The purpose of a math test is to see how much you remember. The mark you get will tell you and your teacher how much you remember. That’s it. Think of it as a formula,
What you remember + what you forget* = 100%.
*Forget includes math you once knew but have now forgotten, a concept you never understood in class, or a tough question not taught.
How do you remember anything? Two ways:
Clue - Just think how you go about remembering anything in your life:
#1 You remember it when it makes sense, when you understand why you’re doing what you’re doing. That means the likelihood is greater you will remember and not forget (e.g. looking left-right-left when crossing the road, if you play a sport knowing why a specific technique is the best (e.g. dribbling a basketball), structure to write an amazing essay).
#2 You remember it when you’ve done it a lot: Chores (e.g. washing dishes), looking left-right-left when crossing the road, remembering a person’s name or phone number, dribbling a basketball w/o looking at the ball. The more you do it, the greater the probability you will remember more of it. In sports, ‘doing it a lot’ is called repetitions (aka the reps).
And when you do both #1 and #2, then you’ll be rockin’ the remembering.
How do you remember math? Same two ways as in life!
#1 The math makes sense to you; you understand it. You know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Example: you understand why you need the same denominator when adding fractions, but not when multiplying fractions.
#2 You do a lot of math - hundreds of questions. Do 100% of the questions the teacher assigns, and even more. Yes, some students do this! And some cultures have doing hundreds of questions engrained in their math learning DNA - they remember by spending hours and hours doing math outside of class.
One of my grade 7s, who had high 80s, returned to India and was shocked at how students her age had a life consumed with studying (doing lots and lots of questions), and how much more challenging the math was.
Combining #1 and #2, and they’ll strengthen each other, and you’ll be remembering more and forgetting less. Yay!
What’s your teacher’s thinking about tests?
Let’s get into your teacher’s brain for a moment, and find out what they’re thinking about the purpose of tests:
Tests are where the students show me how much they understand.
I am expecting them to remember four things:
a) Past math in this unit
b) New math taught in this unit
c) Homework assigned
d) Test review questions.
Math students, here’s the thing: remember all four of the above, 100% of 2a), 2b), 2c) and 2d), and you should get over 80%. If you’re thinking, “What, Edison, you’re messing with me. Why not 100%?” Well - there are two reasons:
First, you’ll probably make some errors on math you know, and second, there will be tougher questions on the test that weren’t taught (aka Thinking questions or Level 4 questions).
Pop-quiz: So, what’s the purpose of a test?
Until next time,
EH
What’s EH?
Initials for my name, Edison Hopkinson.
Plus, ‘EH’ is a part of Canadian culture - it’s how many of us finish off sentences.
It’s sunny today, EH! I’m ready for that test, EH!
So not so much a question, but more a statement. Well, I guess it could be a question, I’m remembering more, EH? Though that sounds a tad unsure.
Until next time, EH!