We can do it!

This week was our first round of ISTEP testing in third grade.  I'll be honest, this is a rough time of year.  Winter seems never ending in Indiana.  You know it has been cold when anything above 20 degrees feels like a heat wave.  There has been a nasty stomach bug going around.  Lots of students and staff have been out multiple days, including me because my own kiddos had it.  The stretch between Christmas and spring break is always a tough one.  A lot of learning happens, but we are all just looking forward to spring and some warmer weather.

We took round one of our testing this week.  The paper/pencil constructed response portion of the ISTEP is given in our classrooms.  Because of this we must cover any educational posters or information that students could potentially use to help them with the test.  So all anchor charts, posters, name tags, multiplication charts, number lines, etc. must be covered or taken down.  We pull out the yuckiest chart paper (don't want to waste the good stuff) we can find and staple it up to cover our beautiful, helpful walls.  Something about this depresses me.  I don't want to cover or tear down all of our learning.  We build those bulletin boards together all year and it is a colorful snapshot of all we have accomplished.

To help us stay positive, we talked about our goals for the year and made a bulletin board (since we had to cover it anyways) to keep us motivated.  Our slogan for this testing season is "We can do it!".  Our big goal for the year is to master the Indiana standards and pass our IREAD and ISTEP tests and I ask the students to set a couple of personal goals.  Some of them choose funny or silly goals, like eating a sandwich in one minute or beating a video game.  Many of them chose awesome goals like improving their grades or becoming a better person.

We spent some time reading about Rosie the riveter.  Then we took photos and drew pictures to help inspire us even more to do our best.  I have awesome students.  We can do it!

Testing Time and ESL

It is a dreaded time of year in third grade (and maybe just generally for everyone).  February-April is testing season in Indiana and third graders actually get the worst of it.  Indiana requires third grade students to take ISTEP (2 times) and I READ.  We are all feeling especially stressed this year with our new Indiana standards, and a new test that is supposed to be hours and hours longer and tougher than ever before.  The test is actually so long that our governor is working on shortening it at the last minute.  Add to that a couple of snow closings and a handful of delays for sub-zero temperatures.

It is a perfect storm of stress.  When I'm stressed I drink too much diet coke and eat too much junk food (all the valentine's candy is long gone so I had to spring for some Easter candy early). And I sort of feel like my creativity is zapped.  Well, nothing will jump start your creativity like getting a new student who doesn't speak English a week before the big test.  I scrambled around today (my new friend arrived without warning) to find some activities for ESL students.  Our school has a subscription to Brainpop.com and thankfully they have an ESL section of their website.  Students can watch videos, practice their English, and take short quizzes on the app.

I also quickly downloaded a couple of free apps suggested for ESL students.  One is called Action Words and it helps build vocabulary for kiddos.  Another is called Fun English.   It looks great and comes with 2 free lessons and 14 games but you have to purchase all the additional lessons individually.  The free content is super fun and useful, though.  A Kid's Academy app, I downloaded looks like it will be basic practice connecting letter sounds with words while giving verbal and picture clues.  

I also read a short article from Edutopia today.  I love it when I read an article and it reinforces everything I've been doing!  I pulled out some old posters and hung them in the classroom to help my new student, but also to encourage my other students to learn and connect with a foreign language.  We will learn and communicate together as best we can.  Nos gusta aprender.

 

#edchat about Class Dojo

Being married to a teacher is exhausting because you work really hard all day (one on her feet is worth three in the seat, you know?) then spend all kinds of time outside of school prepping and grading and building your PLN (got to keep up with the #edchats and #teachersofinstagram meanwhile annoying all of your non-teacher friends and family all over social media) and then you get to rehash it all at home.  It's nice because we can relate and support, but it's tough because it also never seems to stop being about school.

Dickens when they aren't teaching.

I got an email recently announcing that I am a Class Dojo mentor.  While this has little meaning to many people it caused a small spat in the Dicken home.  I was super excited (there are stickers and badges and FREEBIES involved!) but the Mr. was not.  My husband uses Class Dojo in his kindergarten class like a madman (he wrote a blog about it), and he may have felt a tad slighted that he was not chosen as a mentor.  Prior to this email neither of us had known Class Dojo mentors existed but now it's out there and the Dickens are a competitive group of people.  All this to say that at our house and in our classrooms we love Class Dojo!

Class Dojo is a website/app that can be used as a behavior management tool and a way to communicate in a very positive way with parents and students.  We all used to use the old school behavior chart where Johnny moves his clip and misses recess.  A lot of educators are starting to question that method.  The amazing thing with kids is that they come in all shapes and sizes and they just don't all fit into that clip chart model. Class Dojo provides an alternative for the connected generation.

One of my favorite features is the option to message parents and send photos.  I try to send messages to relay accomplishments in the classroom and send the occasional pic.  I get the nicest messages back from parents.  I feel super connected and appreciated when parents message me questions or praise the job that I am doing.  Most parents want that involvement and feedback.  Thanks Class Dojo for making that possible.