It's that time of year again. We started last week and will spend the next 8 weeks testing the kids for something or another. Last week was 7th grade math, this week is 8th grade reading, then 7th grade reading. My 8th graders will test for math April 1, 2, and 3rd. I'm dreading it -the whole April 1st thing makes me nervous simply because it's April Fool's Day. Call me superstitious...
We've already got the scores back on the 7th grade math -67% either had academic warnings or approaches standards (in other words, failing scores).
Of my 7th graders, 2 out of 21 passed. This group of kids just doesn't give a shit about anything. Hopefully they will grow out of this mentality.
My 8th graders are excited and have made a bet with me... if my students all make meets standards or higher (in other words, passing scores), I have to dress up like Mamma Klump (I'm always shouting "hercules" and "Sherman!" at them in the character's voice) for a day and I have to do a performance for them last hour. They wanna see me do "Don't Cha," "I will Survive," or something else they come up with.
In other news, my summer plans are starting to come together. The district is sending me to San Diego late July for training in the AVID process. AVID stands for Achievement Via Individual Determination. It's a program designed to reach those kids that fail in the middle -the ones that could go on to college, but who are currently underachieving.
I'll also be teaching summer school for the first two weeks of June. It isn't as bad as it sounds. And the extra money comes in handy... I'm thinking that trip to San Diego would be a good time to get my next tattoo.
I think the endorphin rush would help me get back to my normal self, as I've been in a funk this year. I wanna get two uniersity logos on my lower leg -the flaming OSU and the stylized E for ESU.
For those of you not in the know, I spent 10 years at Oklahoma State University, and both my master degrees are from Emporia State University (having never set foot on ESU's campus... all on-line).
Okay, back to reality. Time to grade some rough drafts. My kids are writing math-related children's books this quarter. We're sending the final projects to the feeder elementary school, where my kids will actually read their stories to small groups of 2nd and 3rd graders.
mikey
We've already got the scores back on the 7th grade math -67% either had academic warnings or approaches standards (in other words, failing scores).
Of my 7th graders, 2 out of 21 passed. This group of kids just doesn't give a shit about anything. Hopefully they will grow out of this mentality.My 8th graders are excited and have made a bet with me... if my students all make meets standards or higher (in other words, passing scores), I have to dress up like Mamma Klump (I'm always shouting "hercules" and "Sherman!" at them in the character's voice) for a day and I have to do a performance for them last hour. They wanna see me do "Don't Cha," "I will Survive," or something else they come up with.
In other news, my summer plans are starting to come together. The district is sending me to San Diego late July for training in the AVID process. AVID stands for Achievement Via Individual Determination. It's a program designed to reach those kids that fail in the middle -the ones that could go on to college, but who are currently underachieving.
I'll also be teaching summer school for the first two weeks of June. It isn't as bad as it sounds. And the extra money comes in handy... I'm thinking that trip to San Diego would be a good time to get my next tattoo.
I think the endorphin rush would help me get back to my normal self, as I've been in a funk this year. I wanna get two uniersity logos on my lower leg -the flaming OSU and the stylized E for ESU. For those of you not in the know, I spent 10 years at Oklahoma State University, and both my master degrees are from Emporia State University (having never set foot on ESU's campus... all on-line).
Okay, back to reality. Time to grade some rough drafts. My kids are writing math-related children's books this quarter. We're sending the final projects to the feeder elementary school, where my kids will actually read their stories to small groups of 2nd and 3rd graders.
mikey