So, I've survived one week of Kansas assessment testing. God help me, I have never been so bored in my life. As a teacher, I'm responsible for ensuring the testing environment is properly maintained.
In other words, I have to wander around the computer lab and make sure students don't talk and are working on their own test. The good part is that I was allowed to administer the test to my own students rather than another teachers... the counselor supervised him and his students -long story short, the other teacher is an idiot that will hopefully be fired by the end of the year. The principal and librarian would pop in to my testing site every so often and allow me a break.
The math test consists of three parts, which are administered over two days. Students take parts one and two on one day. These tests allow the students access to a calculator provided by the program. This part generally takes 2 to 3 hours to complete. The second day is one test without the aid of a calculator and takes between 2 to 2 1/2 hours. So, I'm stuck in the lab for 4 to 6 hours a day since i can only test 20 of my students at a time.
By the end of the week, I think I was ready to be committed! Just slap a diaper on me and feed me mush. It was so boring. You can't take a book to read nor can you do much because of the test administration guidelines.
This coming week (April 10) I have to do th same thing again with my seventh grade class. Luckily, I only have one class, so I won't be stuck the entire day. I'm gonna sneak my PDA in and at least play solitaire to keep me occupied and from going crazy.
And the saddest part is that we won't know how our students did until October because the state is norming the test this time and won't have the data analyzed until then. So much for knowing if we meet Bush's definition of AYP! AAARRRGGGHHHHHH!! My students are disappointed because they had a bet with me that if they met AYP I had to do one of the following:
1. shave my head
2. make me wear the fuzzy boots (a student has these fuzzy boots I always tease her about)
3. sing karaoke at lunch one day (they pick the song -I hope they have earplugs).
mikey
In other words, I have to wander around the computer lab and make sure students don't talk and are working on their own test. The good part is that I was allowed to administer the test to my own students rather than another teachers... the counselor supervised him and his students -long story short, the other teacher is an idiot that will hopefully be fired by the end of the year. The principal and librarian would pop in to my testing site every so often and allow me a break.
The math test consists of three parts, which are administered over two days. Students take parts one and two on one day. These tests allow the students access to a calculator provided by the program. This part generally takes 2 to 3 hours to complete. The second day is one test without the aid of a calculator and takes between 2 to 2 1/2 hours. So, I'm stuck in the lab for 4 to 6 hours a day since i can only test 20 of my students at a time.
By the end of the week, I think I was ready to be committed! Just slap a diaper on me and feed me mush. It was so boring. You can't take a book to read nor can you do much because of the test administration guidelines.
This coming week (April 10) I have to do th same thing again with my seventh grade class. Luckily, I only have one class, so I won't be stuck the entire day. I'm gonna sneak my PDA in and at least play solitaire to keep me occupied and from going crazy.
And the saddest part is that we won't know how our students did until October because the state is norming the test this time and won't have the data analyzed until then. So much for knowing if we meet Bush's definition of AYP! AAARRRGGGHHHHHH!! My students are disappointed because they had a bet with me that if they met AYP I had to do one of the following:
1. shave my head
2. make me wear the fuzzy boots (a student has these fuzzy boots I always tease her about)
3. sing karaoke at lunch one day (they pick the song -I hope they have earplugs).
mikey