A little note to standardized testing...

So EOGs and retakes and makeups are finally, finally done after three straight weeks of testing. And that also means that final scores are in as well.

Had a very (VERY) scary week or so there where I learned how my students did on their tests...

• ALL of my 3rd graders failed.... allllllll of them  :(
• 4th graders did okay - about half and half - but there are definitely some retakes in their future
• The 5th graders blew their tests OUT OF THE WATER!!! High 3's and 4's all around... Fantastic!!!

So although I was very, very happy about the 5th graders and so very proud of them, because I got the news of all grade levels at the same time, I couldn't help feeling terrible for the 3rd and 4th graders that would need to retest the following week.

This was my 3rd graders' first time in the EOG dance, and they were all so very nervous. I watched them as they tested and they tried soooo hard. They took their time and read, they used their strategies, and still... still they didn't pass. It totally SUCKS that I'd have to tell them that they would have to sit through all that craziness AGAIN to try for a passing grade. Many of them broke down and cried, and I wanted to cry right along with them. They're too young to have to go through this kind of crazy stress just to pass a freakin' test!!

Anyway... once retakes were done, just about all of the 3rd and 4th graders that needed retesting had passed, and for those few that did not, both I and the parents could really care less. These were students whose amazing growth this school year really couldn't be captured in anyone's standardized "test"... growth like learning HOW TO READ, growth like learning to differentiate between vowel teams and use the Silent E rule consistently... growth like being able to get through one entire cold read (yeah, one - the test had EIGHT) by themselves without having to ask for any help... Growth that is not measured anywhere on the wonderful student nightmare that is End of Grade Tests.

So, there, EOGs. Regardless of the need to retake and whatever their ending scores happened to be, I am so, so proud of the growth my students have made this year. I have seen their confidence increase in ways that I never could have imagined when I first met them in August. I have seen the "lightbulb" go on countless times when something they were learning about finally began to make sense to them, and watched it burn even brighter when they realized on their own that what they were learning actually connected to something they'd learned previously in another class. I have seen them reach and surpass their IEP goals and track their own progress on wall charts, beaming with pride each time they realized they'd just beat their own best and would get to color in their bar graph sections a little bit higher. I've seen them grow so much. So much.

So regardless of whether we all reached our "Big Goal" or not (and we came pretty dern close, thank-you-very-much), I learned this year that my students' progress isn't tied to any one test that "someone" decides to come up with to determine whether or not they've been successful in a given grade. My students are successful anyway, and I remain incredibly proud of them.

So take that, EOGs!  ;)

It's May, yall!!!

Wow. Whoda thunk it?? Here I sit, right smack in the midst of writing my final TNTP portfolio entries and making sure that my artifacts are up to par and properly linked for submission and review… can’t believe that all the craziness and stress and headache of this past year is wrapping up in just a few more weeks. We literally have 1 – O.N.E. – more seminar left, and then we’ll be done. And the last thing to do will be to hand in this (huuuuumungous) portfolio for  pass/fail review, and then we’ll be done with TNTP and the challenges of being first-year teachers. 

Our student surveys are all done and submitted and FedEx’d off to Brooklyn for independent review, and we wait only for portfolio review and our students’ EOG score results. Still don’t quite get how this “value added” stuff works, but somehow, someway, they’ve managed to figure out a way to determine just how much of a positive impact we’ve had on our students’ lives via their final EOG scores. Won’t find out about those for another few months, about July or so, from what I’m told… So much for going into my first summer break as an Elementary School EC Teacher with peace of mind and warm, restful summer days.

I know I’ve said it at various points during the school year, yet here it is again still so very fresh and real in my mind… I’m completely amazed that a full school year has gone by so, so, so fast. We have just 5 – count ‘em – f.i.v.e – more weeks of school left till we pack up everything and call it quits till late August. Just one more week of writing lesson plans and actual teaching/review, and then we march right into EOG week then retake week then 5^th Grade Transition Meetings week then… LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL. Wowwww.  Just incredibly, incredibly fast.

Seems like just yesterday when our class began our EOG countdown, and it was something like 15 weeks away. Can’t believe we’re actually down to five more school days till the big test. Even though I know what we do comes down to so, so much more than just a score on a standardized test, I can’t help but realize just how much this test means – how much it counts for my kids, for their placement in the next grades, etc. I do not look forward to seeing the faces of those of my kids who might need to retake the test at any point. All year long, we’ve looked at it as a challenge, something that they are well-able to beat, to do well on, to use as a means of showing just how hard they’ve worked and how much they’ve learned… and I’m so hoping that they will all pass with a 3 or 4 the first go-round and not have to sit through that stuff again for a second time.

The approaching EOGs and school year’s end also mean something else for me, though. They mean that I’ll no longer be a fumbling, confused, overwhelmed first-year teacher who doesn’t have a clue what the heck she’s doing. I’ve learned so much. I’ve started lists and plans and things to do/buy/make/laminate, etc. for next year so that I can be much more prepared and actually hit the ground running this time.

I’ve survived the office politics (LORD… who in the world knew that schools – teachers in particular – were so cliquey and could be so rough with each other???  Man, was THAT ever a real learning experience…) and I’m still in one piece. I’ve learned over the past nine months or so to remain pleasant no matter what’s going on, be helpful as much as I can and when all else fails and strong female personalities are clashing left and right all around me, go into the sanctuary of my own trailer and close the door… enjoy the peace and quiet and tranquility, and let it refocus me to what’s really, really important… my kids.

My plans for next year include:

·         Starting my data tracking right away for all of my grades, using the same measurements that my school uses for consistency of data and truth in measuring growth over the course of the school year

·         Setting up content-area binders per grade to house all my copies of worksheets and tests and activities… Imagine It!, Social Studies, 4^th Grade LA Skills, etc.

·         Designing and laminating all of my beginning of the year stuff NOW while the schedule is very flexible and we’re in testing time… taking advantage of the extra time that this month affords will help make me a very happy camper come August, I’m sure

·         Going over the beginning Imagine It! Units (now that you finally know what they are!!! J) and making actual unit plans and activities up for my kiddos versus just teaching lesson by lesson and having them miss out of the big unit picture… Teaching them what the unit plan will be by using a top-down web for each one… visual and auditory… AND ORGANIZED.

·         Setting up grading templates per grade level/service group early so that all I have to do is plug in the actual grades as I give the assignments and tests… never had a clue just how long it would take me to grade papers and record grades and get them to their respective gen ed teachers in time for progress reports and report cards… lesson well learned.

·         Sending grades to teachers weekly instead of waiting and getting distracted by other things, then having them have to ask for them later on…

·         Purchasing composition notebooks ahead of time for journals for my kids… the stores run out of these QUICKLY, so getting them ahead of time will ensure that my kids have the nicer looking journals that can hold their work and thoughts and hopes and dreams (awww!)…. Preparation is everything.

·         Setting up my calendar of upcoming IEP annual and reeval deadlines so that I know what my monthly schedule looks like at a glance. .. prepared, ready, no surprises. Paperwork completed ahead of time, drafts sent to parents before the meeting happens, ready, ready, ready. J

·         Starting the kids off early on tracking their own data – not just AR goals – but actual data connected to the objectives they’re learning about. Explaining all of this to them and having them do it themselves so that they can become well-verse enough in it to explain their tracking to someone else. Saw this at KIPP Academy and was thoroughly impressed.