Chapter 2 Topic: Simplifying with Variables

Includes:

• Chapter Test (or for use as Individual Test)
• Chapter Study Guide (or for use as Partner Test)
• Answer Sheet for Partner Test
• Online Version of Partner Test (Edulastic shareable link)

*all 3 documents editable

At face value this package includes a Chapter Test and accompanying Study Guide for a specific Common Core (8th Grade Standards) curriculum, which also blends perfectly with and is closely tied to the organized I Can Statements I have also created for this curriculum. But what you are also getting is the built in option of treating these each as an Individual Test and Partner Test respectively with the provided Answer Sheet. Collaborative test taking, which is in the very nature of Common Core! Imagine your Administration walking in to see the positive discord a partner test creates, while also seamlessly helping your students study for their individual test to follow.

Personal Goals & Experiences:

In my class at the end of each chapter we will have a two day assessment session. Day 1 students will be paired up based on their previous test score (my colleague lets them pick their partner and there has been times when I will randomly select pairs). Each student will be given a "Partner Test" packet and each pair will get one answer sheet to share. They are given 45 minutes to work and discuss then put all their combined answers on the Answer Sheet, which is almost always enough time for all of my groups. At the end of the timer all pens/pencils must be put away and students highlight all their correct answers on the shared Answer Sheet. These are quick and easy to score then can immediately be put into the gradebook. Once Answer Sheets are scored and turned into me, students then highlight the correct answers on their Partner Test, because they will take it home and it will now become their personal Study Guide for the test the following day. At the end of the school day I post a "Study Guide video" on our class webpage, so students can review any parts they need to assist them in studying that night and also provides absent students with access to the study guide as well. The following day, Day 2, students will come in and take the "Individual Test" on their own, which I will grade myself.

The clientele of students I work with in this course are often times students who do not know how to study, so partner tests have become my way of forcing them to put in the effort needed to be prepared for an exam like a chapter test: I also allow use of our guided notes on the Partner Test so they are encouraged to look through them with the help of their partner. I count the Individual Test (75 points) as three times a Partner Test (25 points), so a students' personal understanding is still the weight of the grade while encouraging them to work hard at the Partner Test; For students who are absent the day of the Partner Test I simply exclude is as part of their grade and make the Individual Test count as 100 points instead in their gradebook. Because we do not have enough time in class to go over every part of the Study Guide (the Partner Test packet which they now get to take home and use to study) once students are finished taking and scoring the Partner Test, I post the explanation of every problem on a "Study Guide video". This allows students to focus on the explanations specifically for their needs, and can be replayed or paused as many times as needed. As a result students are much more prepared for their Individual Test the next day. Since implementing this partner and individual test format this year as opposed to just a study guide and test I have seen an increase in my testing averages from previous years.

My goals for next year will be to digitize the Partner Test excluding the need for the Answer Sheet. My hope is that each group will be able to submit their Partner Test as soon as they are completed and their incorrect answers will spit back to them, so no time is wasted in class when they could otherwise be retrying said problems or seeking assistance from myself. This also eliminates the possibility of students sharing the projected Answer Sheet with later classes. I am in the process of creating an online version of the Partner Tests (using Edulastic, which completely scores the Test and gives students the answers) this year and will be updating each assessment package with the link when finished! For each Partner Test I am also creating a YouTube video explanation for students to use to study prior to the Individual Test, which I will also share as a link.