I remember back in September, when it seemed we would NEVER reach the end of the school year. And now here we are, only one day away from the end of the road.
We had our awards ceremony today, and that went really well. I wound up getting on stage 3 times -- once to fill in for my partner who wasn't there, once for my own class, and once to present the overall 3rd grade award to one of my kids. It was a tough room, too. Nobody even giggled when I said, "Remember me? I'm back!" when I went up on stage the second time.
Some of the awards were just certificates, some came with ribbons, and some came with medals. So of course I had to answer, "Why didn't I get one of THOSE?" several times after the ceremony.
Tomorrow will ideally be a really relaxed day. We are having a little pizza party for my 2 groups in honor of how well they did on the TAKS tests. Only 1 of my kids didn't pass it, and she later qualified for special ed! And only 3 of my kids didn't pass the reading test! So we are very proud of the kids and their efforts.
As long as I don't demolish any 5th graders, tomorrow should be a very good end to the school year.
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Showing posts with label TAKS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TAKS. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The kids took a test, and they really tested me
Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I had to venture back into the valley of the shadow of death (aka, the 5th grade hallway) to administer the second round of TAKS tests. The kids who didn't pass their reading and/or math tests the first time around "get" another chance to pass. I had a group of 13 each day (9 were the same both days, 4 swapped out since they only failed one of the tests), and my class had a sub.
I'll state right up front that a few of these kids really DID seem to care that they hadn't passed, and these kids looked like they were making a valiant effort to pass this second time around. More than a handful of them, though, obviously didn't care one bit that they hadn't passed the first time, and this was just another day to be lazy for them.
Here are a few highlights:
-- One kid kept falling asleep, before 10 am even, and when I asked him what time he had gone to bed the night before, he had no idea. Not a good sign for the math test if you can't even read a clock.
-- Any time two molecules bumped against each other, there was apparently enough noise generated for all of the kids to stop working and look around the room.
-- There was no bathroom monitor on the hallway, so the kids were even more prone than ever to want to go to the bathroom 6-10 times an hour.
-- One kid broke 3 pencils in the first 2 hours, before I threatened that he'd have to use a crayon on his test if he broke another.
-- One boy asked to use the bathroom, and I told him yes, but he needed to be back in his seat in 2 minutes. He was able to do this. 15 minutes later, he asked to use the restroom again. I said, "No, you just went 15 minutes ago!" He answered, "I gotta do something else now!" I still said no, and he spent the next 2o minutes bent over in his chair, grabbing his ankles.
-- After lunch, I passed the tests back out to the kids. One kid's test had barely touched his desk when he was already raising his hand to tell me he was done. Way to take the advice, "Don't turn in your test before lunch" to the absolute letter!! (Turns out he had forgotten to fill in one answer on his bubble sheet, and it took him another hour -- and 3 more attempts to turn it in -- before he finally found it.)
-- One kid, after turning in his test, zipped his jacket up over his head and began swaying and rocking, at one point, hitting himself in the face several times. I didn't stop him because I didn't see how it was possible for him to actually lower his intellect that way.
Today, by comparison, was heavenly. I was back with my own kids, and they were happy to see me, and the feeling was mutual.
I'll state right up front that a few of these kids really DID seem to care that they hadn't passed, and these kids looked like they were making a valiant effort to pass this second time around. More than a handful of them, though, obviously didn't care one bit that they hadn't passed the first time, and this was just another day to be lazy for them.
Here are a few highlights:
-- One kid kept falling asleep, before 10 am even, and when I asked him what time he had gone to bed the night before, he had no idea. Not a good sign for the math test if you can't even read a clock.
-- Any time two molecules bumped against each other, there was apparently enough noise generated for all of the kids to stop working and look around the room.
-- There was no bathroom monitor on the hallway, so the kids were even more prone than ever to want to go to the bathroom 6-10 times an hour.
-- One kid broke 3 pencils in the first 2 hours, before I threatened that he'd have to use a crayon on his test if he broke another.
-- One boy asked to use the bathroom, and I told him yes, but he needed to be back in his seat in 2 minutes. He was able to do this. 15 minutes later, he asked to use the restroom again. I said, "No, you just went 15 minutes ago!" He answered, "I gotta do something else now!" I still said no, and he spent the next 2o minutes bent over in his chair, grabbing his ankles.
-- After lunch, I passed the tests back out to the kids. One kid's test had barely touched his desk when he was already raising his hand to tell me he was done. Way to take the advice, "Don't turn in your test before lunch" to the absolute letter!! (Turns out he had forgotten to fill in one answer on his bubble sheet, and it took him another hour -- and 3 more attempts to turn it in -- before he finally found it.)
-- One kid, after turning in his test, zipped his jacket up over his head and began swaying and rocking, at one point, hitting himself in the face several times. I didn't stop him because I didn't see how it was possible for him to actually lower his intellect that way.
Today, by comparison, was heavenly. I was back with my own kids, and they were happy to see me, and the feeling was mutual.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
A Jack Bauer Week
This week was like an extended episode of 24. One of the longest. Weeks. Of. My. Life.
First of all, Monday through Thursday, we had no planning period. No duty-free lunch. No official breaks at all. Monday, the reading specialist very nicely relieved me for 10 minutes, allowing me to use the restroom and check my email, but that was the only time I had away from the kids. Thankfully, Monday was a pretty good day with the kids. It was the day before TAKS, so I had the kids working in small groups on review materials while I conferenced with students individually.
Tuesday and Wednesday, while 5th grade teachers monitored my testing students, I was in the 5th grade hallway, "helping" with review for the Science TAKS. I put helping in quotes, because I doubt that I helped very much. There are some very disruptive 5th graders who had no interest whatsoever in actually preparing for their test, and who wanted nothing more than to subvert the substitute teacher in the room. The sub who happened to be me. They wouldn't stay focused, they wouldn't obey directions, they wouldn't stay quiet.
With a couple of these kids, time out and a minute of talking to helped quell their rebellious streak a bit. One student I did have to send out of the room to the science teacher's room. Even then, it took her 2 minutes of clown walking to finally leave the room, entertaining all of the other students with her idiocracy.
On Tuesday, I received no break at all, and Wednesday I did get relieved a couple of times so I could take a restroom break. Thursday was then the TAKS day, where I had to monitor the kids taking the science test. While infinitely more boring than the prior two days, there wasn't the same discipline problem as before. Test-day-mentality, I guess.
After school on Thursday, while supervising the kids getting on the bus, one of the 5th graders told me that he thought he had done really well on the science test. He said, "I knew all of the answers, because, remember, you helped me yesterday!"
Maybe I did help a bit after all.
Still, never in my life was I happier to return to my classroom than I was on Friday, when I could once again spend the whole day with MY kids. We had a very relaxing day where I didn't task them with classwork at all. They read books, they played math games, they worked with review stations (disguised as games), and we went outside and threw the football around. It was a great day.
Many of them also told me how they thought they had done on the math test. They sounded very confident, telling me that some of the problems "tried to trick me" but that they had checked their answers carefully. Most said they had found and fixed mistakes while reviewing. They all felt they had passed. The teachers who had monitored them had also said that all of the kids really seemed to be taking their time, putting their best efforts into the test, and reviewing their work carefully. Those teachers are not allowed to check the kids' answers for correctness or even tell the kids to go back and show or check their work, but they said that nobody seemed distracted or seemed to be pretending to read while really just wasting time.
Based on all of this, I'm really optimistic about how my kids did. I can't wait to get those results back, but it'll probably take about 3 weeks.
Don't forget to enter the contest to win 500 free business cards! Open till May 7!
First of all, Monday through Thursday, we had no planning period. No duty-free lunch. No official breaks at all. Monday, the reading specialist very nicely relieved me for 10 minutes, allowing me to use the restroom and check my email, but that was the only time I had away from the kids. Thankfully, Monday was a pretty good day with the kids. It was the day before TAKS, so I had the kids working in small groups on review materials while I conferenced with students individually.
Tuesday and Wednesday, while 5th grade teachers monitored my testing students, I was in the 5th grade hallway, "helping" with review for the Science TAKS. I put helping in quotes, because I doubt that I helped very much. There are some very disruptive 5th graders who had no interest whatsoever in actually preparing for their test, and who wanted nothing more than to subvert the substitute teacher in the room. The sub who happened to be me. They wouldn't stay focused, they wouldn't obey directions, they wouldn't stay quiet.
With a couple of these kids, time out and a minute of talking to helped quell their rebellious streak a bit. One student I did have to send out of the room to the science teacher's room. Even then, it took her 2 minutes of clown walking to finally leave the room, entertaining all of the other students with her idiocracy.
On Tuesday, I received no break at all, and Wednesday I did get relieved a couple of times so I could take a restroom break. Thursday was then the TAKS day, where I had to monitor the kids taking the science test. While infinitely more boring than the prior two days, there wasn't the same discipline problem as before. Test-day-mentality, I guess.
After school on Thursday, while supervising the kids getting on the bus, one of the 5th graders told me that he thought he had done really well on the science test. He said, "I knew all of the answers, because, remember, you helped me yesterday!"
Maybe I did help a bit after all.
Still, never in my life was I happier to return to my classroom than I was on Friday, when I could once again spend the whole day with MY kids. We had a very relaxing day where I didn't task them with classwork at all. They read books, they played math games, they worked with review stations (disguised as games), and we went outside and threw the football around. It was a great day.
Many of them also told me how they thought they had done on the math test. They sounded very confident, telling me that some of the problems "tried to trick me" but that they had checked their answers carefully. Most said they had found and fixed mistakes while reviewing. They all felt they had passed. The teachers who had monitored them had also said that all of the kids really seemed to be taking their time, putting their best efforts into the test, and reviewing their work carefully. Those teachers are not allowed to check the kids' answers for correctness or even tell the kids to go back and show or check their work, but they said that nobody seemed distracted or seemed to be pretending to read while really just wasting time.
Based on all of this, I'm really optimistic about how my kids did. I can't wait to get those results back, but it'll probably take about 3 weeks.
Don't forget to enter the contest to win 500 free business cards! Open till May 7!
Monday, April 25, 2011
A Farewell to TAKS
Ah, the final year of TAKS. Next year, we will have the new, the improved, the probably-not-that-different STAAR. (The extra A is for Anyone's Guess)
Tomorrow and Wednesday are the 3rd grade math and reading TAKS, respectively. Today, I tried to relax and encourage the kids and to instill in them the belief that they could all pass. My morning class was their usual zombie selves.
Me: "Are we going to pass tomorrow?"
One student mumbles, "Yes," while nobody else says a word. OK then, thanks for coming everyone, turn off the lights on your way out.
In both classes, I told the kids I would buy them all pizza IF everyone in the class scored an 80 or better on both tests. I told them I would buy them all pizza and ice cream if everyone in the class scored a 90 or better on both tests. I told them I would buy them all pizza and ice cream AND everyone would get two orange tickets (gold) if everyone in the class scored a 100.
To this, one girl replied, "Awww, I was hoping you'd get us all lasagna."
Thank you, Garfield.
Now I can just hope and pray that my kids take their time, use their brains, and do what we've practiced all year. Oh, and I can be thankful that I don't work in a state where tomorrow will count for 50% of my yearly evaluation.
Tomorrow and Wednesday are the 3rd grade math and reading TAKS, respectively. Today, I tried to relax and encourage the kids and to instill in them the belief that they could all pass. My morning class was their usual zombie selves.
Me: "Are we going to pass tomorrow?"
One student mumbles, "Yes," while nobody else says a word. OK then, thanks for coming everyone, turn off the lights on your way out.
In both classes, I told the kids I would buy them all pizza IF everyone in the class scored an 80 or better on both tests. I told them I would buy them all pizza and ice cream if everyone in the class scored a 90 or better on both tests. I told them I would buy them all pizza and ice cream AND everyone would get two orange tickets (gold) if everyone in the class scored a 100.
To this, one girl replied, "Awww, I was hoping you'd get us all lasagna."
Thank you, Garfield.
Now I can just hope and pray that my kids take their time, use their brains, and do what we've practiced all year. Oh, and I can be thankful that I don't work in a state where tomorrow will count for 50% of my yearly evaluation.
Monday, April 04, 2011
TAKS for the memories
TAKS day 1 is officially done. Not TAKS day 1 for MY kids, of course, but for the 5th graders who have to take their tests today and tomorrow. Today was the math test, and I was monitoring a group of 19 kids, who seemed to have gone to bed at midnight last night, judging by how often they kept dozing off.
At least none of them snored loudly or drooled on their papers. That's always a mess. But there were 3 kids who fell asleep BEFORE handing in their tests, and one of those fell asleep less than an hour into the test! AFTER the test, there were more like 10 or 11 who nodded off.
I haven't seen the movie "Little Fockers" yet, but I've seen the previews and the first 2 installments, and I kept thinking of De Niro today while walking around the room. No, not so much that I kept wanting to mutter, "Double dose" while looking at some of the kids' answer choices, but more because there were several times I made a gesture very similar to De Niro's, "I'm watching you." You know the one where he points at his eyes then points at Ben Stiller? Any time a kid would look back at me today or look around the room, I would point at my eyes and then downward.
For the most part, the kids seemed to understand my message as, "Keep your eyes on your paper," and nobody mistook it for, "I'm watching my crotch."
When each student finished his/her test, I would collect it, examine it for stray pencil marks or incorrect bubbling, and then ask him/her to sign a paper with the time they had finished. I sincerely hope there were not too many clock questions on this test, because no fewer than 4 kids in my group wrote the wrong time on this sign-out sheet.
After I collected the tests and answer documents, I brought the kids their book(s) to read for the rest of the day (if they weren't sleeping). One boy was midway through "Old Yeller." As I handed it to him, I said, "What a sad story, when they have to shoot him at the end!"
I'm just kidding, though I WAS tempted to spoil the ending.
One of the little girls in my group has a twin sister (they were both in my class 2 years ago) who was taking the test in another room. This little girl only asked to use the restroom one time today, around 1:30, and right as she was leaving the room, her twin sister walked by, headed to the restroom as well. SPOOOOOOKY twin psychic connection!!
In addition to test monitoring making for an incredibly slow and long day, this week is my grade level's turn to have morning duty. So I got to the school before 7AM. Tomorrow is going to seem even worse, because the NCAA college basketball championship game is tonight, starting at 8:23 CST (why so late??), and of course I have to go out with the guys and watch that. THEN, have another 7AM start AND another feet-dragging, soul-draining, skull-boring test monitoring day!
Hump day will never have looked so good!!!
At least none of them snored loudly or drooled on their papers. That's always a mess. But there were 3 kids who fell asleep BEFORE handing in their tests, and one of those fell asleep less than an hour into the test! AFTER the test, there were more like 10 or 11 who nodded off.
I haven't seen the movie "Little Fockers" yet, but I've seen the previews and the first 2 installments, and I kept thinking of De Niro today while walking around the room. No, not so much that I kept wanting to mutter, "Double dose" while looking at some of the kids' answer choices, but more because there were several times I made a gesture very similar to De Niro's, "I'm watching you." You know the one where he points at his eyes then points at Ben Stiller? Any time a kid would look back at me today or look around the room, I would point at my eyes and then downward.
For the most part, the kids seemed to understand my message as, "Keep your eyes on your paper," and nobody mistook it for, "I'm watching my crotch."
When each student finished his/her test, I would collect it, examine it for stray pencil marks or incorrect bubbling, and then ask him/her to sign a paper with the time they had finished. I sincerely hope there were not too many clock questions on this test, because no fewer than 4 kids in my group wrote the wrong time on this sign-out sheet.
After I collected the tests and answer documents, I brought the kids their book(s) to read for the rest of the day (if they weren't sleeping). One boy was midway through "Old Yeller." As I handed it to him, I said, "What a sad story, when they have to shoot him at the end!"
I'm just kidding, though I WAS tempted to spoil the ending.
One of the little girls in my group has a twin sister (they were both in my class 2 years ago) who was taking the test in another room. This little girl only asked to use the restroom one time today, around 1:30, and right as she was leaving the room, her twin sister walked by, headed to the restroom as well. SPOOOOOOKY twin psychic connection!!
In addition to test monitoring making for an incredibly slow and long day, this week is my grade level's turn to have morning duty. So I got to the school before 7AM. Tomorrow is going to seem even worse, because the NCAA college basketball championship game is tonight, starting at 8:23 CST (why so late??), and of course I have to go out with the guys and watch that. THEN, have another 7AM start AND another feet-dragging, soul-draining, skull-boring test monitoring day!
Hump day will never have looked so good!!!
Monday, February 28, 2011
TAKS for the memories
(On) Tomorrow is the 4th grade Writing TAKS. This is the first of the TAKS tests that will be given this year, and 4th grade teachers across the state (including my wife) have been nervously anticipating the day.
This made me think that today might be a good day to have an INTERACTIVE MONDAY that asks, "Whaddya think about standardized tests?"
Go ahead, rant. Rave. Spew invectives all over the keyboards. But please share with us what you think of your state's current testing situation.
To see MY opinions, please revisit this old post -- Testivus.
Good night, and good luck, 4th graders.
This made me think that today might be a good day to have an INTERACTIVE MONDAY that asks, "Whaddya think about standardized tests?"
Go ahead, rant. Rave. Spew invectives all over the keyboards. But please share with us what you think of your state's current testing situation.
To see MY opinions, please revisit this old post -- Testivus.
Good night, and good luck, 4th graders.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Who grades the test?
I was speaking to my kids today about the TAKS and the importance of filling in the answer bubbles neatly. That, and the reason that they should never ever write anything in or near the bubbles other than filling in the one that they are choosing.
So I asked my class who they thought actually would be grading their TAKS tests. Several hands went up.
"The teacher?" one asked.
"Nope," I replied.
"You?" the next one guessed.
"Uh, I AM the teacher, so still no," I countered.
"The principal?"
"No."
"The President?"
One of my kids actually thought that President Barrack Obama might take time out of his busy schedule to pick up a red pen and grade his TAKS test. Forget the mess of the economy, the whole international politics scene -- give him a key to the 3rd grade math test, and put him to work!
So I asked my class who they thought actually would be grading their TAKS tests. Several hands went up.
"The teacher?" one asked.
"Nope," I replied.
"You?" the next one guessed.
"Uh, I AM the teacher, so still no," I countered.
"The principal?"
"No."
"The President?"
One of my kids actually thought that President Barrack Obama might take time out of his busy schedule to pick up a red pen and grade his TAKS test. Forget the mess of the economy, the whole international politics scene -- give him a key to the 3rd grade math test, and put him to work!
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Final Monday!
Yes indeedy, today was our final Monday of classes in the 2009-2010 school year. Of course, that is because we have a holiday next Monday -- Memorial Day. We unfortunately still have TWO more Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and for us teachers, Fridays.
But they should just fly right by! (insert choruses of "Yeah, right.") Tomorrow is Career Day -- which my kids see on the calendar and pronounce as one who cars -- a carrer. Wednesday is Field Day, at least the latter half of the day is. Next week is an awards day.
I was incorrect about one of my comments on the last post. I did not have 3 kids who scored a perfect 100 on their math tests. Those 3 actually missed one. Always hard to tell when the scaled score is out of like 832, and it's not liner, so each question doesn't count for the same amount of points. Oh, and apparently one only needed a 58 or so to pass the reading test this year. Wow.
We will spend a lot of our class time this week decorating our hallway for the International Festival on Friday. My kids have made hockey players (for Canada) and palace guards and bobbies for England. Currently, we're working on bulls for Spain. I showed one class a video on youtube of the running of the bulls, and they laughed and laughed whenever someone got trampled or flipped by a bull. Kids these days.
Still, as little time as we have left, I find myself jealous of teachers who are already out...
But they should just fly right by! (insert choruses of "Yeah, right.") Tomorrow is Career Day -- which my kids see on the calendar and pronounce as one who cars -- a carrer. Wednesday is Field Day, at least the latter half of the day is. Next week is an awards day.
I was incorrect about one of my comments on the last post. I did not have 3 kids who scored a perfect 100 on their math tests. Those 3 actually missed one. Always hard to tell when the scaled score is out of like 832, and it's not liner, so each question doesn't count for the same amount of points. Oh, and apparently one only needed a 58 or so to pass the reading test this year. Wow.
We will spend a lot of our class time this week decorating our hallway for the International Festival on Friday. My kids have made hockey players (for Canada) and palace guards and bobbies for England. Currently, we're working on bulls for Spain. I showed one class a video on youtube of the running of the bulls, and they laughed and laughed whenever someone got trampled or flipped by a bull. Kids these days.
Still, as little time as we have left, I find myself jealous of teachers who are already out...
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Time to exhale
Finally, I can come up and take a breath of air. Which, ironically, is a bit tougher than normal, as I am suffering from either allergies or a cold.
But the TAKS testing is over for my kids for the year, and I think (and hope!) that they did well. They told me the next day that there were a lot of questions on the test that they knew how to do, so I take that as a good sign.
My house is sold, and I have a month to move out. Ideally, I will find a new place before then, but if not, I will just put my stuff in storage and stay with my fiance until we find a house. Selling my place was really the biggest hurdle on our list.
The wedding invitations are done and almost ready to be sent out. Thankfully, they make a nice, tasteful 61 cent stamp, and I didn't have to supplement the Forever stamp with a 17 cent goat head stamp.
The last month of the school year should be a bit more relaxing. We will introduce the kids to things they will be seeing in 4th grade, like comparing fractions, long division, and common sense.
But the TAKS testing is over for my kids for the year, and I think (and hope!) that they did well. They told me the next day that there were a lot of questions on the test that they knew how to do, so I take that as a good sign.
My house is sold, and I have a month to move out. Ideally, I will find a new place before then, but if not, I will just put my stuff in storage and stay with my fiance until we find a house. Selling my place was really the biggest hurdle on our list.
The wedding invitations are done and almost ready to be sent out. Thankfully, they make a nice, tasteful 61 cent stamp, and I didn't have to supplement the Forever stamp with a 17 cent goat head stamp.
The last month of the school year should be a bit more relaxing. We will introduce the kids to things they will be seeing in 4th grade, like comparing fractions, long division, and common sense.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
TAKS Math is down
Today really seemed like the longest TAKS day ever. Maybe it was because I feel sick. Maybe it was because the kids I was watching were all done by 11:15. Maybe it was because I knew I'd be finding out if my book made the next cut in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.
At any rate, the first day is down. According to the teachers watching MY kids, they really tried their best. We'll see in a few weeks.
Oh, and Learn Me Good unfortunately did NOT make the top 50. Hey, we started with 5,000, and I made it down to the top 250. So that's an honor in itself. I get a Publisher's Weekly full manuscript review out of it too, so that should be appearing in the next week or so.
Plus, I have another long day tomorrow to look forward to!
At any rate, the first day is down. According to the teachers watching MY kids, they really tried their best. We'll see in a few weeks.
Oh, and Learn Me Good unfortunately did NOT make the top 50. Hey, we started with 5,000, and I made it down to the top 250. So that's an honor in itself. I get a Publisher's Weekly full manuscript review out of it too, so that should be appearing in the next week or so.
Plus, I have another long day tomorrow to look forward to!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Top 10 Rejected Meanings of TAKS
This is an excerpt from a guest post that originally appeared on So You Want to Teach on January 25, 2008.
The timing seems just about right.
The timing seems just about right.
TAKS stands for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, but my understanding is that that was not the original acronym.
Without further ado, here are The Top Ten Rejected Meanings of TAKS:
10) Texas Accepts Kids’ Suffering
9) That Aggravating Kidney Stone
8) Teachers against Knuckle Sandwiches
7) This Ain’t Kansas, Scarecrow
6) Talking About Kama Sutra
5) Testing All Kids Simultaneously
4) Throw Away Knowledge, Sonny
3) Think Again, Kindergarten Students
2) Take Another Kid’s Sanity
1) This Assessment Kinda Sucks
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
B is for Bribery
Just under 2 weeks till TAKS. I wonder if it's too late to start the bribery.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I've been attempting bribery for months, but I wonder if it's too late to actually start promising to write blank checks to kids who otherwise seem to have no chance of passing. Kids that just MIGHT (on the very mightest edge of the might scale) pass if they took all 7 hours and perused carefully over every question, but who more probably will grab numbers out of word problems and do ungodly things with them. Kids who will say that 8/3 of the balloons are shaded. Kids who will choose "Not here" any and every time that option is presented.
2 more weeks. Are there enough Hot Cheetos in the world to bribe these kids?
I mean, don't get me wrong, I've been attempting bribery for months, but I wonder if it's too late to actually start promising to write blank checks to kids who otherwise seem to have no chance of passing. Kids that just MIGHT (on the very mightest edge of the might scale) pass if they took all 7 hours and perused carefully over every question, but who more probably will grab numbers out of word problems and do ungodly things with them. Kids who will say that 8/3 of the balloons are shaded. Kids who will choose "Not here" any and every time that option is presented.
2 more weeks. Are there enough Hot Cheetos in the world to bribe these kids?
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
What happened to summer school??
I have never really had any desire to teach summer school. By the time the last day of school rolls around, I am VERY ready for a chance to relax and recharge the batteries. I especially don't like my school system's hours (8-3) or the fact that there is NO break during the day. No specials, and you eat lunch with the kids. So no thank you.
But that is not what this post is about. Rather, it's about the kids who are going to summer school.
The first couple of years I taught, we would make recommendations for summer school kids at the end of the year. This list would include kids who did not pass the TAKS tests (reading AND math), but it would also include kids who had really struggled and/or just barely passed those tests.
However, for the past couple of years, all that has changed. Now the only kids who we can send to summer school are kids who failed the reading TAKS. Now keep in mind that I am only speaking about 3rd grade here; I'm not sure how it is with middle school or high school. But there were several kids this year who either failed the math test but passed reading, OR hit the pass mark exactly on the nose, OR would just plain benefit from some extra schooling in general! And they aren't going to summer school!
Sure, we are told that these kids could maybe go, if we can provide extensive documentation on why they should be admitted into summer school. And maybe the reason I don't write said extensive documentation on these kids is that I'm lazy, OR maybe the reason is that I was handed the permission slips for summer school and told that they needed to be signed by the parents and returned THE NEXT DAY.
At any rate, there were 6 3rd graders from my school submitted for summer school this year. In my mind, there should have been about 30, but what do I know, I'm just a teacher...
But that is not what this post is about. Rather, it's about the kids who are going to summer school.
The first couple of years I taught, we would make recommendations for summer school kids at the end of the year. This list would include kids who did not pass the TAKS tests (reading AND math), but it would also include kids who had really struggled and/or just barely passed those tests.
However, for the past couple of years, all that has changed. Now the only kids who we can send to summer school are kids who failed the reading TAKS. Now keep in mind that I am only speaking about 3rd grade here; I'm not sure how it is with middle school or high school. But there were several kids this year who either failed the math test but passed reading, OR hit the pass mark exactly on the nose, OR would just plain benefit from some extra schooling in general! And they aren't going to summer school!
Sure, we are told that these kids could maybe go, if we can provide extensive documentation on why they should be admitted into summer school. And maybe the reason I don't write said extensive documentation on these kids is that I'm lazy, OR maybe the reason is that I was handed the permission slips for summer school and told that they needed to be signed by the parents and returned THE NEXT DAY.
At any rate, there were 6 3rd graders from my school submitted for summer school this year. In my mind, there should have been about 30, but what do I know, I'm just a teacher...
Saturday, May 23, 2009
The results are in!
The TAKS results came in earlier this week, and I finally told my kids how they had done yesterday. Overall, my scores were really good. Out of 37 kids tested, I had 32 pass and 10 get Commended (missed 3 or less questions).
I was a bit sneaky in how I broke the news to the kids. I had told them before the test that I would throw an ice cream party for everyone who passed the test, but earlier in the week I told them that I was pleased with how everyone had tried their best, so they would all be getting ice cream.
Yesterday morning, I wrote a small note and picked 2 kids to take it across the hallway to my partner teacher. I then told the class that they had done really well, we'd all be enjoying ice cream, oh, and by the way -- you all passed! Every one who I was talking to passed!
Of course, the note I wrote asked my partner to hold those 2 kids there for a couple of minutes, and of course, those 2 kids were the ones from that class that had not passed. I intercepted them in the hallway on their way back and broke the news to them gently.
Did the same thing with my afternoon class and the 3 kids that didn't pass.
Out of the 5 kids who didn't pass, 4 of them were really close. It would appear that they missed passing by only 1 or 2 questions.
We also got the results of the 2nd reading test, and combined with the FIRST results, the 3rd grade rocked this year! We had a 94 or 95 percent passing rate, which is spectacular for our area!
Now we just have SEVEN more days of school left to trudge through...
I was a bit sneaky in how I broke the news to the kids. I had told them before the test that I would throw an ice cream party for everyone who passed the test, but earlier in the week I told them that I was pleased with how everyone had tried their best, so they would all be getting ice cream.
Yesterday morning, I wrote a small note and picked 2 kids to take it across the hallway to my partner teacher. I then told the class that they had done really well, we'd all be enjoying ice cream, oh, and by the way -- you all passed! Every one who I was talking to passed!
Of course, the note I wrote asked my partner to hold those 2 kids there for a couple of minutes, and of course, those 2 kids were the ones from that class that had not passed. I intercepted them in the hallway on their way back and broke the news to them gently.
Did the same thing with my afternoon class and the 3 kids that didn't pass.
Out of the 5 kids who didn't pass, 4 of them were really close. It would appear that they missed passing by only 1 or 2 questions.
We also got the results of the 2nd reading test, and combined with the FIRST results, the 3rd grade rocked this year! We had a 94 or 95 percent passing rate, which is spectacular for our area!
Now we just have SEVEN more days of school left to trudge through...
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
And now we wait
My kids took the TAKS math test today, and by law, I am not allowed to know how they did. Couldn't be in the room with them, couldn't talk to them during the day, couldn't look at any of the problems on the test.
So really all I can do is drink heavily and pray.
Instead of being with my kids, I was a substitute teacher in 5th grade all day long. Wow, I don't miss subbing.
Tomorrow, I am back with my kids, while reading retests go on in every room surrounding me, so I will keep one group for the entire day. Oh, with the door closed, and quietly. My kids will get very acquainted with my good friend, Bill Nye the Science Guy...
So really all I can do is drink heavily and pray.
Instead of being with my kids, I was a substitute teacher in 5th grade all day long. Wow, I don't miss subbing.
Tomorrow, I am back with my kids, while reading retests go on in every room surrounding me, so I will keep one group for the entire day. Oh, with the door closed, and quietly. My kids will get very acquainted with my good friend, Bill Nye the Science Guy...
Sunday, April 26, 2009
TAKS Awareness
One of the tips in Darren's 31 Days to a Better Blog over at Problogger is to create a "Sneeze page," so named because it serves to hold a Kleenex up to your best posts. No wait, it's actually called sneeze because it sends readers throughout the archives of your blog.
Since I am an elementary school teacher in Texas, I thought I'd create a sneeze page that listed all of my posts related to our dreaded standardized test, the TAKS.
So, in no particular order, here are some of my best posts related to our friend, the TAKS man...
The Million Dollar Test -- This is a short story I wrote about a group of kids who are offered a Decent Proposal. An eccentric billionaire offers 1 million dollars (cue evil laugh) to anyone who can achieve a perfect score on the TAKS. It went over pretty well when I read it to my kids in class.
Testivus -- taken from the classic Seinfeld episode Festivus, of which the "Airing of Grievances" was an integral part, this post is a major rant against the current state of our testing. But there are also some suggestions presented, lest anyone think I'm merely whining.
Since I am an elementary school teacher in Texas, I thought I'd create a sneeze page that listed all of my posts related to our dreaded standardized test, the TAKS.
So, in no particular order, here are some of my best posts related to our friend, the TAKS man...
The Top 10 Rejected Meanings of TAKS -- This was a guest post over at So You Want To Teach. It's a list of phrases that TAKS ALMOST stood for. I left my favorite for number 1 -- This Assessment Kinda Sucks.
A Massive Coverup -- One of the ridiculous hoops we have to jump through every year before the test is covering everything on our walls and in the hallway. I wrote a letter (and of course never really sent it), telling the district that I couldn't possibly comply due to certain complications. Read it, I think you'll enjoy it.
What are We Really Testing Here? -- A TAKS test is a reading test, plain and simple. Sure, some of them have a math bent or a science bent, but first and foremost, they are a reading assessment. Is that fair??
Practice Like You Play -- You wouldn't bang the keys with your elbows at a piano recital after practicing the right way for so long, so why wouldn't you do the strategies on the TAKS that we've practiced in class for so long? This is my never-ending question to my kids year after year. Also a source of much frustration.
The Million Dollar Test -- This is a short story I wrote about a group of kids who are offered a Decent Proposal. An eccentric billionaire offers 1 million dollars (cue evil laugh) to anyone who can achieve a perfect score on the TAKS. It went over pretty well when I read it to my kids in class.
Testivus -- taken from the classic Seinfeld episode Festivus, of which the "Airing of Grievances" was an integral part, this post is a major rant against the current state of our testing. But there are also some suggestions presented, lest anyone think I'm merely whining.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
What are we really testing here?
I don't know how upper grade teachers can stand it.
TAKS is stressful enough to prepare for at the 3rd grade level, and our kids at least can get reading assistance on the math test! There has been a little bit of debate over exactly what that means, but at least it is specified that, on an individual basis, a student may ask to have a word or a question read aloud. This helps immensely, especially with a child who is a struggling reader and/or an English Language Learner.
However, after 3rd grade, the kids are completely on their own for every TAKS test -- excepting those kids with special modifications, of course. The vast majority of kids taking these tests every year cannot ask to have a word read, cannot ask for clarification on a question, cannot ask ANYTHING except a question about the directions, and the directions are usually "Pick the best answer."
So what it comes down to is that these kids are taking a series of reading tests. Some of them are ABOUT math or ABOUT science, but they don't strictly assess those subject areas as much as they assess whether or not the child can read the questions, some of which are highly complicated.
This is really a sore point for me, because I find it ludicrous. It is an outright farce to call the 5th grade science TAKS a science test but not give the kids reading assistance. Any tester at any level should be able to ask to have a word or a question read to them.
Are we trying to see if little Johnny truly knows what photosynthesis is , or are we trying to see if little Johnny recognizes this vocabulary word and then can describe it?
Imagine going to live in Russia for a year and taking a math class. After 3 months, you are given a math test in Russian, consisting of word problems and lengthy questions. I don't know about you, but I would fail that test miserably. Would ANYONE in their right mind think that that means I don't know math?? Or that that test accurately gauged my knowledge??
That's pretty much how it is for struggling readers or kids new to the language, but even for kids who read English fluently, there should still be reading assistance offered.
Only then will we TRULY have an assessment of a child's ability in math, science, or any OTHER skill than reading.
If I taught a grade higher than 3rd, I would be fuming every year about this very matter. Thankfully, I don't, so I can just vent instead of fume...
TAKS is stressful enough to prepare for at the 3rd grade level, and our kids at least can get reading assistance on the math test! There has been a little bit of debate over exactly what that means, but at least it is specified that, on an individual basis, a student may ask to have a word or a question read aloud. This helps immensely, especially with a child who is a struggling reader and/or an English Language Learner.
However, after 3rd grade, the kids are completely on their own for every TAKS test -- excepting those kids with special modifications, of course. The vast majority of kids taking these tests every year cannot ask to have a word read, cannot ask for clarification on a question, cannot ask ANYTHING except a question about the directions, and the directions are usually "Pick the best answer."
So what it comes down to is that these kids are taking a series of reading tests. Some of them are ABOUT math or ABOUT science, but they don't strictly assess those subject areas as much as they assess whether or not the child can read the questions, some of which are highly complicated.
This is really a sore point for me, because I find it ludicrous. It is an outright farce to call the 5th grade science TAKS a science test but not give the kids reading assistance. Any tester at any level should be able to ask to have a word or a question read to them.
Are we trying to see if little Johnny truly knows what photosynthesis is , or are we trying to see if little Johnny recognizes this vocabulary word and then can describe it?
Imagine going to live in Russia for a year and taking a math class. After 3 months, you are given a math test in Russian, consisting of word problems and lengthy questions. I don't know about you, but I would fail that test miserably. Would ANYONE in their right mind think that that means I don't know math?? Or that that test accurately gauged my knowledge??
That's pretty much how it is for struggling readers or kids new to the language, but even for kids who read English fluently, there should still be reading assistance offered.
Only then will we TRULY have an assessment of a child's ability in math, science, or any OTHER skill than reading.
If I taught a grade higher than 3rd, I would be fuming every year about this very matter. Thankfully, I don't, so I can just vent instead of fume...
Monday, March 23, 2009
10 more weeks??
Daggonit, Spring Break is over!! I certainly can't complain about the break. It was nice and relaxing, the weather was great, I got to catch up on sleep, on TV, and I got to watch ALL the basketball I wanted to.
However, that first day back is always torture. Then looking on the calendar and seeing that we don't have another day off between here and 2015. . .
The great news however is that my kids did really, really well on the TAKS reading test! The scores came in over the break, and only 4 kids out of my two classes did not pass! One even earned herself a million dollar bill by achieving a perfect score! In addition, 11 or 12 others received a Commended score!! So they did great!
In a sad piece of news, one of the members of our faculty went to the hospital with a brain aneurism last week, and she is now by all reports brain dead. I know that most people reading this don't know her, but I would still ask you to keep her and her family in your prayers. Thanks.
However, that first day back is always torture. Then looking on the calendar and seeing that we don't have another day off between here and 2015. . .
The great news however is that my kids did really, really well on the TAKS reading test! The scores came in over the break, and only 4 kids out of my two classes did not pass! One even earned herself a million dollar bill by achieving a perfect score! In addition, 11 or 12 others received a Commended score!! So they did great!
In a sad piece of news, one of the members of our faculty went to the hospital with a brain aneurism last week, and she is now by all reports brain dead. I know that most people reading this don't know her, but I would still ask you to keep her and her family in your prayers. Thanks.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Career path already mapped
Yesterday after school, I was sitting in my classroom doing lesson plans with a colleague when the TAG teacher walked by with one of the 5th grade ne'er-do-wells. She was getting on his case about something, which came as no surprise to me at all, because when he was in my class 2 years ago, I was constantly on his case.
The TAG teacher asks me to ask this kid what time he finished his TAKS test the day before. So I obliged and asked him what time he finished.
He answered: "Between 11 and 1."
I looked at him for a second and then commented on what a fantastic cable repairman he was going to be, since he was already getting used to giving answers like that.
The TAG teacher asks me to ask this kid what time he finished his TAKS test the day before. So I obliged and asked him what time he finished.
He answered: "Between 11 and 1."
I looked at him for a second and then commented on what a fantastic cable repairman he was going to be, since he was already getting used to giving answers like that.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Test Day. DUM DUM DUM!!!!
Today was the day of the TAKS.
YUCK.
I won't know for sure how my kids did for about 2 weeks, but I can speculate based on the reports I heard from the monitoring teachers. But we'll get to that in a bit.
First, let me share a few jokes. Since the test didn't actually begin until around 8:30, I had a bit of "dead time" to fill between when the kids entered the classroom and when the other teacher came in. Restroom break only took about 10 minutes, so afterwards, with the kids sitting there (and of course not allowed any kind of reading material -- they'd be getting enough of that later), I asked if any of the kids knew any good jokes.
They all told me no. Great. So I started racking my brain for jokes I knew which were clean AND simple to understand. I remembered a few really corny jokes:
What color is a burp? Burple
What did the rug say to the floor? "I've got you covered."
How do you catch a mouse on the computer? With an INTER-net.
These all received great big laughs.
Then I asked, "What did the fast tomato say to the slow tomato?" Catchup!
This was met with blank stares, so I spent the next 3 minutes explaining how ketchup was made out of tomatoes.
At that point, one of my goofballs said he knew a joke. "When did you find a cat named 13?"
I had no idea of course, so he told me the answer: 13.
The kids thought that was the funniest joke they had ever heard. Go figure.
Thanks for the nice comments on the story from yesterday. We read it to all of the 3rd graders at my school yesterday, and they all really seemed to enjoy it. As for how meaningful it was to them, well...
One of my classes was reportedly VERY thorough, taking their time, doing their work, and checking their answers. YAY!!
My other class, however, seemed just as knucklheady (it's a word) as ever. One of my angels even TORE OUT pieces from her test booklet so she could write notes to the girl in front of her!!! I later saw the note, and it said: "Hola!"
I'm sorry, but if you are actually going to go to the ridiculous extreme of MUTILATING the document that determines whether you go to the next grade, you had damn well better write something more than "HOLA!!" I'd better see Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, or the Gettysburg Address!!!
According to my old partner, Miss Jenn Ed, both of her sections (who are REALLY low readers) seemed to take the story to heart, or they at least spent a good long time on the test.
Strangely, the class of my colleague who printed out the million dollar bills was entirely finished by 10:30.
Anybody else have any stories to share from today?
YUCK.
I won't know for sure how my kids did for about 2 weeks, but I can speculate based on the reports I heard from the monitoring teachers. But we'll get to that in a bit.
First, let me share a few jokes. Since the test didn't actually begin until around 8:30, I had a bit of "dead time" to fill between when the kids entered the classroom and when the other teacher came in. Restroom break only took about 10 minutes, so afterwards, with the kids sitting there (and of course not allowed any kind of reading material -- they'd be getting enough of that later), I asked if any of the kids knew any good jokes.
They all told me no. Great. So I started racking my brain for jokes I knew which were clean AND simple to understand. I remembered a few really corny jokes:
What color is a burp? Burple
What did the rug say to the floor? "I've got you covered."
How do you catch a mouse on the computer? With an INTER-net.
These all received great big laughs.
Then I asked, "What did the fast tomato say to the slow tomato?" Catchup!
This was met with blank stares, so I spent the next 3 minutes explaining how ketchup was made out of tomatoes.
At that point, one of my goofballs said he knew a joke. "When did you find a cat named 13?"
I had no idea of course, so he told me the answer: 13.
The kids thought that was the funniest joke they had ever heard. Go figure.
Thanks for the nice comments on the story from yesterday. We read it to all of the 3rd graders at my school yesterday, and they all really seemed to enjoy it. As for how meaningful it was to them, well...
One of my classes was reportedly VERY thorough, taking their time, doing their work, and checking their answers. YAY!!
My other class, however, seemed just as knucklheady (it's a word) as ever. One of my angels even TORE OUT pieces from her test booklet so she could write notes to the girl in front of her!!! I later saw the note, and it said: "Hola!"
I'm sorry, but if you are actually going to go to the ridiculous extreme of MUTILATING the document that determines whether you go to the next grade, you had damn well better write something more than "HOLA!!" I'd better see Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, or the Gettysburg Address!!!
According to my old partner, Miss Jenn Ed, both of her sections (who are REALLY low readers) seemed to take the story to heart, or they at least spent a good long time on the test.
Strangely, the class of my colleague who printed out the million dollar bills was entirely finished by 10:30.
Anybody else have any stories to share from today?
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