Back to the Land of the Living

Hello out there! I'm alive! It has been over a month since my last post because I have been totally swamped at work with STAAR testing hooha. It is so stressful! Having to prepare 75 fifth graders, many of whom came to me with 1st or 2nd grade level math skills for the STAAR has been difficult. Of course I taught them the skills and we practiced all throughout the year, but this was the big show -- for them and for me! So... how did we do???

( Fake drumroll sound here please.....)

My students got the highest scores in the district! Whoop! You have no idea how proud of them I am! We have the "hardest" kids in our district (due to many factors) and they did it! Now, I wasn't totally thrilled with the passing percentage, but they have come soooooooooooo far! I have kids that I was told "definitely had a math learning disability" from previous teachers that passed! And so many that were only 1-2 questions away from passing.  That's a total win in my book.

Well, it is late and tomorrow is a school day. I'll try to post again tomorrow with some of the strategies and products that I am using in small group intervention to get the kids that didn't quite get the scores they needed this first time around to pass their retake. They are working so hard! I believe they will do a great job! :)

Thanks for reading and wish us luck for retakes next week!

--Chelsea

STAAR Preparation!

Our Texas state assessment, the STAAR, is in one week! I'm freaking! I am trying really hard not to scare the kids and make them feel confident, but man, oh man, am I stressed! So, I've been scouring Pinterest and TpT like a mad woman for some 5th grade Math resources geared toward our Texas state standards (the TEKS), but I'm coming up nearly dry. They have Common Core resources GALORE. Oh, Texas! Why do you just have to be different and not use Common Core?! Anyway, my resource pickins are are a little SLIM. Long story short, I decided to make a little something of my own to help my students! Enter: "I Can" Statements for the 5th Grade TEKS! Yay!

You can go to pick it up HERE in my TpT store!

I know you might be thinking it is a little too late in the year to use these, but you would be mistaken my friend! I had my students go through their math notebooks and use this document to look up and review all the skills they will be needing to know on their STAAR. I had them fill out little worksheet where they identified the "Top 5 Skills I Need to Review" and then choose a set of task cards that corresponded with at least one of the TEKS they are struggling with. I don't know for sure yet, but I really think that's going to help push my "bubble kids" over the edge and get them to pass!!! YAY!

Tomorrow we are doing more test prep and then again on Thursday! I know the kids are tired of testing, but you do what you gotta do! Any suggestions on how to make the monotony of testing more fun? I try to add things like partner talks, coloring, and games, but its still not as exciting as I would like it to be! I want my students ENGAGED! (Wow, I'm liking the "all-caps" today!)

Anyways, I'm rambling now. I think it's time to get some grading done. Grades are due Thursday! :) Have a great rest of your day!!

--Chelsea

How do you help a student who will not try?

Today was an end-of-nine-weeks testing day for my 5th graders. Their test (provided by the school) was a little easy for my standards (and STAAR standards!), but I was actually a little relieved since they have state testing coming up. I thought they could use a little confidence booster. However, I was really, really sad when I had students turning in this test, that I thought was on the easy side, with answers that did not make sense! For example, look at this question.

The students LITERALLY have to just write down the formula for volume. We spent 4 days on volume in our class. By the end of that week, those kids were eating, sleeping, and breathing volume. Not to mention each student is given a reference sheet that gives the formula for volume! I still had at least 15 out of my 75 students get that question incorrect. Some of them I caught as they were turning it in, but some I did not catch. I don't understand how they can be getting this extremely simple, knowledge level (Bloom's) question incorrect! I'm really bummed. So now to my question: what can I do for them? There is no way I could have drilled into their heads more the formula for volume. But, in any case, they were GIVEN the information. I have no clue how to get them to care enough to just find the answer. I'm very frustrated. I have such smart students and I work very hard to teach them, but I still end up with these low grades and little (sometimes no) effort shown for a large percentage of my class. Is this just a necessary evil of teaching, or can I do something to help them. I have been trying to motivate them all year and I am getting basically nowhere with some of them. I'm especially worried since they must pass the STAAR (state testing) this year to go to 6th grade. HELP!

Teaching with Laryngitis!

This past week I have had a terrible case of laryngitis, which basically means I have no voice. My students can tell you that, while I do not yell, I have a booming voice and can be heard from very far away (should one of my little darlings need to hear me!). However, having no voice this week has been much different. I could not talk over my students when they were talking--my voice would not let me! I had to stand and wait for their attention. Now, I have read many books that champion this practice, but my natural tendency is to try to keep class a-flowin' and not wait to have all the attention I need. Let me tell you, the change in my class has been phenomenal since I have been forced to  started to speak softly! They listen to every word! My voice is coming back now and I'm almost sad. I will try hard not to rely on my big voice to get the attention I expect. I had no idea that being quiet could be so powerful!