An EOC Plan

So...I am in a state that gives End of Course Tests for certain subjects. And I teach one of those subjects--English I. Now. Please believe that I am on a personal crusade to end these tests. The legislature is talking about freezing the step raises for teachers, and I would much rather them do away with these ridiculous standardized tests. I have e-mailed several times. Needless to say, I haven't gotten a response. Yet.

But I have a plan to end the year. My colleagues do an EOC boot camp, but scores haven't exactly been stellar the last few years. (This isn't exactly a valid assessment.) So I'm trying out my own plan for the last three weeks before the test.

We are going to continue our vocabulary on Mondays. Only our vocabulary will consist of words from the standards that students need to know. I should have a lot of As on tests, don't you think? I mean, I've taught these things all year. Hmph.

Tuesdays will consist of a focus lesson--such as propaganda and bias and craft. These are still under construction. I only have a few days to perfect the first one.

Wednesdays and Thursdays will consist of literature circles activities. Students will use their novels to study author's craft.

Fridays will be reserved for vocabulary tests and articles of the week. I've been inundating my freshmen with nonfiction texts recently and now it is time to step it up a notch. In addition to the nonfiction text, they will have a poem to compare it to in their reflection.

This is my plan. Foolproof? Heavens, I hope so. But only time will tell. We are taking the tests on computers this year. My children have no experience with computerized tests, but we'll do anything to save a buck and save a test. We'll see how things go the next three weeks.

When is Christmas break again?

Oh, that's right...it's three weeks away!

First day post-vacay was rough. First period, bless their little hearts, made me want to curse and break laws. Second period, my best class, was also hard to handle. The highlights of my day were, surprisingly enough, third period (a challenging group) and my seniors (who checked out before LAST year's graduation).

I have to admit, going back this morning was hard for me, too. I arranged for my freshmen to go to the library to check out books. As a former literacy coach, I really try to practice what I preached for four years and SSR was my mantra. (I think my principal thought I was a one-trick pony.) We read for ten to fifteen minutes at the beginning of every period. I've explained to them the importance of reading and likened it to a muscle. I wouldn't show up at a weight-lifting competition without working out ahead of time. Reading is the same way.

So we started with the library and SSR and then began our explicit strategy instruction to prepare for the semester exam. We're working on making inferences and reviewing tips for finding the internal text. I'm using strategies out of one of my favorite books, When Kids Can't Read What Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers. She's got great strategies for everything imaginable and gives real-life examples to use.

Now, the question that has haunted me all year--will SSR and explicit strategy instruction be enough? It keeps me up at night...and makes the vacations not long enough.

The Standardization of Testing

Standardized test time is drawing near--breathing down our necks as we try to cover just a few more standards.

As teachers, we work to create authentic assessments and exciting lessons only to end the year with a bubble-in test that our students sometimes decorate prolifically with little bubble-in Christmas trees. How do we prepare our students for this experience? How can we take the travesty of the Civil War and narrow it down to two multiple choice questions? What are they learning? When will they use these grand test-taking strategies again?

The simple answer to that is that they won't, but in this age of accountability the tests aren't going aywhere. They are here to stay, at least until something better comes along. So we have to help prepare them--without teaching to the test while making lessons exciting and tying it in to what we think students will enjoy learning and use later. What a task!

I'm sitting in an assessment meeting right now, learning all that I can about our standardized tests. One thing that I can buy into one thing that I know will be beneficial. We need to use informational texts and primary documents in our classes.

I've really been trying to use primary documents in the American lit classes. For example, before teacher Sojourner Truth, we looked closely at the 16th amendment and what it allowed and did not allow. These experiences are vital for students. They need to examine real-life documents. One, it makes your entire lesson more authentic and, two, it gives them first-hand experience with history.

Teachers can also incorporate informational texts into lessons by using manual, applications, directions, essays, etc. This one is a little bit harder to mix in, but no less important. Students are going to face informational text for the rest of their lives. A majority of senior citizens do not have the reading skills to understand their prescription medicine bottles. I can't think of a more valuable and life-long lesson.

This is me, giving in to the testing dynasty. I see the value of teaching informational texts. Once I teach them, maybe one of my students can come in and set my sound system clock for me.