prepare, teach, re-teach, re-teach, re-teach...TEST!

Over the past three years of teaching, I have never had to give the CST test or prepare my kiddos to take it. When I was teaching third grade two years ago, the contracted teacher returned just as test prep began, and I was moved into a first grade classroom. Needless to say, I dodged a pressure bullet that was unknown to me. I've always overheard teachers talking about the stress load surrounding the preparations for this test, and about how many concepts they had to reinforce daily, however I never truly understood it until now.

Teaching sixth grade for the past 6 months has not only opened my eyes to new curriculum and behavior challenges, but the difficulty of administrating and preparing for the CST. I want nothing more than for my students to succeed on this exam. Preparing them for this test takes hard work and dedication on the part of the teacher and students. Trying to make 11 and 12 year old kids understand the significance of scoring well on this test has been a challenge in itself.

Since the majority of everything they are being taught is review, most of them feel like they know everything and therefore tune out. However, when given a practice test, their scores prove otherwise. As a wake up call, I explained to the kids that how they score on our quizzes is a reflection of their test talking skills and knowledge of the content, and therefore should be making more of an effort to ask questions, contribute to the lesson and seek ways to apply what they are learning in the classroom to their daily lives.

After a week of test preparations had past, I decided that in order to motivation my students to strive for better, my teaching style needed some altering. They were no longer responding enthusiastically to group collaboration or direct instruction. Naturally, lecturing and hearing my voice for 7 hours can be a bore to anyone. So, with a new mind set, I started playing games and making test prep hours a competition. Through this I learned, many students forgot they were learning test taking strategies and skills and started to become excited to play my "games". Using whiteboards, pointer sticks, a bell, stopwatch, powerpoints and online math materials, review games were created and a CST calender count down was hung on the wall.

Each day we take down the number from the previous day and mentally prepare ourself to take full advantage of the hours we have to learn, prepare, and compete to earn some of the best test scores our school has yet to see. So, with three weeks ahead of us, we are pushing full speed ahead to accomplish what we all know is possible, the very best.

6th Grade Tie-Dye Madness

I got this idea a few years ago when I taught 6th grade to make tie-dyed t-shirts for the kids. The shirts were made as a way to united the 6th graders and make them stand out at the school. Wearing them at their end of the year softball game, science camp, and the talent show, this seemed like a good idea, but a messy one, to say the least.

At first, I thought this project was going to be mayhem, but I was quickly shown, with the proper guidance and organization, this project was fun, entertaining, and controllable. The planing began by asking the kids to bring in a white t-shirt or two dollars. Next, I bought five 3 gallon buckets from the Dollar Tree along with five Rit Dye colors from Rite Aid. Last, I gathered together rubber bands and demonstrated for the kids different ways to tie the rubber bands around their shirts. From a spiral pattern to a stripped pattern, the kids quickly caught on and got excited. After I demonstrated how to properly dip their shirts into the hot dye water, I let them dive into the task.

Shirt after shirt, more and more creative coloring and rubber banding emerged. As the kids unwrapped their rubber bands, you could see the anticipation in their eyes as they waited to see what their masterpiece looked like. After letting them dry, the kids could not wait to put them on! Warning them that the fresh color might bleed on their clothes, most kids could careless, they just wanted to show off their new 6th grade artwork! With smiling kids all around me and a new shirt to take home, I was extremely happy with the results and success of this project. I highly recommend taking the plunge and doing this project with your kids. Not only do they learn a new "hip" skill, they start feeling like they truly "rule the school".

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Teaching the kids about Early Humans is something I have been anticipating. As I read through their history books and re-called projects my sixth grade teacher made us create, my wheels started to turn. A few years ago while I was in student teaching, I taught the kids about our body's bones. We created skeletons make out of different shaped pasta pieces. Who knew this idea would make it's way back in my mind.

Using pasta pieces, we re-created the famous Australopithecus, Lucy. This kids had a blast learning about this 3.4 million year Hominid and enjoyed building her skeleton. A successful lesson always makes for a happy Monday!

Learn Something New Everyday

Over the past three years, I have customarily taught in Vietnamese neighborhoods. Through this experience I have learned about Chinese New Year, traditional foods, soups, outfits and other celebrations that the Vietnamese celebrate. All of these celebrations have been fascinating and has made me realize how little culture I have in my family. Don't get me wrong, we have traditions and special foods we love, but no one dresses up in a beautiful Ao Dia and gets their hair done before school.

Currently, I am teaching in a pre-dominantly Hispanic neighborhood. With this change in culture, comes new traditions. The latest lesson I have learned is about the holiday, Dia De Reyes, or "Kings Day". A student brought in a "King Cake" or better known as Roscon De Reyes. This holiday celebrates the Three Wise Men and the birth of Jesus. Luckily for me, a student brought in a King Cake to share with our class. All of the kids were excited to eat the cake and hoped to get a baby Jesus doll in their piece. I learned, if your piece of cake has a baby Jesus inside, you are responsible for throwing your family a party on February 2nd. It is believed, the Light of Christ is presented to the world on this day. To our surprise, there was two plastic baby Jesus figures inside, looks like a lot of parties are going to be thrown on February 2nd!

I think the saying goes, "better late, than never!"

Clearly, it has been awhile since I have made a post, but that doesn't mean great things and ideas are not on my mind for the New Year! Before moving forward though, I must close the chapters I opened during November and December with my second graders. I also must announce that I have been hired to be a long-term substitute teacher for 6th grade!! Yes, that is correct, 6th grade and low and behold, they too have won my heart.

Without further ado, here is a cute Turkey we made during Thanksgiving. It's simple, sweet, and to the point. Most importantly, it is not an all day project. To enhance the academics of this project, the kids had to write what they are thankful for on each feather.

Another great idea, I got from friend is to make Indian Headdresses. The kids earn feathers for their headdress depending on different skills they can perform and information they know. For example, students earned feathers for being able to tie their shoes, say their telephone number, address, spell their name correctly, give answers to math problems, write a simple sentence...etc. It's all about re-teaching those life skills while meeting the standards :)

Now, moving onto December. On the second week of the month, I entered a room full of 30 6th graders. With changing hormones and plenty to talk about, the world of "little kids" was gone. Quickly adjusting my talk, discipline plan, and teaching style, my own thinking had to take a big leap into "how to teach upper grade". Within a few weeks, my lesson plans developed more challenging content and the grading increased x10. The time I have to now devote to planning has also increased. I have learned to embrace this challenge before me. From teaching them how to write a research report to finding the sales tax of an item, I have met my match! I am grateful and appreciative of this opportunity and loving their independence! I am anticipating the future and enjoying every minute of what 2011 has bring! So bring it on! Cheers to 2011 and a productive trimester ahead! Stay tuned :)