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CC0 Public Domain/Geralt
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Today my classes were to take a test on the Circumference and
Area of Circles and the Perimeter and Area of Compound Shapes. Yesterday, I
conducted a detailed review of exactly what was going to be on the test. I also
wrote all the formulas the students would need to calculate the answers to the
questions on the test on the white board.
One would think the students would be ready to take and do well
on such a test. Reality proved very different. Of the 22 students present in
class this morning not half-a-dozen were able to make a good start on the test.
Most of them stared at the test with a blank look on their faces as if they’d
never seen a circle in their life.
This is precisely what I expected to happen. These children sit
in class paying scant, if any, attention to the lesson. Being prepared for this
eventuality, I had the students put their heads down on their desks and raise
their hands if they knew they hadn’t paid enough attention and hadn’t studied
for the test.
The students were refreshingly honest. Fully 2/3 of them
admitted they hadn’t paid enough attention and hadn’t properly prepared for the
test. I was prepared for this.
I abruptly cancelled the test. While I had their attention, I
went over the vocabulary, each of the formulas, and how to use them to
determine the dimensions of a circle and a compound shape. The students listened
and watched with laser focus. It discouraged me that I had to resort to such a
drastic measure to get them to behave like students in a classroom instead of
anarchists at a Starbucks.
On Monday, when they take the test again, I’ll learn if this
shock treatment did any good.
