Friday morning I woke up to this face in the mirror. Medusa!
"I've got to rein this in," I think to myself. Then, "Hey - that's a metaphor!" So I snapped the photo on my handy phone (can you believe I am so technologically advanced that I have a phone that takes photos and I know how to do it?) and planned my simile and metaphor review for the day. The kids were duly horrified and fascinated and learned the phrase "rein it in," which only the Oklahoma transplant had heard before.
This peek into my personal life was in anticipation of the Alaska Standards Based Assessments which begin on Tuesday. The state gives us teachers all sorts of excuses in case our students don't do well. I will tell you some. For one thing, the students have one day to complete each test. If they don't feel well or their brains aren't working, oh well. If a student doesn't finish during school hours, they stay until they do. Luckily the school provides dinner if this happens. Also, they students test all day, three days in a row. Reading, Writing, Math, in that order. If a student is tired from testing on Tuesday, oh well. They have writing on Wednesday. The may not bring their own snacks, water, or pencil. Presumably they might see a word on the pencil or snack package that is also on the test. Or maybe the powers that be think they'll roll up tiny crib notes and put them in peanut shells! Actually, the snack issue is mess, but the feeling that floats around is that they students are not trustworthy.
I'm sort of horrified by all this because Dayton had a much more progressive attitude toward testing: Make it as stress-free as possible, give them as much time as they need, and let them retake it if they don't meet the benchmark.
The students, however, are used to it and tell me how it's going to be. "You have to take everything off the walls," they say. "And you get to play on your computer all day."
"I've got to rein this in," I think to myself. Then, "Hey - that's a metaphor!" So I snapped the photo on my handy phone (can you believe I am so technologically advanced that I have a phone that takes photos and I know how to do it?) and planned my simile and metaphor review for the day. The kids were duly horrified and fascinated and learned the phrase "rein it in," which only the Oklahoma transplant had heard before.
This peek into my personal life was in anticipation of the Alaska Standards Based Assessments which begin on Tuesday. The state gives us teachers all sorts of excuses in case our students don't do well. I will tell you some. For one thing, the students have one day to complete each test. If they don't feel well or their brains aren't working, oh well. If a student doesn't finish during school hours, they stay until they do. Luckily the school provides dinner if this happens. Also, they students test all day, three days in a row. Reading, Writing, Math, in that order. If a student is tired from testing on Tuesday, oh well. They have writing on Wednesday. The may not bring their own snacks, water, or pencil. Presumably they might see a word on the pencil or snack package that is also on the test. Or maybe the powers that be think they'll roll up tiny crib notes and put them in peanut shells! Actually, the snack issue is mess, but the feeling that floats around is that they students are not trustworthy.
I'm sort of horrified by all this because Dayton had a much more progressive attitude toward testing: Make it as stress-free as possible, give them as much time as they need, and let them retake it if they don't meet the benchmark.
The students, however, are used to it and tell me how it's going to be. "You have to take everything off the walls," they say. "And you get to play on your computer all day."
Out of the mouths of babes, eh?