Math Class

This year I have been teaching an upper math class for students with special needs. This class is the last math course the students will take before entering the regular education setting. We just took the semester final and a significant number of the students failed. This is a course that I co-teach with another special education teacher. After seeing the results of the test, we decided to change a few things. We have implemented a seating chart, as it appears that students are distracted by students they were sitting with. We also explained to the students that the material that they are learning will carry over into the next level. We talked about the importance of taking this course seriously otherwise they would not be prepared for next year. We gave the students a review packet of all the material that was covered on the exam. They were told that they needed to complete one section at a time and get it approved by one of us before they could move on. After they complete the review packet they will have to take the exam again. We are hoping that with the changes we have made, the students will be more focused and their scores will increase. We also are hoping that they will take the class more seriously if they have hopes of going on to the next level. This class can be frustrating as the students have exhibited that they have the skills but they did not perform on the exam.