If you have it, they will come and you might just learn something...

Today, I held my first afterschool tutoring session for a large number of students this year. Every student who scored less than a 90 on the unit test last week can retake the test IF they attend a tutoring session afterschool. Twelve students came today. Like all teachers, I have hours that I am available for extra help. I am in my room daily from 3:30 - 4:30 and students who have flubbed a quiz or do not understand the rubric for a project will stop by for a quick question. However, all to often, the students who stop by already excel at academics while the students who really need the extra help never come. Today was a pleasant surprise. The students filed in, took out their notes, and readily reviewed the material. They will start retaking the tests tomorrow.
I feel pretty confident that the grades will be much higher. Why? Well, to start with, the students chose to come today. As in every other aspect of life, people who willing participate in an activity get more out of it. Now, I know that a mother or two might have twisted some arms, but for the most part the students came because they wanted to improve their grade. Half the battle has already been won. The students want to learn the material. The second reason I think the grades will show improvement is that the students have already been assessed on the material once and have came to learn why their conclusions, their answers, were wrong. This quest for understanding is the cornerstone of discovery learning and while the students should have already learned the material, better late than never!! The final reason that I feel their grades will show improvement is that the students shared their strategies for remembering details with each other. Peer tutoring cannot be beat. Who better to explain a concept to a teenager than another teenager? Listen closely to the explanations and you might just learn something; I did!
On the test, the students were required to place each of the 13 colonies in their respective colonial region. To help the students learn this, I had taught them a body map where the 5 Southern colonies were located on the bottom half of the body, the 4 Middle colonies on the middle portion, and the New England colonies were on the head. Several students had marked Maryland as a Middle colony. I struggle with Maryland as a Southern colony as well, but since Chesapeake region is not a choice, the students learn it as a Southern colony. The sign for the body map is the cross made by Catholics as I also want them to make the connection between Maryland being a proprietary colony founded as a refuge for Catholics. When the students make the cross they say "Maryland is founded for the Catholics". Before I could launch into my lengthy teacher explanation of why Maryland is a Southern colony, Amber, a rather no nonsense student, spoke up and explained that at the end of each region in the body map there is a longer phrase and that's how students can remember when each region ends. I thought about it. I had never noticed it but she is exactly right. There is the line about Maryland being founded for the Catholics, the Middle colonies end with Pennsylvania being founded by the Quakers, and for New England's final colony, we say New Happenings in New Hampshire. Students are so bright. I will add that disclaimer for every future class who does the body map. Thanks Amber! It's already been added to the binder.