07-26-2009, 08:32 PM
It's all about the different levels of understanding a teacher wants. From memorization to utilization to application to synthesizing new uses...those are big leaps. As both a math and science teacher, I will have students memorize some of the formulas for an initial quiz, but later tests would be open notes or cheat sheets that they create.
A strategy I often utilize is to offer students a very limited amount of space for a cheat sheet. They will often go through a lot of evaluating steps to decide what they need, and a lot of rewriting to get it to fit. Often, by the time the test rolls around, they don't even need the cheat sheet.
As far as a changing world goes, it's hard to imagine a place where your average worker will not have access to calculators and the Internet. I always keep in my mind that I am training my middle school students for jobs that do not yet exist.
A strategy I often utilize is to offer students a very limited amount of space for a cheat sheet. They will often go through a lot of evaluating steps to decide what they need, and a lot of rewriting to get it to fit. Often, by the time the test rolls around, they don't even need the cheat sheet.
As far as a changing world goes, it's hard to imagine a place where your average worker will not have access to calculators and the Internet. I always keep in my mind that I am training my middle school students for jobs that do not yet exist.