Dreaming about Galileo..

Okay... my title is a little bit of a joke, but not really. I have literally been dreaming (or, nightmaring, rather) about Galileo. Galileo is our benchmark assessment through the district. Because our district receives so much funding, and is continuously on an improvement plan, we test, test, test, and test again to keep track of data, plan with data, discuss data, and more data, data, data. 
Blah, blah, blah. --That's what it all means to me. 

Being completely honest on that one, because a blog I read today, told me I could ... No, seriously check it out here. Thanks #Edrethink for sharing and inspiring. 

Anyway, so the last few weeks, we have been cramming, cramming, and cramming some more. Trying to get every skill met in some way before we take the quarter 3 Galileo test. Before our walls were completely bare and covered for the test, because God forbid the students "cheat". 

I have come to the realization that this is the problem - we are expected to teach 40 some new skills during quarter 3 in math and reading. So, since January, we have been cramming information overload into these poor babies' brains. We have been teaching some skills for only 1 day, some for 2, and some were lucky enough to get 3 or 4. And then, we move right on to a brand new standard. Some of them go well together and compliment each other, but some do not, and do not make for easy transitions. No matter how you look at it, this is not okay. At all. It's not okay for kids who have parental involvement and support at home, it's not okay for middle class kids, it's not okay for kids who have educational support, it's not okay for kids EVER. 
But, this is where we are. This is what we do. And it's "normal". We "teach" all these skills, the kids don't truly learn anything or retain any of the knowledge to be proficient in the skills, and we move on. There's no time to go back and reteach or reassess, there's no time for interventions, there's no time for small group instruction. We have to push, push, push, and hope they grasp enough to pick the right answer on the benchmark test, and then the state test in 4 weeks. 

So, this is where we are, and yet we still have admin. breathing down our throats and necks asking us about common formatives, and keeping the rigor up, and preparing, and data, and how our students did on the CFA's, and how are we small grouping, and reteaching, and how are we fixing the fact that less than 80% of our kids are passing skills. WAKE UP ADMIN!  These expectations are not realistic, in any way, shape, or form. Take a deep breath, step back, and think for just 45 seconds about what it was like for YOU in the classroom. Just for 45 seconds, put yourself in our shoes. I know that admin. are under a lot of pressure from district, from state, from everywhere. I get it- I do. And, I feel for them, and respect them, because I don't want to be responsible for an entire school. That's not why I became a teacher. BUT, I do try to remember that they are in a big position, with a lot of stress, too. I just wish for 45 seconds, they would take the time, to do the same - just try to see things from our perspective, and truly be a leader. Be honest, but be a leader. Leadership controls everything. It can make or break everything. What I'm really trying to say, is make up your mind. What do you want? Stand up for us, as teachers, but most importantly, for the students as kids. You CANNOT expect kids to retain information when you expect 6 skills to be taught in 5 days AND CFA's every week, AND reteaching, small group instruction, and RE-ASSESSING. It is just not possible. So, make up your mind. After all, these are KIDS we are working with. They are innocent, they just want to be loved, and to learn. What happened to that, and why is that such a negative feeling? 

So, here I am on the eve of our District Math and reading benchmark testing week. I will walk into my classroom tomorrow with bare walls, and the alphabet chart covered with chart paper. I will pass out multiple choice tests, pencils, and privacy folders, I will walk around all day making sure students are on task, I will only let one student leave for the bathroom at a time, I will make my kids wait an extra hour for lunch, because we have to have a completely different schedule for testing, I will make it through the day without a special or prep, because specials teachers have to help proctor exams, and we can't waste any testing time, I will make my KIDS sit and stare at paper to answer 45 multiple choice questions all day long without breaks, without recess, without interaction. Just us, and the bare walls. I will cry when they leave, pray that they scored proficient enough to leave me highly qualified as a teacher, and cry some more. 
But, I'll do it. Because I have to. 
Because I have to have hope that someday, soon, this madness is going to change. Someday, someone is going to stand up and bring the KIDS back into the picture for education in America. 
Because I have to make it through my first year teaching in an inner-city Phoenix school with a 93% ELL population, and 100% free and reduced lunch. 
Because, I am not a quitter. Because, I believe in my kids and their true potential - not their score on a benchmark test. 

Quarter 3

Okay, I am on the verge of an epic fail when it comes to the new year's goal about becoming a better blogger. WHOA! It's really the end of February? I can't even remember some days, and I certainly don't know how the time has passed so fast this far. I do know that this quarter has been manic, crazy, insane, ridiculous, busy, full, and fast. We have 2 weeks of instruction before our next benchmark test, and then a week off for spring break! Phew!!
 Since it has been so long since my last post, I am going to just share what we have been doing with pictures, and lots of them!
Quarter 3 is full full full of new standards and skills to teach. Our 3rd quarter benchmark (Galileo) test is comprehensive, so we can use the results to really see what we need to hit hard before state testing in April. Yikes! This school year is wrapping up so fast!

So, my last blog post was the end of January. .. let's see if we can catch up! :)

We got some fun fun fun science in learning about parts of plants and drawing and labeling models! :) 

We practiced using dictionaries some more, and played matching games with synonyms and antonyms!

Graphing Data and fractions with skittles! :) 

Some reading time!! :) 

More fractions, data, and graphing!!! 

Our Poetry wall! After learning and practicing a poem, we performed it for fluency practice and drew a picture to go along with it! 

Vocabulary from our play practice! I am a fantastic artist! :) 

We worked in partners and researched an animal with encyclopedias! 

 

We finally got to meet and Skype with Christopher Tozier, the author of the Olivia Brophie series. We finished the first book, The pearl of Tagelus and he Skyped with us to answer our questions, show us a sea urchin, and he even read us chapter 1 from the 2nd book, Sky Island. We have continued reading the second book in the series, and are loving it every step of the way! The kiddos are so engaged, and we certainly love Olivia and her story so far! 

Learning about locating information using specific text features!! 

Some Valentines Day Party fun! We graphed candy hearts, made "Bee Mine" crafts, colored valentines, and passed out treats! 

The next part of our science lessons was to actually dissect some fruit, and learn about the properties of different seeds. Next, we will plant some seeds and learn about what seeds need to grow, since seeds are living things! :) 

Learning about compass', maps, and how to read maps! 

We have had 2 fun days of blogging our writing and reading our friend's posts and leaving fun comments for them! We sure do wish we had access to computers every day! 

More Valentine's Day party fun pictures! I sure did get spoiled that day with lots of love! We had a great day! 

We learned about Vertex Edge Graphs by building our own shapes and pointing out the vertices and edges before learning how to solve problems with Vertex Edge Graphs, and learning about color graphs!

We also spent time learning about prefixes and suffixes, made tri-fold books with common prefixes, and suffixes, their meanings, and examples. We did a lot of sharing to practice exposure to these words and terms! 

After learning about Vertex Edges, we were able to have some time to explore our creativity with the marshmallows and toothpicks. It was so much fun, and we were able to use our brains, work together, and share our creations! So much fun!!

Well, here we are. This week, we learn about 2D and 3D shapes and their attributes, translations in geometry, and review facts/opinions and persuasive language. It should be a fun week with a lot of center work. 

Next week, we review all of our quarter 3 skills to prepare for our benchmark testing. We will be playing games, and doing lots of hands on activities to make sure we have learned as much as we can this quarter. Phew! So much shoved into those little brains. I sure will be very very glad when we can say that this quarter has been wrapped up! 

On that note, I am officially making my decision for next school year this week. I don't feel like it's appropriate to share that information until after I have talked with my principal, but I do know that I am 100% confident in the decision that I have made, and know that it will lead me in the right direction to be the best teacher I can potentially be. 

Happy learning this week!

~Ms. Niehaus