Why You Need to Use Partner Quizzes in Your Math Class
Have you ever tried a partner quiz to assess your students on a math lesson or lessons?
A partner quiz was an idea my teacher mentor shared with me during my first year of teaching. This was something I never heard of before but an idea I loved right away. When I first used it in my 8th grade Algebra class, they were shocked, to say the least. Little did they know how this type of assessment helped them build confidence in their math skills as well give them an opportunity to talk about math! After years of using partner quizzes, I saw how helpful they can be.
Maybe this idea sounds crazy. Maybe you are intrigued. Either way, I hope you keep reading why partner quizzes are beneficial to your students and how to use them in your math class this week!
Reasons Why You Should Use Partner Quizzes
Helps Build Confidence
For students that struggle with math having someone to talk over the problems with makes the quiz feel less “scary” or stressful. No matter what a student’s level is when they talk about a math problem whether they are explaining it or asking a question they will build a better understanding. This understanding will ultimately help build their confidence in math.
Gets students talking about math
Math is a subject in which conversation doesn’t always come naturally. When students are working together to complete a quiz they are talking about math. They are sharing their thought process and asking questions. They are learning from each other in a way that is different from you the teacher. Sometimes a different voice is just what a learner needs to grasp a concept.
How to Implement A Partner Quiz
There are quite a few ways to implement a partner quiz into your class. You will have to find the way that works best for you and your students. It may take some trial and error. Here are some ways that worked for me:
Don’t Tell Your Students Ahead of Time
Whether the quiz is a pop quiz or one they know about ahead of time, do not tell them it is a partner quiz beforehand. If they know tomorrow there is a partner quiz chances are they will not study. They will instead be pleasantly surprised when they can work with a classmate on the problems.
Choose Student Partners
You absolutely can have students choose their partner but I found things went better when I matched students up to work together on a partner quiz. Students could be paired up by ability or randomly, either way it seemed to work out. Of course if you have an odd number of students a group of three is okay too.
Model and Have Ground Rules
Like anything else as far as classroom routines, this will take practice and modeling.
Before the quiz begins you will want to remind students what it looks like to talk about a math problem with a partner. Model or have students show the class. You may also need to remind your students about your classroom rules especially towards kindness and to listening to everyone’s ideas and questions.
In addition you may also want to decided a few things ahead of time including the following.
One or two papers? Does each student have their own quiz paper or do they share one paper? What are they handing in? Maybe one page is turned in with stapled work for each student. As a bonus this will make grading quicker!
Where will students work? Will students move around and switch seats or can students seat on the floor? You could have students clipboards if availble to work on the floor. Things will look different no matter what you decide and that’s okay.
The Quiz Atmosphere Will Be Different
Students will be in conversation, your classroom might not look like a quiz is happening but that is okay! This may not be something you do every week but it can change up your routine when needed. Your students may even be smiling when they hand in the finished quiz.
Have you tried a partner quiz before? What other tips would you add? Share them below.