Perfection

It's been a long time since I last wrote.  I've been learning a lot this winter.  I feel the need to write again because of what I'm doing and learning.

I have started doing 'Perfect Tests' with my low students this winter.  The results have been nothing short of amazing.  These students were consistently scoring very low on chapter tests.  In fact, I had to brake up those that got F's into 2 categories, those in the 40s and 50s and those that got below 40%.  I was only getting 7 to 10 students that were earning a test score of a C- or above.  Over 2/3 of my class were getting D's or F's... I call them Dogs and Frogs.  I was pouring out my heart and soul trying to teach them my 4 posters but I was not seeing much growth.

In January, my students took a practice test of the state assessment they will be taking this May.  I broke the concepts of the test into 4 groups and I made up a 'blank' test for the first set of concepts.  I called it Perfect Test #1.  It has 9 questions.  We practiced the concepts and I gave them their first chance at taking it.  No one passed.  We practiced some more and I gave them a similar test and a couple of students passed.  To pass, a student has to get all 9 problems correct and show their work perfectly.  If I saw the slightest mistake, SLASH, they got nothing.  My students were terrible at learning and ever worse at avoiding mistakes once they had learned the concept.  They had a really hard time getting perfect.  It just was so foreign to them.  They lacked the Behaviors of Intelligence to
eliminate errors.  They lacked the expectation to achieve perfection.  They lacked the skills to quickly master new concepts and learn from their mistakes.  It took about 13 tries... but in the end, they all got perfect(except for one SPED student who is absent a lot and refuses to try even when he is here.  I haven't given up on him.  I will write about him some other time.).

It was so cool to tell each student, "You are perfect." when they passed.  They would smile a very deep and proud smile.  When someone didn't pass, I would simply encourage them to learn from their mistakes.  The goal was to be perfect or do better... everybody could always do this.  After a few days of slow improvement, I started encouraging my students to pair up and teach each other.  The results weren't very impressive at first, but once we got to around 30% that were perfect, it just snowballed.  It was like positive peer-pressure kicked in and they just took off.  They rooted for each other.  They clapped for each other at the end as the last ones would get perfect.  When they get perfect, they get to tape up their test on the back wall.  They are so proud and happy to do it.

This week, we started Perfect Tests #2.  Only a few were perfect on Monday.  I had given them practice tests for home work last week to give them extra practice in the hope of shorten the number of tries they would need to be perfect.  Tuesday was much better, I had about 30% perfect by the end of the day.  Wednesday, when they took their test, I gave them back their test to fix their mistake if they made only one.  Each day their score would drop 5%.  Wednesday was awesome.  Almost everybody was perfect by the end of the day.  They improved greatly in learning how to learn new material and avoid mistakes.

Thursday, today, I gave them a test over Perfect Test 1and 2.  They were only getting this one chance.    They could make one mistake for 'free' and after that each mistake was -5.  Out of my 2 classes combined, I had 1 D, 1 C, 4 Bs and all the rest got an A!!!!!

I am so very excited!!  They are learning how to learn by teaching, persisting and expecting it of themselves.  They are also learning how to avoid mistakes as they put into practice some of the Behaviors of Intelligence.  Perfection forces these students into a place they have seldom been.  In this place they need to quickly learn from their mistakes and also consciously decide to implement behaviors and strategies to avoid mistakes because they know they have to be perfect and now they also know that they CAN BE PERFECT.  I believe that soon they will expect to be perfect.

I praise God for the joy of teaching.  He never gives up on us.  I am so thankful for this new idea of perfect tests.  It is very powerful, especially when combined with the 4 posters.  I am already getting excited about next year and how I can do such a better job by starting with perfect tests right off the bat.  But I still have a long way to go this year.  I am very hopeful for what will happen these last few months.  I am very hopeful that my students will continue to improve and do great.