Last year I bit the bullet and ordered one of those monthly magazines with my own money. I bought the minimum of 10 subscriptions. (Or was it 10 to get a prize? I don’t remember. ) We already received Time For Kids – which I love! – but we had to share it, and [...]
Archive for the ‘Test Prep’ Category
StoryWorks by Scholastic
Posted in Library, Reflective Teaching, Test Prep, tagged teaching, elementary education, education, reading, curriculum, writing, poetry, Scholastic on September 26, 2009 | 2 Comments »
What is “Proficient”?
Posted in Philosophy 101, Test Prep, tagged anchors, curriculum, education, mastery, proficiency, PSSA, standardized tests, standards, teaching on March 26, 2009 | 2 Comments »
As I’m cleaning up my data notebook, I came across my eMetrics printout of this class’s 4th grade PSSA scores. Scanning their scores, I am reminded of a hot debate we had last fall (2007) when we first saw scores reported this way. The individual student report lists a student’s raw score, the total possible, [...]
As promised…
Posted in Test Prep, Time Out!, tagged teaching, following directions, education on March 24, 2009 | 6 Comments »
I don’t have a picture of me yelling at my class to follow directions, but here is what at least 5 tests look like every week.
Not that they notice; obviously neither the kids nor their parents actually look inside the test when I send them home every week to be signed. When I pulled these [...]
Ode to No. 2 Pencils
Posted in Recess, Test Prep, Time Out!, tagged erasers, pencils, PSSA, standardized tests on March 23, 2009 | 2 Comments »
You’ve been used and abused, No. 2 Pencils. Dropped on the floor. Passed around to a different desk every day. Sharpened to a stub. Erasers rubbed out. (At least no one chewed you.)
We thank you, No. 2 Pencils. Your duty is done. You’ve served us well.
Testing is over. Gone are the days of sitting and [...]
Party on, Wayne
Posted in Recess, Test Prep, tagged elementary school, iPod, kids, PSSA, standardized tests, teaching on March 20, 2009 | 2 Comments »
We’ve been playing the radio in the afternoons as part of our relaxing, stress-free activities during PSSA week. They were pretty good about it, even when they were all, “OMG I hate this song!”, until commercials came on. For some reason only two stations were coming through, so when too many commercials came on I [...]
what is the point?
Posted in Reflective Teaching, Test Prep, Time Out!, tagged teaching, following directions, behavior, kids, education, direct instruction, PSSA, math on March 20, 2009 | 2 Comments »
What is the point of teaching when the kids are just going to do whatever the f*ck they want anyway? I just watched a girl do 24 math problems in 20 minutes with no work and no calculator. I guess I should refer her for the gifted program! (Sorry, didn’t mean to splash anyone with [...]
Never doubt the girl with the photographic memory!
Posted in Faculty Lounge, Test Prep, tagged education, photographic memory, PSSA, standardized tests, teaching on March 19, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I would just like to take this opportunity to say…
I WAS RIGHT!!!!!!!!!
Ever since the first time I gave the PSSA five years ago, I noticed that there were entire sections where each kid had different questions. From my extensive training on standardized tests at my school in Arizona, I knew standardized tests need to have [...]
Accountability for Kids on Standardized Tests
Posted in Family Studies, Philosophy 101, QAR, Test Prep, Test Talk, Time Out!, tagged teaching, following directions, parents, NCLB, No Child Left Behind, education, PSSA, standardized tests, math, calculators, test taking skills on March 17, 2009 | 5 Comments »
Is it unreasonable to tell parents if their kid didn’t do, show or check their work on the PSSA like we’ve practiced all year? One of the sixth grade teachers (we’ll call him Popular Science Guy) told me that is too much. I replied, “Well, I warned them that if they didn’t show their work, [...]
PSSA Checklist
Posted in Test Prep, tagged education, NCLB, No Child Left Behind, PSSA, standardized tests, teaching on March 16, 2009 | 6 Comments »
1. Sharpen pencils. (Two for each kid, plus a few extra.)
2. Get scratch paper and highlighters.
3. Make sure all student calculators work.
4. Take down or cover up bulletin boards and posters. (I cover up because if it comes down, it’s not going back up.)
5. Move desks into Catholic school rows. (What does it mean that every [...]
Chewing gum during tests
Posted in Philosophy 101, Test Prep, tagged teaching, following directions, NCLB, No Child Left Behind, kids, education, PSSA, attention span, standardized tests, gum on March 15, 2009 | 8 Comments »
Around this time of year it comes up that chewing gum during tests helps people concentrate. I have never seen the actual research, so I am more than a bit skeptical. I guess it makes sense, but this is my problem with the theory: children (and most people) are very noisy when chewing gum. How [...]
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