Counting Down to TAKS

I am on the two week count down with my math models classes to prepare them for their TAKS test the last week of April. One of the things we are working on every day is reasoning, and telling the difference between reasonable and unreasonable answers. This is a skill that comes quite naturally to my pre-ap classes, but seems to be something that most kids in my remedial kids do not quite grasp. Another thing I am trying to break them of is completing the first step of a problem and believing the result they have obtained is the answer. On the Texas TAKS test, there are very few problems that are one-step. You almost always have to complete 2 or 3 steps to arrive at the correct answer. I think this is the one thing that is going to get them on test day. If they do a calculation and see that number on their paper, they are so excited that they immediately circle it.

Another type of question that gives them a tough time is one we did today. If a rectangular prism has a volume of 24 cubic centimeters and the dimensions are reduced by 1/2, what will the new volume be? Of course, those of you who have been teaching math a while know that the majority will pick 12 cubic centimeters and immediately move on to the next problem. Most of the class was surprised that the actual answer was 3 (even though they are concurrently enrolled in a Geometry class in addition to my class). Trust me, it's not that the Geometry teachers don't teach the concept. It just doesn't quite soak in for a lot of them.

Overall, I am kind of enjoying our TAKS review. We aren't learning anything new and I am able to go back over concepts and give them all my best test-taking strategies and calculator tricks that I don't necessarily share when we are learning the pencil and paper method during the year.
They really give me a hard time when I show them something the calcualtor will do for them. They say "miss, . . . why didn't you tell us this a long time ago?" The truth is, these kids really can't handle too many calcualtor strategies. If you show them too much, they get to the test and can't remember what button to push and when. I try to stick to a couple of applications like using the calcultor to find the solution to systems of equations or graphing a line to identify the x-intercept or maybe finding the zeros of a quadratic equation. There is so much more, we could learn in Math Models, but I try not to overwhelm them.