Student Meetings - A Follow Up

Two weeks ago, I wrote about meetings I had been having with 8th-grade students about their study habits.  On Thursday, we had our first test since those meetings, so I thought it was a good idea to do a quick follow up.

At some point, I lost count of the meetings. Kids would show up unexpectedly, or two would show up when I was only expecting one.  I believe that I had about 20 meetings, roughly a quarter of my 8th-grade students.  I was able to personally advise them about note-taking, study, and test-taking.  It was encouraging to get emails from them with deeper questions than they had previously asked (and those emails started coming several days before the test, a good sign that they were spacing their study).  When I was passing out the tests, a few asked if they could have a blank sheet of paper, showing that they intended to apply one of the pieces of advice I had given them.  

In each of my classes, the average score went up.  In one, it was a moderate rise of 3 points.  Scrolling through that list, I realized that only two of them had come in for a meeting.  That class average was also affected by one student having a dramatic drop in score; I haven't worked out what the cause for that was yet.  The most impressive result is that my lowest-performing class from the last two tests improved their average score by almost 13 points!  Out of the 18 students in that class, 7 had come to meet with me.  I know this isn't scientific statistical analysis or a controlled experiment, but I'd say it is pretty strong evidence that these meetings are working.  There is a fair amount of time invested in these meetings, but they are clearly worth it.

By the way, this test was on chemical bonding, which is much harder material than the first two tests covered.  That makes their improvement all the more impressive.  When I return this test, I always say, "If you made an A on this test or improved your score, go home and hang it on the fridge.  If you made a 100, buy a frame."  (There are so many tiny ways to go wrong with this test that making a perfect score is exceptionally difficult.). 

My kids stepped up, and I'm proud of them.  I hope that success will breed more success.  I got to send some congratulatory emails last week, which is one of my favorite things to do.  To take advantage of growth mindset, I don't just congratulate them on getting a better score.  I point out the work that went into it and tell them to keep doing those things because they are paying off and they will get even better at them as they keep practicing.