STUDY???
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU
DON’T KNOW HOW TO STUDY?
Anne Barber and Karen Scarseth
Lincoln High School, Wisconsin Rapids
What are they doing?
When you ask them, “Did you study for the test?”
“I’ve never study for math before.”
or
“You can’t study for math.”
Famous Quotes from
Parent Teacher Conferences
 They have always had an A in math.
 What can they do to improve
their grade?
 I see them doing math all the time.
 My son/daughter says your test questions are
NOTHING like the homework.
Famous Quotes from the students
 I read my notes.
 I looked over my homework/old worksheets.
 I did my homework.
 These test questions are NOTHING like the
homework!
 We never covered this in class.
Pre Calculus Quiz Scores
 They wouldn’t be in Pre Calculus if they weren’t good
students… So why not better grades?
What is the point to the assigned
homework?
 It is a formative grade.
Not that important to my overall grade.
 It is checked for completion.
I just need to have something filled
in so I can get my points.
Homework was not serving it’s
intended purpose of practice.
STENO PAD PLAN
A.K.A.
WRITING THEIR OWN
PRACTICE
ASSESSMENTS
HOW does IT Work?
STENO PAD PLAN

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1) Give examples in class.
2) Students copy example twice – once in notebook and once in Steno
Pad.
3) Students DON’T write solutions to examples in STENO PAD during
class lecture. Only in their regular notebook.
4) STENO PAD DAY – Day before quiz, students get out STENO PAD
and complete all problems without looking in their notes or getting any
help. (AKA – Practice Quiz)
NO more checking homework.
Students go back and do homework if they have questions
they don’t understand in the STENO PAD.
Typical Weekly Lesson Schedule
(48min class periods)
Monday – Wednesday
Cover 2-3 sections of material from textbook.
Each day giving 4-5 examples.
Thursday
Steno Day – Students work in steno pads on the problems
they wrote down from the previous days. Answers are
displayed in class for students to check as they work.
Friday
Assessment Day
What do they do with the homework from the book???
What this has done…
They do more math problems and work harder in
that one class on the Steno pad, than any other.
They feel like they know what the quiz will look
like.
They ask questions on topics they thought
they knew but now realize they don’t.
Our Favorite: They act like they have never seen
these problems before!
Results
Class Average: 93%
4 of next 5 weeks
had class averages
ABOVE 90%.
Topics included: conic sections, matrix applications,
and linear programming
What THEY say…NOW
 I have more confidence.
 This is a lot of work, but it is worth it.
 I realize I didn’t know it as well as I thought.
 These test questions are JUST like what we covered
in class!
 I know what to except to see when I get my quiz and I know
how to answer the questions.
STENO PAD PLAN