upadates!

hey guys!
well here are some updates on my life right now....

we are fast approaching our MAP testing days, which is scary, frustrating, and all i've been talking about lately! the MAP test is missouri's standardized test for grades 3-8 (i think it starts in 3rd grade, i could be wrong there). it's a big deal because this is what measures AYP for no child left behind stuff and it's even more important in SLPS cause the district is unaccredited. my school didn't make AYP last year, so this year is crucial. in order to sort of gauge where the kids are throughout the year we take ACUITY tests, which are predicitive (whatever that really means) for MAP tests, even though they are not aligned (i know, i know, confusing). anyways. on the last installment my kids ROCKED the test. 3 go proficient, one got advanced (she only missed one question) and five were right on the cusp of making proficient. the 8th graders did just as well! so right now there is a fair amount of pressure on the middle school to get all t hese kids to get proficient on the MAP test.
my understanding of the situation is that if we get all these middle schoolers to do well on the MAP, our school will be ok. my school goes through high school, and the high schoolers also have end of course exams (EOC) standardized tests, but in order to make AYP we only need a certain number of proficients across the board (at least is my understanding). so, my kids and the 8th graders could make the bulk of AYP for us. it's intense.

anyways. this week has been all about that. staying accountable to the district and talking about how we've been targeting skills we haven't been making and talking about how we are going to prep for the test. this can become a tricky situation--as a teacher you want your kids to do well on the test, but then as a teacher i also want to teach my kids what is really important, and is going over boring passages with multiple choice questions always the most important/going to make them better students in the long run? TFA held learning team meetings this week in order to sort of, talk, about these issues. i've got some good ideas about how to make a short little unit about test prep, but also make it applicable to being college-bound students.


so that's what's been going on big time.

my classroom right now seems a little chaotic, kids are def ready for spring break (as are the teachers!)
i also got a new student, she seems really sweet and pretty smart, so that's exciting.

and today we went on a field trip! we went to UMSL (university of missouri-st louis). it was a joing 7th/8th grade field trip. my kids seemed to enjoy it! some of them talked to me about how they are now realizing how important grades are! that's good. we'll see if it actually sticks... this field trip actually meshes pretty well with my overall vision for my class--college bound 7th graders haha. i'm not sure if i've ever talked about that before. but i've drilled into them (all of them for the most part) the importance of college and how i expect every single one of them to have the abilities to go to any college they want. at the beginning of the year i had my kids make their own visions and there were lots of them, very few mentioned college. i did them again in january/february. almost every single one of them mentioned college!!! i think this field trip will make it more real for them (fingers crossed anyways)

anyways. this is probably the longest post i ahve ever written! hope you all get more of a snapshot of my life :)

ps: MARDI GRAS THIS WEEKEND:)