Summer Math Reset #3: The review mistake I made for years
Jun 16, 2026 12:01 pm
Hi teacher,
For years, my review strategy looked something like this:
Teach a unit.
Move on.
Teach another unit.
Move on.
Then, a few days before the test, I'd suddenly realize students had forgotten things we covered just a few weeks earlier.
So we'd spend a day or two reviewing and hope for the best.
Sound familiar?
Eventually, I realized the problem wasn't my students.
It was my timing.
When review only happens before a test, students are expected to remember weeks (or months!) of learning all at once.
Now I try to do the opposite.
Instead of one big review session, I sprinkle small review opportunities throughout the year.
Nothing fancy.
A couple of warm-up questions.
A problem from a previous unit.
A quick bell-ringer.
Five minutes here and there.
The funny thing is that those small moments often have a bigger impact than an entire review day.
Students see old concepts more often.
Connections become stronger.
And test review becomes much less stressful for everyone involved.
Try this before summer ends:
Pick one topic students usually forget.
Then think about 2-3 simple ways you could revisit it throughout the year instead of waiting until test week.
A little review now often saves a lot of reteaching later.
See you next Tuesday for Summer Math Reset #4!
If you could magically make your students remember one math skill all year long, what would it be? For me, it might be integer operations.
Looking for ready-to-use math activities?
PS. If you have a colleague who could use a ready-to-go math activity right now, feel free to forward this to them.
Stay connected 👇
