A Teacher's Thoughts During State Testing...

The time is here. The time of the year that every teacher loathes---state testing. We all dread reading the same mundane directions, pacing around the room, staying silent, and counting down every last second until we can finally utter a word. It's more than boring, it's torturous!

During this time, we have a lot of time to think....a lot! As I was walking the aisles of my classroom this week, I chuckled (in my mind of course) as I realized that my thoughts were so random. I decided then that I MUST write a blog post to try to capture a glimpse into a teacher's mind during state testing. The thoughts are random, and they certainly don't follow the same train of thought throughout the entire duration of a section. Here's a little peek into a teacher's mind while "actively monitoring" students taking state assessments:

"Okay, here we go. I hope I've taught them everything they need to know. Shoot! I hope they remember everything that I've taught them. Oh no! Johnny can't have already answered 6 questions in the first minute! What are you doing child?! Well, I guess I'll know why his scores come back lower. I think I want to have a western theme in my classroom next year, wait, maybe that's too babyish. Maybe I should do a CSI theme. Oh look at little Lucy! She is really working hard to use her scratch paper. Wow! Look at her go! Yay! Uh, oh. Who sneezed? I bet they need a tissue. Let me quickly tiptoe over to my desk and get one for them. Geez! Johnny can't be on number 20 already! He's going to bomb this section for sure. I wonder what grade level I'll be in next year. I wonder if I'll have to change classrooms. Let me check the time, surely it's been 45 minutes already...shoot! No way it's only been 30 minutes. Let me walk around the room and check the time again to time my laps. And, go! Oh no! Joe isn't focused. Quit playing with your pencil dude! Let me go over there and pat his back. Oh yeah, I need to check the time again. Shoot! It's only been 2 minutes. Man, my feet are tired already. I knew I should have worn different shoes today. What was I thinking? It'd be nice if I could sit down for a few minutes. Do I see a hand or is she stretching? Yep, definitely a hand. That child knows I can't help them with that word. Let me check the time again...yes! Finally, 45 minutes! Let the countdown begin. I think we should watch a movie for the rest of the afternoon; we can't though because I still need to review for Social Studies. Goodness, Evan and Lola are still working so hard; why couldn't the others work that hard? Time check - 50 minutes. Whew! Almost there. If I'm still in this room next year, I think I'm going to hand the Writing Process over here and my anchor charts there. Maybe I'll move that table over by the door. Ok, so Evan just finished. Now we're just waiting on the time and Lola. I know Joe did not just try to make Annie laugh. There that look fixed that problem. Time could not be moving any slower! Tick, tock. Tick, tock. I seriously think that we're going to just have a little free time when we finish. Their little brains are fried! Time check - 59 minutes. Yes! Come on sweet Lola! As soon as you finish, we'll be ready to stop! Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Is she finished? Yes! I think she is! Time check - 60 minutes! Hallelujah! Another section bites the dust!"

Okay, so your thoughts may not be exactly like these, but you have to admit, they're pretty similar! It is nearly impossible to walk around a room for at least an hour and not talk, write, or sit and only think about the same thing. State testing is not fun at all.

Here's hoping that all of our students did well (& that we hold up throughout the duration of testing!),

Elaine, Teaching Lane

Grading in the Digital Classroom

As many classrooms begin transitioning toward a 1:1 ratio of devices to students, many teachers are left wondering, "How in the world do I grade this stuff?" and "How do I inform my students' parents about their digital grades?" Trust me, I'm right there with you. I've lost sleep over this issue, so I did what a lot of other teachers would do, I created my own solution. Is it perfect? No way. Does it have kinks? Absolutely. I wanted to go ahead and share what I've decided to use in my own classroom, so that it might trigger an idea that works for you in your own classroom.

How do I grade digital assignments?

Rubrics and checklists: both of these have been preached to many of us in the traditional classroom. Well, if you're afraid that you won't be able to use these any longer, don't fret! I have found a way to use checklists when grading digital assignments. Simply print out a roster, list the content that you are looking for across the top of it, decide how many points each area is worth, and get to clickin'! You can quickly determine students' grades by going across the columns and totaling the amount of points. (I've even used the same roster to grade more than one assignment!) Rubrics can still work as well! You can either print a rubric to use in the traditional way and send home OR you can include the rubric at the end of your digital assignment. When you grade the assignment, simply use the drawing tool to add a circle to the area of the rubric in which the student scored. Type their grade, and
woo-lah! You just used a rubric to grade a digital product.

How do I communicate my students' grades with parents?

I personally don't think that the "how-to grade" part of the digital classroom is the most stressful part. In my opinion, the "how-to communicate the grades" is the toughest part. In my classroom, I have converted to a close 50% paperless environment, so this means that I have a fair amount of digital grades to share with parents. I've toyed around with several ideas for how to communicate these grades. For my students, I can simply post their grade on the assignment, but for their parents, it isn't that easy as some of them don't have access to their students' digital platforms (i.e. Google Classroom, etc.). Printing out the assignments to give to parents is too time consuming AND it defeats the purpose of being a paperless classroom. Not giving parents any feedback, well, that's not even an option. I began brainstorming different ideas to solve this problem. Here's the products of my brainstorming session. 1) Print a list of grades by subject area on a sheet of paper. 2) Use labels and a notecard. 3) Use labels and a sheet of paper that's returned weekly.

1) Printing a list of grades by subject area. This may be feasible for some, but for me, it wasn't my top choice. I felt like this option would take more time each week (& more paper).

2) Using labels and a notecard. This option requires students (& parents....& you) to keep up with a notecard that is supposed to be returned weekly. This isn't a bad solution; however, the notecard is only good for about an 8-9 week period.

3) Use labels and a sheet of paper to record grades weekly. This method is my FAVORITE! For me, it's what works the best in my classroom. I simply print all the assignments that I've graded in a list on a label. I copy and paste the list onto each label. Then I record the students' grades on the label. Once the labels are ready, I simply peel and stick onto my yellow sheets. My yellow sheets are initialed and returned every week (sometimes it's every two weeks). The awesome part about my yellow sheets is that they can be used for a total of two, yes TWO, nine week periods! This means you only have to print two sheets for the entire school year! How awesome is that?! Take a look below to see what I've been using. You can download your own copy HERE!

Again, these tips aren't flawless, but they are what's working for me in my busy classroom. I hope that you find a tip here that will help you in yours!

Also, just in case you were wondering, you can check out some digital products in my store that you might be able to use in your classroom. Happy browsing!

Thanks for stopping by!

Elaine, Teaching Lane