CELDT Testing

Last week I was fortunate enough to become a CELDT proctor for the next six weeks. I am happy to be working at an elementary school again. Being able to spend one-on-one time testing them has been very entertaining and educational for me. Usually, I am accustom to administering one-on-one tests to kids while trying to monitor 20 others, not exactly an easy task. Not having a class to watch, I have been able to enjoy testing (yes, I just said I am enjoying it...I know it's crazy).

Each day I plan on reflecting on my testing and the silly things the kids say. There innocence and imagination never seizes to amaze me. More than this though, I want to reflect on the kids answers to improve my own teaching so that these "silly" answers become corrected and they can be reclassified into an English Only status. Fingers are crossed! I have high hopes for these little ones.

Day One : According to many of the children, winter, spring, summer, and fall are commonly referred to as "sections, holidays, weather, and leaves falling off of trees", A paperclip is also called a "pin", and the benefits of flying in a space shuttle far outweigh the joys of being President of the United States for one day.

I foresee many more hurtles in our future and I look forward to jumping over them together...

Day Two : Today we started testing the third graders. Overall, they did well, but many struggled to answer all of the questions. Retelling a story based on a series of pictures and asking a question seemed to pose the biggest challenges. Knowing this information, I can plan for the future and make my students more prepared. A few things I could do to help my students is to practice their re-telling skills more often. I think I would be fun to cut out pictures form a magazine and have the kids write stories based on the pictures. This would be a great way for them to practice writing with details, express creative thoughts, and share their stories with a classmate. As a result, hopefully practicing these skills more often will help them reach more success when they are called upon to perform for the state.

Day Three: The day began a HOT one. With no air conditioning at the school, we starting testing the first graders. The test took about 20 minutes to administer to each student. Not only was this a long process, it was unfair. Over half the test was far too challenging for the little ones. Hearing wrong answer, after wrong answer, I became frustrated with test makers that they would create such difficult questions followed by an abstract story... How is an English Language Learner suppose to know random vocabulary, questioning skills, listening comprehension, and spell the word "apple"? I would like to see how a fluent English speaking child would score in order to compare how truly challenging this test appears to be. I think it might be challenging for any first grader, no matter their language abilities, at this point in the year. To be continued...

Day Four: We continued to testing the first graders with roughly the same results as the day before. Most guessed the way through the test or shook their head in confusion. Every child tried hard, but still, they do not understand the importance of passing the test or why they need to develop these basic reading, writing, and speaking skills. Hopefully as they grow older, things will start to click.

Day Five: We powered through the remaining first graders and made our way to the MIDDLE SCHOOL. I am not one for the "older" kids, but as I soon learned they are still very young, just a little "cooler".

Filled with hope the seventh graders being tested would certainly pass the test seeing as they took this same test the year before, I was wrong... The same head shakes of confusion and "I don't know responses" continued throughout the week. I learned knowing the name of a "bulletin board" and an "envelope" were challenging. However, the most challenging question for them was to tell as story about four pictures. After hearing about 400 wrong answers, by the end of the week, I was more motivated than ever to someday teach my ELD class to my fullest potential. They truly need to learn the basic vocabulary for asking and answering questions and need to be taught the importance of WHY they are learning these skills.

Get Your Kids Moving!

Jumping, skipping, running, sliding, and galloping are all ways to raise kids heart rates and get them moving around! Whatever physical activity it may be, just do one!! A new study published in the New York Times newspaper yesterday states, "just 20 minutes of walking before a test raised children's test scores." This is an incredibly motivating to think that teaching our kids P.E. is not only improving their health, but also is increasing their brain functions and test scores in the classroom! The next time you're feeling a bit sluggish and see your kiddos are too, hit the pavement running and get them moving! Just

think, higher test scores, higher test scores, higher test scores...

Another thought, get your kids moving by signing them up to run in a local community race. The kid's "fun runs" are usually free and its a great way to build community involvement while promoting physical fitness outside of school! Plus, they'll receive healthy snacks and a t-shirt at the end of the race, you know the little things kids love : )

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/phys-ed-can-exercise-make-kids-smarter/

Ode To The Calendar

This is one of my most favorite Calendar displays that I have ever seen. It's so organized and easy to use!

This calendar is great because it has so many components kids can interact with!

Choosing a calendar leader is a positive way to build confidence and leadership skills

Calendar time is not as easy as it seems. Teaching kids about the calendar and coming up with a memorable routine can be time tasking. While teaching first grade I quickly learned the importance of modeling and repetition. The more repetition the kids are shown the better they will be at leading calendar independently. Since we all know, our ultimate goal as teachers is to make our kids self-sufficient, modeling how you want something done correctly is crucial to succeeding.

The second thing I learned from teaching calendar is what do I include? The days of the week? The months of the year? Time? Money? Songs? Poems? Counting by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's? Graphing the weather and lost teeth? So many things to think about and include! How are all these components supposed to be accomplished in about 10 or 15 minutes and be exciting, engaging, and educational?

In order to sort through the madness, I consulted my fellow team members and the famous California State Standards. In order to ensure I included every standard that my First Graders needed to learn from calendar by the end of the year I found songs, poems, and activities perfect for calendar time.

Here is a taste of one my routines:

1. Today is___________, yesterday was __________, tomorrow will be________________.

2. Add a one block to the Ones, Tens, and Hundreds pocket chart, combine the tens if necessary, and count how many days we have been in school.

3. Onto the 100’s chart! Time for our “exercises” count to 100 and use a different bodily movement or exercise for every 10. I.e. 1-10 = jumping jacks, 11-20 = arm circles, 21-30= stand on one leg, 31-40 = switch legs etc…

4. Using the 100’s charts, skip count by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s.

5. Days of the week song- simple and to the point! (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the days of the week, the days of the week!)

6. Months of the year- this song names all the months of the year and adding cute hand movements to every month makes it all more engaging.

7. What is the weather? Graphing the daily weather pattern throughout the month.

8. Did anyone loose his or her tooth? If so, graph that tooth!

9. Show me the money! I choose a small card that has a money amount on it, and student volunteers instruct me on what coins I need to make the amount of money on the card.

10.Name those shapes!

11.Social studies song, and flag solute.

Someday my classroom will come...

After reading fellow teacher's blogs, I got inspired, excited, and a little sad. I feel a bit down due to the fact that I do not have my own classroom this year, yet hopeful someday soon this will change.

The past two years, I had the privilege of experiencing the joys and butterflies of the first day of school brings. I loved setting up the classroom for my future students. Organizing their supplies, books, folders, preparing lesson plans, and decorating the room for them contributes to the anticipation for the new year.

Unfortunately, this year, so many teacher were laid off and had seniority over me, that I am left to continue my job search. I understand the benefits of substituting, however, I've been playing this game for almost three years now, and I am ready to be on my own. Subbing day after day, I've taken pictures, collected worksheets, bulletin board ideas, discipline plans, and a variety of homework options. I feel more ready, than I ever have to have my own classroom. One that doesn't have to be turned over at the end of the day or month. The small taste of teaching that I have experienced on my own, I love and want to continue. So that my spirits are not totally down, I've decided to take the high road and do what I can to enhance my education and classroom knowledge through subbing and blogging.

In the meantime, I will build my collection of teaching ideas and archive them in my blog. I have also decided to post old lessons and ideas I have implemented in the past. Someday, I am confident that I will have the most unbelievable classroom. I love teaching and I am not willing to give into the negativity surrounding our economy and problems in education.

"If at first you don't succeed, try, and try again!"

a little inspiration for a new school year

Everyone needs a little motivation in their day. The other morning my mom clipped this quote out of the newspaper for me. I thought it was fitting for the time of year and months of teaching ahead...

"If you give a child a fish, you will feed them for a day; if you teach a child to fish, you feed them for a lifetime; but if you teach a child to learn, you feel them for a lifetime and they don't have to just eat fish."

-Tim Gallwey

The Teacher Shame Game

Recently, the news has reported wanting to publicly release the names of teachers whose students have not made growth on state standardized tests, as a means of humiliation and motivation. In the “dog eat dog” world we’ve come to live in, a failing economy and struggling education system would lead people to make irrational decisions such as this. So what is the real problem and is there a reasonable solution?

Some politicians believe publishing the names of teachers whose student’s test scores have not improved over the past year will only motivate them to do better. Which begs the question, how can a teacher improve his/her student’s test scores if the real problem is they don’t now how? Many teachers may not have the educational tools or resources that they need to take the next steps towards improvement. Some might need to be trained in new teaching or studying techniques that could help them in the classroom. Taking these factors into account, humiliating individuals who have chosen teaching as a life career, do not deserve this kind of treatment. This does not sound like a level headed solution to me, nor does it show positive growth or improvement for the downfall in our education system.

There must a better solution to this problem than what has been concluded thus far. I, myself do not know the right answer, however I do know many great teachers who go unnoticed for the amazing things they do everyday, how about we publish their names? Not to mention all the talented teachers who have yet to be hired and are awaiting their chance to make a significant difference in the world. Whatever the “right” decision may be, let’s hope a rational one can be made and a more important issue can be tackled…like the growing unemployment rate…

Walt Gardners, a veteran teacher, sheds more light and information on this topic below:
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/walt_gardners_reality_check/2010/08/

What Ever Happend To Reading Rainbow?

Talk about good T.V. Back in the 80's and 90's I remember being so happy when my teachers popped the Reading Rainbow VHS into the VCR. With a catchy introduction song, every kid I knew was hooked and sang the lyrics the rest of the day.

Each episode is centered around a theme from a book. The show also provided good book recommendations for kids when they would go to the library. I found this helpful because it exposed me and classmates to book genres and characters that would otherwise be overlooked.

Along with Mister Rogers Neighborhood and Seasame Street, Reading Rainbow is the third-longest running children's series. In 2005, production for the show ended. I am happily suprised this show successfully ran for so long. I thought production ended much earlier than this.

Learning this information gives me hope that kids these days might still be interested in watching. However, showing movies in the classroom are frowned upon today, perhaps streaming a clip or two through your laptop onto an ELMO or SmartBoard might be acceptable...