This week is STAR testing. How are my students doing?
We start the morning off with a cardio workout; it's very intensive! We dance as wildly as we can to the Black Eyed Peas and then we take two laps around the field. Someone may ask... oh no, doesn't that get them all riled up before they need to focus on their test?
Well, what have you heard all your life...? If you're stressed or nervous, sit still in a chair? If you're stressed, eat some chocolate cake? If you're stressed, take a test? Nooooo..... you're supposed to exercise! Read Brain Rules by John Medina.
So, I'm walking around the room proctoring the exam. I'm no Agatha Trunchbull (the evil headmistress from Matilda by Roald Dahl). I don't pace the rows and tap a ruler on my hand. But I do observe and I am curious about the questions my students are required to answer.
Legally I cannot disclose any of the questions I observed on their test, but I'll give you a close example:
Read the following directions on how to install a hard-drive to your computer:
blah, blah, blah, blah
As the nine-year old's eyes glaze over.
Here's what I love... because I teach critical thinking skills all year, my students were really pondering... "Why in the world am I being tested on this?"
But the beauty is, they were marking the correct answers, because they know how to persevere and those critical thinking skills really helped.
So how are my students doing?
I don't think they know the importance of the STAR test. And why should they? They're just happy to dance every morning. Happy to get gum while they work, and happy we have longer snack recess. They don't need to be burdened with the undo stresses us adults endure. That's exactly what we should be protecting them from. Just let them dance!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Funny mistakes
So I tried to think of a fun way to review for the STAR test which is happening this week. I told the students that we were having an "All- STAR Quiz Show". Each student created a character and wrote a short background story of their character. The students then dressed up as their character for the quiz show. I dressed up as the host, we had game-show music, and I held a fake microphone as I interviewed each contestant about who they were. It was hilarious as students attempted to act their part.
The mistake I made:
Well, I told all of the students about this last week. I clearly wrote it in a note home and told each student to bring a costume to school, but not to wear the costume first thing in the morning.
Let's just say, that on day one of the STAR test, pencils sharpened, desks in rows, one of my students arrived in a massive carnival hat. Can we say distracting? We all had a good laugh and the hat was put away... at leat no one showed up in a grass skirt or a mask of face paint.
oops:)
The mistake I made:
Well, I told all of the students about this last week. I clearly wrote it in a note home and told each student to bring a costume to school, but not to wear the costume first thing in the morning.
Let's just say, that on day one of the STAR test, pencils sharpened, desks in rows, one of my students arrived in a massive carnival hat. Can we say distracting? We all had a good laugh and the hat was put away... at leat no one showed up in a grass skirt or a mask of face paint.
oops:)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
When's the last time we just sat down and thought about it?
I don't claim to be an intellect and I rarely describe myself as smart. However, I often tell others that I'm successful and knowledgeable because I am self-reflective both in my personal and professional life. I definitely get this skill from my parents. Visiting their house is like entering a think tank for morality. If someone in the family is making a decision or working through a moral dilemma we will discuss the topic until we have the right answer for sometimes three whole days. I always head home when I need to re-adjust my moral compass or make an important life decision.
My worry is that our obsession with meeting standards in the classroom takes critical thinking out of the learning environment. If teachers are attempting to meet deadlines for benchmark assessments they don't have time to allow students to simply think!
In my classroom, each day for math I often start with a problem on the board. For example, 8 + 4. This is not a third grade standard, in fact it's a fairly obvious and easy problem for 99% of my students. However, we take five minutes of "think time". Students give me a thumbs up when they know the answer and then another finger raises if they can figure out a different way to answer the same problem. Here are some of their answers:
Student A: "Well I just know it".
Me: "Good for you, I bet that made it quick and easy for you to solve".
Student B: "Well, I know that 8 + 2 = 10 and so with 2 more that makes 12".
Me: "Wow, you used your 10 fact as a base. Great let's call that the Jacob method". (I like to name methods after the student that describes it).
Student C: "I play the solitaire game pyramid that you taught us and so I know that 8 + 5 = 13 so 1 less must be 12"!
Me: "Did anyone else do it this way? Great!"
Student D: "Well I thought of a dozen eggs. There's six on one side of the box, so now you have 2 + 4 more eggs and thats a full carton".
Me: "Very creative, great ideas here!"
In these 5-10 minutes all students are engaged and eager to hear new ways to solve the problems that originally seem so simple. My favorite part is that they were thinking critically!! I see them do this with the math problems in their grade level text books. I see them discuss how they solve problems with their peers. They are often eager to share new methods they've discovered on their own.
We need to slow down as educators and make our content more meaningful and allow students the time to simply... think!
My worry is that our obsession with meeting standards in the classroom takes critical thinking out of the learning environment. If teachers are attempting to meet deadlines for benchmark assessments they don't have time to allow students to simply think!
In my classroom, each day for math I often start with a problem on the board. For example, 8 + 4. This is not a third grade standard, in fact it's a fairly obvious and easy problem for 99% of my students. However, we take five minutes of "think time". Students give me a thumbs up when they know the answer and then another finger raises if they can figure out a different way to answer the same problem. Here are some of their answers:
Student A: "Well I just know it".
Me: "Good for you, I bet that made it quick and easy for you to solve".
Student B: "Well, I know that 8 + 2 = 10 and so with 2 more that makes 12".
Me: "Wow, you used your 10 fact as a base. Great let's call that the Jacob method". (I like to name methods after the student that describes it).
Student C: "I play the solitaire game pyramid that you taught us and so I know that 8 + 5 = 13 so 1 less must be 12"!
Me: "Did anyone else do it this way? Great!"
Student D: "Well I thought of a dozen eggs. There's six on one side of the box, so now you have 2 + 4 more eggs and thats a full carton".
Me: "Very creative, great ideas here!"
In these 5-10 minutes all students are engaged and eager to hear new ways to solve the problems that originally seem so simple. My favorite part is that they were thinking critically!! I see them do this with the math problems in their grade level text books. I see them discuss how they solve problems with their peers. They are often eager to share new methods they've discovered on their own.
We need to slow down as educators and make our content more meaningful and allow students the time to simply... think!
Friday, April 8, 2011
floor monitor
My students are generally too old to be coaxed into helping me pick up the floor every day. I try to make it sound fun... "but you're the human vacuum, yay!" But they see right through me.
Today a student hung around with me after school. She always wants to help me. She has "special needs". She doesn't understand social cues too well and we have to teach her what is "appropriate". No kisses at school, no head banging, no high pitch screaming, etc.
But this young lady also has special abilities. Like the ability to make you crack up laughing or light your heart with her daily little gifts.
Today was a gift. I was on all fours, crawling under desks and picking up bits of eraser, paper clips, forgotten notes, and pen caps. She got down next to me and said, "wanna race?"
We started jamming around the floor picking up pieces as fast as we could, just the two of us. She was laughing so hard I think she snorted. And when she left, she said "I love you" and finally, the floor was clean.
Today a student hung around with me after school. She always wants to help me. She has "special needs". She doesn't understand social cues too well and we have to teach her what is "appropriate". No kisses at school, no head banging, no high pitch screaming, etc.
But this young lady also has special abilities. Like the ability to make you crack up laughing or light your heart with her daily little gifts.
Today was a gift. I was on all fours, crawling under desks and picking up bits of eraser, paper clips, forgotten notes, and pen caps. She got down next to me and said, "wanna race?"
We started jamming around the floor picking up pieces as fast as we could, just the two of us. She was laughing so hard I think she snorted. And when she left, she said "I love you" and finally, the floor was clean.
Abuse
I really think so...
"Good morning children!"
"Today we are having an assembly with all of the 3rd through 5th graders to appreciate students who scored proficient or advanced on their benchmark assessments".
"Will these students please stand up".
"Let's give the standing students a huge round of applause for their excellent scores".
And as for those of you still sitting... I write you this:
Don't let your spirit for joy
your dreams
your light dim
I wish I could save you
from those that don't think of you
I would have loved you
and your 'basicness'
I bet you're good at soccer
I know you make mom laugh
I'm guessing your a creative kid
just waiting for someone to let you stand.
"Good morning children!"
"Today we are having an assembly with all of the 3rd through 5th graders to appreciate students who scored proficient or advanced on their benchmark assessments".
"Will these students please stand up".
"Let's give the standing students a huge round of applause for their excellent scores".
And as for those of you still sitting... I write you this:
Don't let your spirit for joy
your dreams
your light dim
I wish I could save you
from those that don't think of you
I would have loved you
and your 'basicness'
I bet you're good at soccer
I know you make mom laugh
I'm guessing your a creative kid
just waiting for someone to let you stand.
homework
It's my nemesis too.
Too much,
Too little.
Pack the folders,
Empty the folders.
Find the folder on the playground.
Too much,
Too little.
Pack the folders,
Empty the folders.
Find the folder on the playground.
STAR testing
It's coming up... and I don't care. I may be the only teacher within a 100 mile radius that will honestly say this.
The state of California offers $ to schools in order to adopt new textbooks twice every six years. As if basic third grade mathematics changes every three years. Please.
In most schools, like Greg's, teachers are required to teach from the textbook and they must be on certain pages on particular days. Teachers must move students along through the text book, page by page, at the same rate without slowing to clarify or speeding up through the lessons that are too simple.
Last week I finished a lesson on measurement and fractions. I had students measure each other using seamstress tape. They measured various dimensions of their body using centimeters and then calculated their half size. On butcher paper each student drew a perfectly dimensioned half-sized model of themselves. We call them our mini-me. Students worked in partnerships, they learned to cooperate, measure, use centimeters instead of inches, divide by two with large numbers, and many students attempted this mentally. There was so much rich mathematical conversations, I was really proud.
My friend taught a similar lesson where he is forced and intimidated to use only the textbook. He showed a picture of a ruler that was in the book and the kids looked at images and estimated how many inches long they might be. A text book picture of an eraser might be 2 inches tall. Wow, really exciting!
He came home complaining that kids were totally disengaged and their behavior was terrible. Hmmm, I wonder why? Could they be bored to tears?
Oh, but they're being taught how to do well on the STAR test. Now come on people.... Do you really think that his class will score higher on the measurement section of the STAR test than my students who received their lesson? THINK ABOUT IT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.
So why don't I care about the STAR test? Because I work incredibly hard to make sure my students love learning. And I can honestly say that all twenty of my students are excited about school. We laugh, we cry, we're a family. My teaching is based on reaching and inspiring children. It is not based on fear of failing the STAR test. And that is why my students will be more successful!
The state of California offers $ to schools in order to adopt new textbooks twice every six years. As if basic third grade mathematics changes every three years. Please.
In most schools, like Greg's, teachers are required to teach from the textbook and they must be on certain pages on particular days. Teachers must move students along through the text book, page by page, at the same rate without slowing to clarify or speeding up through the lessons that are too simple.
Last week I finished a lesson on measurement and fractions. I had students measure each other using seamstress tape. They measured various dimensions of their body using centimeters and then calculated their half size. On butcher paper each student drew a perfectly dimensioned half-sized model of themselves. We call them our mini-me. Students worked in partnerships, they learned to cooperate, measure, use centimeters instead of inches, divide by two with large numbers, and many students attempted this mentally. There was so much rich mathematical conversations, I was really proud.
My friend taught a similar lesson where he is forced and intimidated to use only the textbook. He showed a picture of a ruler that was in the book and the kids looked at images and estimated how many inches long they might be. A text book picture of an eraser might be 2 inches tall. Wow, really exciting!
He came home complaining that kids were totally disengaged and their behavior was terrible. Hmmm, I wonder why? Could they be bored to tears?
Oh, but they're being taught how to do well on the STAR test. Now come on people.... Do you really think that his class will score higher on the measurement section of the STAR test than my students who received their lesson? THINK ABOUT IT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.
So why don't I care about the STAR test? Because I work incredibly hard to make sure my students love learning. And I can honestly say that all twenty of my students are excited about school. We laugh, we cry, we're a family. My teaching is based on reaching and inspiring children. It is not based on fear of failing the STAR test. And that is why my students will be more successful!
Only fifteen miles away...
there is no paper.
"We're only given a half ream of paper per week and I have 35 Kindergartners in my class. All of the teachers at my school must get by with their half ream of paper per week".
"Today I went to the copy machine to make copies of the letter K for my students to trace and color. As the machine began to spit out the copies on my paper, I noticed a worksheet on finding the mean, median and mode shooting out by the dozens".
"STOP, NO, NO, NO" -- someone forgot to clear their earlier copy request.
"And that's what happens every week to my paper"
"We're only given a half ream of paper per week and I have 35 Kindergartners in my class. All of the teachers at my school must get by with their half ream of paper per week".
"Today I went to the copy machine to make copies of the letter K for my students to trace and color. As the machine began to spit out the copies on my paper, I noticed a worksheet on finding the mean, median and mode shooting out by the dozens".
"STOP, NO, NO, NO" -- someone forgot to clear their earlier copy request.
"And that's what happens every week to my paper"
At heart a positive thinker
As a teacher in California, I chose to start this blog after a heated discussion amongst family of a reoccurring rant that always seems to transpire over the dinner table. With three teachers in the family (myself, my husband and my mother-in-law) we often share stories of our work week during our Tuesday night family dinners. Here's one of my stories:
I came out to the playground after recess to see none of my students lined up for class. I had a whirl of anxiety as I imagined all twenty of my students going wild in the classroom without me. I jogged to my room and opened the door to see all twenty students' hands crossed, pencils out, notebooks open, smiling, and silent. They played a beautiful trick on me. I shouted, "I love you guys", and I meant it. I love my students as if they were my own children (no, I do not yet have my own). I work in a beautiful school and I really have no complaints about people I work with or the families I am involved with. But just to clarify, I am at heart a positive thinker, a realist, a problem solver, and an optimist.
This blog is a compilation of stories I hear everyday from the teachers I know working the public school system here in California. These are all true stories, nothing exaggerated. I hope you think critically about what I've written and start considering the lives of our children and how they're being affected by each of these stories.
I will also share the stories of the small public school that I work at. I'm in this pleasant bubble of all things perfect and I often have to pinch myself. My darling school is so incredible that I often keep the stories to myself around fellow public school teachers so not to irritate my friends.
I would love to hear your feedback.
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