitive awareness. Over time, it fosters a classroom culture of growth, equity, and belonging—where all students are seen as capable and their voices matter.

Implementation Notes:

• Using this strategy consistently—but not too frequently—keeps it meaningful.

• When paired with student conferences or success plans, reflections help students track their learning and see the value of effort and support.

• I occasionally respond to student slips to reinforce that their reflections are heard and valued.

Overview:

Midway through a unit on solving rational equations, I created a “Find and Fix” warm-up using errors I had seen on student homework and quizzes. Students worked in pairs to identify and correct these mistakes. We then held a mostly student-led discussion where they determined what the errors were and when each problem was successfully corrected.

Effectiveness:

This activity was highly successful. I was surprised by how engaged students were—it sparked genuine mathematical discussion and debate. Students clarified their own misunderstandings by analyzing others’ errors, and the process led to a deeper understanding of the content. It also normalized mistakes as learning opportunities, which contributed to a supportive classroom culture.

Strategies:

Key to this activity’s success was using real student misconceptions—it made the work relevant and authentic. The classroom culture I had already built, one where students felt safe to share and challenge ideas, was essential. I also stayed in the role of facilitator, prompting with questions but letting students drive the discussion. This helped them take ownership of the process and solidify their understanding by explaining why the mistake was incorrect, not just how to fix it.