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Show J Opposes exam 'retakes5 Dear Editor: I am writing in response to "concerned school volunteer's" letter in January 29th issue. As a math teacher who allows students who do poorly on math quizzes and tests to retake them, I would like to explain my thinking on the subject. First of all, in junior high school children are just learning that they must be responsible to get all of their work in ov suffer the consequences. I try to help those who are having a hard time learning this. They are finding out the hard way that if they don't do their daily assignments, they cannot pass the quizzes and tests. Sometimes a student thinks he has learned a concept and when quizzed on that concept finds that he has misunderstood. To retake anything, a student must take his own time to come in before or after school and it gives me a chance to reteach whatever what-ever concepts are needed for the child to succeed on a one-to-one basis. I have nearly 200 students and this one-to-one teaching is not often possible in a regular class. As far as grades go, allowing the child to earn a respectable grade (maximum of 70) does not get him an "A" (70 is a "C"), but it is passing. This process allows the student to find that he (or she) can learn the material involved in-volved and pass the test which gives them some sense of accomplishment. accom-plishment. One important thing that children this age need to learn is to believe in themselves... to believe that they can learn the material if they work hard enough at it. I am available to help them any time, but many are too shy to ask until they fail a test. Then they realize that there is a need to come for help. I have been teaching for many years and the high school teachers who have taught my students tell me that they seem to know their subject matter pretty well. I warn them repeatedly as they register for high school that they will not get a second chance in high school. They must be responsible to do all of their work and learn the material from the beginning. That lesson does not wait until college for them to learn. ; We teachers are here to help students develop skills. Our goal is to help them pass, not to fail them if they didn't understand everything the first time around. My goal is to help students learn good study habits, to help them believe in themselves and their ability to learn, and to teach them the subject matter in .my class so they are prepared for the next course of study. We want them to have the skills needed to succeed in today's technological technolo-gical world. A Concerned Junior High School Math Teacher |