Friday Math Rocks

I'm a mother, a teacher, and a girl with a history of getting down on myself and feeling "Dumb". In fact in Grade 6 our teacher had our desks arranged in rows by the "academic" leveled groups that he had placed us in. The lowest group of students happened to complete a single row of desks....and was thus labelled by the other students "The Dumb Row". I was one of two girls that had a permanent spot in that row. Since I have had some terribly negative experiences in school I am much more sensitive to simply assessing students by giving them a unit test at the end of each Mathematics strand. I've felt a great deal of conflict about how I assess my students because my teaching partner loves to barrel through every expectation and then test her students. I feel my own insecurities and anxieties begin to escape just thinking about it! I hope to support individual students in a way that enables them to understand where they are at in relation to the success criteria we have listed as a class in Mathematics. Each student will self-reflect based on my feedback, and set learning goals for themselves. I don't want my students who are only in Grade Five to ever experience feelings of inadequacy, or to think that they are terrible at math, or just plain stupid. At the same time however...I feel I must be more accountable to my parents in how I communicate the strengths and areas of growth needed for my students. My Friday "Math Rocks" folders are meant to communicate what we have been working on for the week. Inside parents will find a letter outlining the purpose of the folder, the success criteria, and some homework for review. It could be a game to play, a website to visit, or a math problem that has been solved in class that the children will explain to their parents. I'd love to hear your thoughts about testing young children.