Yipee Yoo Hoo!!

What a great day! My quarters were so relaxed today!!  It was our last "fun day" for a couple of weeks.  Monday we go back to our regular schedule (minus the test prep...Yipee Yoo Hoo!!)  But, for the day, I let them have some free time.  Not all of them, mind you...I had a few that still had work to finish!!  ::shrugging shoulders::

One of the things they did was use my normal teaching materials to play school.  I LOVE watching them do this!  I was so surprised!  A couple of them used an old chart tablet to make some anchor charts!!!  (They got it...they really got it!!)  I just HAD to take some pictures!

The little things are soooo cool!  Another one of my students copied poem information from her poetry folder.

One thing I found interesting.  Some of my girls were writing names on the board for talking. (Yes, I know...they have obviously remembered that talking results in a warning by putting your name on the board...)  My girl is an ELL.  I was stunned when I saw what she wrote:

Hmmmm....do you see what I see?  What she meant was "people in trouble" ( I do NOT write that on the board...hahaha!!).  But, what she thought and heard was "people introuble".  Wow.  Just...wow.  I never realized, though I should have, that ELLs sometimes hear things in a much different way!  She's a fourth grader, so seeing this took me by surprise!  It's common with primary kiddos.  This will definitely be on my mind when I reflect and plan for next year!

On another note, we received an email from our district on information that was released by TEA.  We will get raw scores at the end of May.  I don't understand exactly how we will read them...I think we will only find out how many questions there were and how many each student missed.  Now, the good thing is that I will see what I need to work on to be a better teacher.  Here's the kicker...we won't get the final scores until January of 2013!!! Yes, you read that right...2013!!  These kids will be half way through their 5th grade year!!!  Geezy sneezy!!

I do have one concern that I'm not sure how to address.  My homeroom has 13 ELLs.  My partner's homeroom has 14.  Now, she is a former bilingual teacher, so of course her class is listed as ESL.  I teach language arts, I am certified to teach ESL, but on my roster, my class isn't listed as ESL (the individual students are, though).  Make sense?? (nah, not to me either.)  Anyhoo...when those scores come back and, IF they are not too hot, anyone looking at my scores will think I have a standard classroom that didn't do as well as the others.  What should I do about that?  It never bothered me not to have my roster listed as ESL because I knew, my team knew, and admin knew that my kids were ELL.  But, when I think about future job opportunities, I wonder how this will affect me.  Selfish, I know. Not extremely important in the scheme of things...I'm not planning on moving any time soon.  Just curious...

Have a fabulous weekend!! 

"You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it."--Oprah Winfrey

That's ME!!!!

Always,

Moving On...

Well...the STAAR has burned out.

Burned out my students, burned me out, burned out my friends.

Burned, burned, burned.

However, I will fix that with a new haircut, some new clothes, lunch (and maybe dinner), and a few couple of glasses of Moscato with a friend I haven't talked to in 10 years or seen in 14!!! I'm driving to meet her on Saturday.  She was one of my closest, dearest friends for many, many years.  She was in my wedding  22 years ago.  But life took her one way and me the other.  The best part...and I know this sounds cruel...but she is NOT a teacher.  So I will not talk about school, curriculum, testing, students, etc. for one whole day!!! (My husband is thinking, "What the feathers???? I have to listen to it all the time and I'm not a teacher!"  Too bad, kemo sabe!)

Sometimes I am a "immediate gratification" chick.  I admit it.  I love my Kindle for that reason.  But the waiting for the test scores is craaaazzzyyyy.  We may not find out until next school year.  "What?!", you may ask.  I thought the same thing!! How do I fix what I "broke" this year if the new school year is already upon me when I find out my scores???!!! ::: rant, rant, rant::

My quarters worked hard...and as usual, I'm second guessing every single decision I made when it comes to teaching.  I know, I know...I can't change a thing.  But, ya know, I can't let things go sometimes...just ask my husband!!!

It is time to move on...

My quarters are soooo ready for some fun.  And, of course, they will get it.  Our campus has so many activities going on this time of year.  We have our field trip, a party day...need I say more?  But today, we just relaxed, read, and wrote.  They actually did really well "out of the routine."  They talked A LOT.  But, what should I expect?  They are kids for crying out loud!  (I did have to take two Motrin, though.)  One of my major talkers sweet boys didn't wear his glasses today.  I asked where they were and he told me they were in his locker.   I asked him why and he said, "The STAAR test is over and I don't need them anymore."  He had the evil grin sweetest, biggest smile.  In my best teacher's voice I said, " Go. Get. Them. NOW."  I can only imagine the next few weeks.

Most of my quarters finished their free verse poems today!! They were so gooooood!!!  Over the last couple of weeks, they wrote poems about many things.  They chose what they wanted to write about.  One day, we had a "classroom tools" write.  We played "I Spy" and wrote a poem about that.  They wrote about family, friends, food, feelings...you name it.  Today, I let them choose their favorite piece and take it to final copy.  Here are a few samples:

A lot of them liked their "stuff at school" one the best...I don't know why.  But, for having two classes of 21 with 13 ELLs in each class, I'm liking what they've got going on. (Well, there's the STAAR...back on topic, back on topic....)

I found this great quote...I only wish the people who concocted these crazy tests for kids "got it"!!

"But the person who scored well on an SAT will not necessarily be the best doctor or the best lawyer or the best businessman. These tests do not measure character, leadership, creativity, perseverance."--William Julius Wilson

Preaching to the choir!!! 

I KNOW, I KNOW!!!!  Letting....go....now.....

Always,

Aaaannnndddd...done!

Well, today is the day before our big state assessment, the STAAR.  Last week, I strayed from the norm and did not do any test prep passages.  Today, we did do one paired passage to remind quarters of the strategies they should use to work through their assessment.

Tomorrow, the quarters will take the STAAR Math exam.  I don't teach Math, so I'm feeling no stress.  I think my partner teacher and I have resigned ourselves to the fact that we have done what we could and what will be, will be.  My quarters take the STAAR Reading exam on Wednesday.

It was sad leaving my room this afternoon.  But that is only because I had to take down all of my anchor charts and my parts-of-speech word wall .  My room looks so bare and uninviting!

Preparing charts for their trash can funeral!

We usually begin each class with vocabulary builder work.  However, since we've done as much as we can, quarters created "reminder" posters for their lockers  using our STAAR reminder chart that we put up back in March.

They hung these inside their lockers (no STAAR things to "help" them when they walk down the hall to the restroom...haha).  I could insert a smart comment but I'd better not...Anywho...my quarters had a good time adding their flair!  We all know...if you do it, say it, color it, invest in it...you just might remember it!

My team teacher and I created and signed the poster below.  I believe we can hang these on the outside of their lockers (but I will check with our AP before we hang them in the morning).  Please excuse the lighting...

We printed them on many different colors of paper.  They are not fancy, by any means, but we want the quarters to know we believe in them.  I have put up the outline under my "Free Printables" tab, just in case someone is interested!

I'm just excited that, on Thursday, I get to return to the ART of teaching!  6 more weeks to go!!

“I will prepare and some day my chance will come.” -Abraham Lincoln

I hope my quarters think this way and realize that tomorrow is their "chance"!

I now wipe my hands clean of the Texas STAAR!

::slaps hands together like a casino guy::

Well...until next year...

Always,