Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
CRCT
I wanted to write a blog post about CRCT because after being in a 3rd grade classroom these past few weeks I'm shocked at how intense the whole situation is. I remember taking standardized tests in elementary school, but it wasn't a big deal. About a week before they would remind us we have the test and tell us to get a good nights' sleep on those nights.
Now a month before the CRCT even started my teacher got every student a folder ready with tons and tons of worksheets. There were reading passages, math questions, and language arts questions. Everything resembled how it would look on the CRCT. She cut guided reading, and writing out of reading and writing time and it turned into reading passages and answering questions. We also taught test taking techniques like underlining key words, "taking out the trash" (cross out any multiple choice answers you know are "trash"), and "plug it in" (plug in the answer to the question to see if it makes sense)
All I have seen the last month is CRCT prep, even science and social studies has basically been cut off. There are test taking tips posted all around the school. I feel like there is so much pressure on these kids to pass and when a majority of them (especially in my class) are "on the bubble" (depending on the day could pass the test or fail it) it's really scary.
This past week one of my jobs was to cover every bulletin board, calendar, and alphabet in the classroom with butcher paper. No words can be on the wall, because this might help students find an answer on the test (I learned this from our teacher CRCT prep meeting) This meeting put pressure on the teachers too. Make sure they are bubbling correctly, but don't erase the stray marks without another teacher there or you can be accused of cheating. It's crazy.
Finally on Friday we had a "CRCT Pep Rally" Where there was a game show that students answered questions about test taking strategies. Then the 5th grade girls put on a "cheer show" with a CRCT cheer (Do your best to ace the test) After the cheer we had a fifth grade teacher do the CRCT rap and all the kids loved it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgSwRttJI6o&feature=related is they one he sang.
I'm just shocked at how much pressure is on this one test. It makes me sad that we are teaching kids how to take a test and many of them are worried they will fail and be in 3rd grade again.
Now a month before the CRCT even started my teacher got every student a folder ready with tons and tons of worksheets. There were reading passages, math questions, and language arts questions. Everything resembled how it would look on the CRCT. She cut guided reading, and writing out of reading and writing time and it turned into reading passages and answering questions. We also taught test taking techniques like underlining key words, "taking out the trash" (cross out any multiple choice answers you know are "trash"), and "plug it in" (plug in the answer to the question to see if it makes sense)
All I have seen the last month is CRCT prep, even science and social studies has basically been cut off. There are test taking tips posted all around the school. I feel like there is so much pressure on these kids to pass and when a majority of them (especially in my class) are "on the bubble" (depending on the day could pass the test or fail it) it's really scary.
This past week one of my jobs was to cover every bulletin board, calendar, and alphabet in the classroom with butcher paper. No words can be on the wall, because this might help students find an answer on the test (I learned this from our teacher CRCT prep meeting) This meeting put pressure on the teachers too. Make sure they are bubbling correctly, but don't erase the stray marks without another teacher there or you can be accused of cheating. It's crazy.
Finally on Friday we had a "CRCT Pep Rally" Where there was a game show that students answered questions about test taking strategies. Then the 5th grade girls put on a "cheer show" with a CRCT cheer (Do your best to ace the test) After the cheer we had a fifth grade teacher do the CRCT rap and all the kids loved it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgSwRttJI6o&feature=related is they one he sang.
I'm just shocked at how much pressure is on this one test. It makes me sad that we are teaching kids how to take a test and many of them are worried they will fail and be in 3rd grade again.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
I know I'm a little late on it, but I wanted to write about how my teachers handled the Jamie Hood situation in class last week. On Friday the school was on a "soft lockdown" which means that we were supposed to stay in our locked classroom as much a possible, no outside recess, and students had to be escorted where ever they went (bathroom, water, other classes)
That morning during morning meeting after everyone had shared my teacher said "today all the flags are flying at half mast. Does anyone know what that means?" After some student guesses she explained it was a gesture of respect for Officer Buddy Christian because of what happened to him. Then she asked the kids what they knew about what happened this past week in Athens. A few of the commented "that someone had shot some police officers."
My teacher said that they were correct and "While our police officers were doing their job of keeping us safe that a man, Jamie Hood decided he was going to hurt them. Officer Christian was killed and another police officer was in the hospital." Then she asked the students if they had any questions or comments.
They went around the room sharing "I heard all those Hoods are crazy." to "my mom said we are going to go to the funeral on Sunday." Some questions they asked were "is him in jail yet?" My teachers was honest and said "No, the police are searching for him but they still haven't found him yet."
After each student had a chance to say something she said "My number one job at school is to keep you safe so lets not worry about this anymore..." After that discussion I didn't hear anymore talk about the situation.
I thought my teacher handled the tough situation very well. She gave them this basic facts without overwhelming them with information and listened to their thoughts and answered questions about Jamie Hood and the police officers.
That morning during morning meeting after everyone had shared my teacher said "today all the flags are flying at half mast. Does anyone know what that means?" After some student guesses she explained it was a gesture of respect for Officer Buddy Christian because of what happened to him. Then she asked the kids what they knew about what happened this past week in Athens. A few of the commented "that someone had shot some police officers."
My teacher said that they were correct and "While our police officers were doing their job of keeping us safe that a man, Jamie Hood decided he was going to hurt them. Officer Christian was killed and another police officer was in the hospital." Then she asked the students if they had any questions or comments.
They went around the room sharing "I heard all those Hoods are crazy." to "my mom said we are going to go to the funeral on Sunday." Some questions they asked were "is him in jail yet?" My teachers was honest and said "No, the police are searching for him but they still haven't found him yet."
After each student had a chance to say something she said "My number one job at school is to keep you safe so lets not worry about this anymore..." After that discussion I didn't hear anymore talk about the situation.
I thought my teacher handled the tough situation very well. She gave them this basic facts without overwhelming them with information and listened to their thoughts and answered questions about Jamie Hood and the police officers.
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