More State Assessments

If a child is absent, they have until the Friday of testing week to take the test.  We tested Tuesday and Wednesday, so we spent yesterday and today catching any of those 7th & 8th graders who were absent.  So . . . who tests these students?  Teachers have their own classes.  Well, SpEd folks not in a classroom and Instructional Specialists are the ones who put their jobs and responsibilities on hold in order to test these students.  I have spent 4 days testing, so my work keeps piling up, and I am not in classrooms or supporting teachers.  State testing involves so much more than legislators imagine.

State Assessments

Yesterday and today were filled with state testing.  Yesterday was horrible, but today was better.  My job was oral administration for 7th grade Math yesterday and 7th grade Reading today.  This testing season has been the most stressful.  I don't think I've been this stressed about testing since I was in the classroom full time.  What non-educators do not understand is that we have very strict rules to follow.  If we do not, we can be written up or lose our teaching certification.  As an educator and adult, I can control what I do and say, and I follow the rules very closely.  However, I cannot control what a child decides to do.  We can say (all we want and until we are blue in the face) that there is no talking, at all, period, but that doesn't mean the child will keep his/her mouth shut and not do everything possible to signal to or disturb others.  We can move them, remind them, cue them, whatever, but in the end, I cannot control what another human being actually does.  Because of this, testing is extremely stressful.

What a Week!

I have made it to Friday, thank goodness!  We had state standardized testing this week, and I tested 4 of the 5 days.  Actually, I did have a connection to testing today, but I did not have to actually stop what I was doing to test.  

Monday, I tested the top 8th graders on the 9th grade English test.  They were a great group and unlike any other.  They were so worried about the test, getting finished in the 5 hours, and not throwing up.  They were so serious, yet a lot of fun.

Tuesday and Wednesday, I had small groups with oral administration.  I enjoyed working with these students and getting to know them.

Thursday, my officemate and I tested the students who had been absent for one of the tests given earlier in the week.  We had 4 different tests going.  We got the directions read to everyone with the help of our Testing Coordinator and then we just monitored them the rest of the four hours.

Today, there was one student who needed to test.  Since my officemate and I both had things we had to do (me--cover a 7th gr Science class & my officemate had a situation to handle with a student/parent), my wonderful principal had one of our push-in teachers do it, and we gave her breaks until the student finished.

When testing, there are so many rules connected to the laws surrounding our testing. One is that you must actively monitor each tester.  I wore my pedometer every day to see if I could beat my steps from the day before. There is no sitting down, just walking and walking and walking. I got lots of exercise this week due to testing and I made sure to eat healthy meals each night.

Today, we had at least 3 classes without subs today, and I think we had around 8 others out with subs.  I started my day checking on all of them.  I covered a 7th grade Science class 2nd period.  They were pretty good.  It just amazes me the lack of respect students have these days--talking while the teacher is talking, doing whatever they want rather than listen, etc.  It is hard randomly covering classes, but I enjoy it most of the time.  I just have to really get my bluff in fast, lay out the expectations, and make an example out of someone if necessary.  I hate that, but . . .

I made my way through my To Do list that I created to keep from forgetting eveything I needed to do while testing. There is just one thing left before I tackle the biggest one on the list next week.

I got to meet with the other Science Instructional Specialists and Facilitator this afternoon.  I always enjoy talking with them.

After work, I went on a walk/jog with my BFF.  She uses an App where you walk 5 minutes, jog 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds, jog 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds (repeat until there are 5 minutes left out of 30), walk 5 minutes.  We then kept walking and jogged every time we were going downhill.  We walked/jogged just over 4 miles.  It was great!  I hope I didn't hinder her workout or slow her down too much.

After a long, crazy week, I am just vegging out tonight after eating a healthy dinner.

I hope you had a great week and have plans for an amazing weekend!