This week's guest blog post is written by Lynnelle Snowbarger who is in her tenth year of teaching fifth grade in the Jenks Public Schools. A frequent participant in the Slice of Life Story Challenge, Lynelle also documents her journey with her students at the Bohemian Teacher Blog. Teachers don’t join the profession because of… Continue reading Best Practices and Tests CAN Go Together
Category: standardized tests
Standardized Testing + Workshop
Today I administered "The Sequel" of Indiana's standardized test to a small group of sixth graders. This portion was all multiple choice. Last month was the first round of the test where students completed the written response portions. At the end of the testing session, I was left with similar feelings as the last round.… Continue reading Standardized Testing + Workshop
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More on Standardized Testing.
Have you read the comments to this post? If not, you should scroll through. You'll find a slew of emotions. It is well worth checking out -- especially Ryan's comment, where he shares a speech by Lester Laminack. I thought I was done blogging about standardized testing, but then I heard this comment today: Standardized… Continue reading More on Standardized Testing.
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The Most Important Thing about Taking a Standardized Test
So check this little conversation from Saturday morning. It's starring my second grade daughter and me: H: So, Mom, are you impressed by my test scores? Me: What? H: Those are my NWEA test scores. I'm suppose to bring them home to you. Are you impressed? Me: Not really. H: (face falling) Oh. I thought… Continue reading The Most Important Thing about Taking a Standardized Test
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Teacher Compensation & Standardized Test Scores
Last week I began reading Steven L. Layne’s Igniting a Passion for Reading: Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime Readers (2009). By the time I finished page five, I had a highlighter and a pad of post-its in hand to record my thinking. Layne wrote: It would seem that there is every reason to believe that… Continue reading Teacher Compensation & Standardized Test Scores
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Do You Ever Wonder If Kids Have Time to Wonder Anymore?
This past summer Pam Munoz Ryan, author of two of my favorite read aloud books (i.e., Becoming Naomi Leon and Esperanza Rising) spoke at the TCRWP Writing Institute. Her speech, "Reading to Write, and Writing to Read" took the audience on a journey of what she called "an unchoreographed childhood," which was the result of… Continue reading Do You Ever Wonder If Kids Have Time to Wonder Anymore?
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Testing Demands and Writing Workshop
Literacy Spark asked: Do you have to deal with testing in writing...if not how would you deal with? I'm trying to teach it as an immersion genre, like everything else but I'm meeting resistance from administration that wants "test prep." In short, I do deal with testing. In fact, fourth graders in Rhode Island have… Continue reading Testing Demands and Writing Workshop
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Better Written Responses
As some of you know, one of my colleagues and I put the finishing touches on a p.d. we're doing, later this week, yesterday afternoon. One of the things we spent some time planning yesterday was a mini unit of study on how to apply the qualities of good writing to test writing on standardized… Continue reading Better Written Responses
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Students and Standardized Tests
MOteacher's comment on Ruth's post last night reminded me of those demoralized kids and the children I used to spend countless hours preparing for City and State Tests. MOteacher wrote: "Once talk of MAP testing (Missouri Assessment Program) started this week, I found myself in a tizzy about my teaching. I hate the self doubt… Continue reading Students and Standardized Tests
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The wrecking has begun!
Ruth gave me a copy of Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith when I arrived in Indiana. Essentially, the purpose of this book is to explore "creative destruction," which is totally new to me since I care for my writer's notebooks. However, that might be the reason Ruth got this for me... to try something… Continue reading The wrecking has begun!
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thinking things through.
The past week of my professional life has been dedicated to meeting with teachers and reflecting on their writing workshops. The gist of our meetings involves discussing successes and general good stuff happening in workshop, as well as goals and hopes for next year. I'm touched by how driven many teachers are in the quest… Continue reading thinking things through.
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Practicing Written Responses to Texts
My students will be taking the NECAP Reading Test this-coming week. I've been trying to prepare them for the written responses to reading they'll be doing. Therefore, I've tried to create some of my own materials. Here's one thing I did. First, we read Lenore Look's book Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding. Second, we talked… Continue reading Practicing Written Responses to Texts
