I’m continuing to tweak my retake routine. I’ve progressed from manic end-of-quarter retake fests and poor retake habits to a smoother process.
- Receive email request that is 2+ days prior to the requested retake date, including evidence that the student has corrected their mistakes and studied. I did this to have a record of request, give myself more time to create a retake quiz, and avoid the score stagnation or score drops that come from lack of preparation.
- Mark email with “Retake” label. This also helps with documentation.
- Create retake quiz and name the file with the suffix “Retake # – [initials of students taking that version].” Example: “Unit 2, Quiz 4 (Skill #2e) – Retake 1 (SS, JJ, FF)” if Sally Smith, Joe Jonas, and Fifi Foster are taking it. I hand back graded retakes at the end of the week, so sometimes I do get to add more students to a version. For example, Sally and Joe might request on Monday for a Wednesday quiz and Fifi might request the same skill retake on that Wednesday for a Friday quiz. Then I can give Fifi the same version that Sally and Joe took and hand it all back to them on Friday.
- Add event using “Retakes” Google calendar (e.g., “Sally – 2e, 2f” at 11:26-11:49 for a lunch retake). Send student an event invite. This helps me document the retakes and remind the students to show up.
How do you conduct your retake routines? What suggestions do you have for mine?
3 Comments
Anna
Hey Kristina,
You may have seen Fawn’s posts on this already, but she has a system of using mailing labels to help organize retakes (explained at http://fawnnguyen.com/2012/10/18/20121017.aspx) and she has kids fill out a google form (https://docs.google.com/a/ucls.uchicago.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDlxbHBMVG5kalJLaHFjTHJlZmViOEE6MQ) to schedule the retake and provide evidence that they have prepared. I’ve started using a similar google form, and it has really helped with my organization because all of the requests for retakes go into a single excel file and I can quickly see what’s going on each day.
Appetite for Instruction
Thanks for the tip!
Anna
P.S. I love the idea of putting the scheduled assessment into a google calendar and sending the kid an event invite! Will have to try that out – thanks!