Good teaching is good test prep!

ISAT and Terra Nova testing is months away (at least a few). Still, teachers are continuously preparing their students for all manner of assessments and laying the groundwork for testing in the spring. Good test preparation arms students with strategies that will help them reduce stress and perform their best on test days. These strategies are also strongly linked with solid instructional practice.

Check out the following article by Nell K. Duke and Ron Ritchhart from Harvard. They include ways to help students navigate different formats, to use specific strategies for math and reading, and to ease their stress.


http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4006


Six Tips for Nipping Test Stress in the Bud

1. Don't Skimp on Practice Tests: They are vital to helping students understand the mechanics of the tests. Call your test company to request samples.

2. Promote Positive Attitudes About Testing: When discussing tests with students, make three recommendations: Be serious, confident, and strategic.

3. Deal with Basic Roadblocks: Do your best to circumvent problems such as inadequate breakfast, lack of sleep, and chronic tardiness prior to testing week.

4. Plan a Fun Day-of-Test Activity: Avoid academic activities immediately before testing. Instead, try something less stressful, such as Simon Says.

5. Look Out for Daydreamers: Seat easily distracted students in cubicles and corners. Encourage them to stay on task by checking off each line they read.

6. Talk About Those Last Few Minutes: The final moments of a test period are valuable for checking work and guessing on remaining questions.

Parent-Teacher Conferences!

"We believe that children will get ahead when we spend most time on the areas where they are most challenged. The problem with this notion is that it is a one-sided or half-baked approach to education. In the long run, children don't make their biggest contribution in their areas of weakness. Children overcome weakness, but they rarely excel in them or end up building their lives work around activities that make them feel depleted.
By looking at a child's strengths we are not failing to consider his challenges, we are merely balancing the equation that has been out of proportion for too long." by Jenifer Fox, Author Of Your Child's Strengths


Early in my teaching career, conferences were a source of anxiety. I tried to anticipate and prepare for difficult conversations and ensure I had evidence to back up assessment of students. Our conferences were attended by students and supported with detailed narratives. Yet, some parents were surprised by information gained in the conference and students saw conferences as something being done 'to' them rather than 'with' them. I left with a feeling that our work was somewhat incomplete.

Over time, we worked to involve students in assessing their progress and setting goals. We included parents in this dialogue and tried to create concrete actions for each person (teacher, student, parent/guardian) to take in supporting the student reach these goals. We ensured that there were few surprises at conference time. Parents felt more involved and students took more responsibility for their learning. As teachers, we saw conferences as a part of our assessment process rather than an isolated exercise.

Whatever your conferences look like, a bit of preparation can allow you to make the most of the time you have. There are steps you can take to help you strengthen relationships and build strategies for student success.

See below for some basic tips and links to other resources and readings:

* Gather evidence of student learning. Be able to show student work or other examples to demonstrate student achievement and areas for growth.

* Enlist students in self-assessment and preparation for conferences. No parent or student should be surprised by their grades or overall assessment. If you have not had ongoing conversations with your students about their growth, start now. If possible, have them participate in choosing work that showcases both their strengths and areas of challenge.

* Start positive and build on student assets. Emphasize the strengths you have identified (hopefully with the student). Use these as a starting point for next steps. Not all goals have to be based on problems. Consider setting goals for enrichment with ALL students.

* Give parents time to share and the opportunity to participate in the goal-setting process as much as possible. This can be done ahead of time by asking parents to share ideas in writing. These can then be consulted when setting student goals.

*Help students/parents focus in on just one or two goals for the next quarter. These can be subject specific and related to behavior or study skills. Some students will be able to articulate where their struggles are and what they could do to improve. Still, for many students, especially those who do not see the impact of their efforts on achievement, defining clear actions will be difficult. This is a place for you to help students identify specific strategies.
(see template below).




Parent-Teacher Conferences, a Time to Celebrate Strengths

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jenifer-fox/parent-teacher-conference_b_315322.html

Why Urban Parents Resist Involvement in their Children's Elementary Education
by Peter McDermott and Julia Rothenberg
"Using focus groups, our purpose was to learn how we could better prepare teachers for urban schools. The data revealed that teachers are frustrated with a lack of parental involvement in literacy activities at home and at school. Parents, however, expressed distrust toward the local elementary school because they felt the faculty has been biased against African American and Latino children and their families. Consequently, the parents said they deliberately decided not to participate in school activities. Parents explained they would only work with teachers who respected and valued their children."

http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR5-3/mcdermott.html

Conference Record Form
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/custom?q=cache:Gn3fz59jHhUJ:www.educationworld.com/tools_templates/RecordOfConference.doc+conference&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=pub-6489775476269284

FREE Resources for teachers!!

Teaching Tolerance is a wonderful resource for free teaching kits and unit/lesson plans for all ages on a range of social justice/ social emotional themes. For example, the award-winning video on Bullying is accompanied by an extensive viewing guide and standards-based lesson-plans.
On the Teaching Tolerance website, you can search by subject area or grade level. Materials are free, with a limit of one per school. These are high-quality materials, with engaging content across the curriculum. Perhaps most importantly, they address critical issues that all of us have to address while meeting our students' academic needs.

Other titles: Mighty Times: The Children's March, Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks, Viva La Causa (Cesar Chavez).



Please come back and comment on any kits that you have used and how these may have been helpful in your classroom.



Teacher Spotlight on Resources:
Diala, 2nd-year UNITE teacher found some much-needed FREE books at SCARCE in Glen Ellen.

"I got 70 copies of Lord of the Flies and 36 brand new Writers Inc Student Handbooks. The place is amazing. If you are a teacher you can pick up whatever they have for free!"
Diala, 2nd-year UNITE teacher

Check it out or send one colleague with your wish list.
Thanks, Diala!
http://www.bookrescue.org/books/default.asp?page=Boverview