Let It Go- STAAR

It is that time of year that state testing begins again in Texas. As many of you know I spent my first two years teaching 6th grade language arts and testing was a big stress of mine. I know there are different things that stress me out now in 1st grade, but I know there are so many teachers who are worried about  the upcoming tests. This video was sent to me by one of my readers that volunteer in my classroom from the church right down the road. Don't stress…just let it go! 

What a Week!

It seemed like the week was never going to end, but it finally did. My week started out crummy, but here are a few of the good things that happened to me:

- The parent meeting that I had on Tuesday ended well because the student is no longer in my Pre AP class. It is amazing how much more productive we were this week. 

- We did stations again this week after taking a break from them. I am absolutely loving the time that stations allow me to work with small groups of students. Previously I have been doing a small lesson with them about the topic that we are learning about, but I think I am going to move into some reading strategy groups as a review for our testing in April. My plan is to really analyze the data from our district benchmarks and then place the students into groups accordingly. Any good advice for this?

- I got a big compliment from my principal. She emailed a picture of my word wall out to the entire staff. It is nice to know that I am doing things right and that she feels they are worthy of sharing with others. 

- My district benchmark scores were not too atrocious. Of course they were not where I would like them to be, but they improved.

- After having TELPAS training this past Monday, I had to do my recalibration. I should have waited to take it because I failed it. Luckily, you get a second chance before you have to get remediation. I am glad to report that I made a 90 on it the second time. I may have done a little bit of a happy dance when this happened. 

- I also managed to get all of my grades ready and verified before I was called on the phone and told to do it. :)

I am ready for another great week in 6th grade! What are you looking forward to most this coming week?

Benchmark Rant

Today we took our district benchmarks. I have been really frustrated with them because the Language Arts ones have been Released TAKS tests which are reflective of what students have learned by testing time. I was dreading looking at the scores for this test and I was right about that. Not a single kid in my inclusion class passed it. Now, it is not modified appropriately for them because the SPED kids should be taking a TAKS-M version. It is just so frustrating. Luckily, my other two classes did much better, but I was still very upset about this. You can bet we will be going over the benchmarks together as a class tomorrow. 

I was so excited to finally get my kidney table on Monday and the kids are loving it too. If only I could find some chairs for it now. I personally like my step stool chair that I have been using. :)

Here are the poster/contracts that we created yesterday that I mentioned in my post. I remembered to snap a picture of them today. :)

Here is hoping that you have a wonderful Friday!

One More Week

That is all I have left of my student teaching experience. Tuesday and Wednesday don't even really count because I had potty patrol during the TAKS test. May 2nd is my official last day of student teaching and then I will be all on my own in 6th grade for the remainder of the school year.

On Thursday I had my final observation for student teaching and I am excited to report that I got a perfect 120 out of 120 from my supervising professor. I knew I would do well, but I was not expecting a perfect score at all. Now all I have left is to graduate and then I will be fully certified to teach EC-6th grade in the state of Texas. I am also planning on taking the 4-8 generalist test this summer too. 

On Thursday I officially applied for the 6th grade ELA job that I am doing right now. I have my fingers crossed because I really think that is where I would rather be. Don't get me wrong, I still love the elementary kiddos, I just think I would like to start in 6th grade especially now since I have a rhythm with it. The idea of possibly only planning for 2 things is nice too compared to having to plan for all 4 content areas. Hopefully I will have a better idea by the end of the week though. 

Do you do anything special for your kiddos for testing or give them an encouragement note? I am wanting to give them something on Monday but am just not sure what I want it to be. I would love to hear your suggestions!