Hypothesis:
All students will score at the 70th percentile on today's math concept. Today's concept is VARIABLE. A variable is a letter that represents some thing or number in a math problem.
1. All students will have Math book open to page 66.
2. Each student will have a highlighter to highlight any math concept found in text.(Actually, we are sharing as the school has none. The highlighters came from a parent who stole them from her office.)3. One student will read each sentence aloud in the word problem. ( I might be skewing the results because I am intentionally not calling on Ashkan, my non-English speaking student from Armenia.)
4. After sentence is read aloud, teacher will ask, "Does this sentence have a math concept in it?"; if it does not student reads the next sentence...and so on.
5. Once sentence with math concept is found, teacher will reinforce math concept by restating the information in a question for students to answer thus verifying comprehension of concept.
4. After sentence is read aloud, teacher will ask, "Does this sentence have a math concept in it?"; if it does not student reads the next sentence...and so on.
5. Once sentence with math concept is found, teacher will reinforce math concept by restating the information in a question for students to answer thus verifying comprehension of concept.
Bobby reads sentence with math concept in it. "N equals the number of goats." Teacher now restates sentence as a question, "What does "N" equal? Juan?"
She notes:
Jack is snoring on his desk (he was out until 11pm with his family).
Mary can't find her book.
She notes:
Jack is snoring on his desk (he was out until 11pm with his family).
Mary can't find her book.
Bobby and Helen are passing notes.
Juan answers, "42"
Teacher now has student repeat reading sentence with math concept aloud and once again asks, "What does "N" represent in this sentence? Julie?"
Teacher also observes:
Mary still can't find her book.Juan answers, "42"
Teacher now has student repeat reading sentence with math concept aloud and once again asks, "What does "N" represent in this sentence? Julie?"
Teacher also observes:
Suzie is painting her nails with the highlighter.
Ashkan is staring blankly at the ceiling.
Julie looks to where Ashkan is staring, praying that is where the answer is.
One MORE time the teacher has student repeat, repeat reading sentence with the math concept in it. She rephrases clarifying question AGAIN, "N" is a variable, in this SENTENCE what does "N" stand for? Morton?"
Teacher watches as:
Mary gave up looking for book and is now wandering around room talking to friend.
Spike is crawling on floor looking for lid to highlighter.
Morton answers," Nebraska."
Conclusion:
I'm doomed
Enjoy.
Ashkan is staring blankly at the ceiling.
Julie looks to where Ashkan is staring, praying that is where the answer is.
One MORE time the teacher has student repeat, repeat reading sentence with the math concept in it. She rephrases clarifying question AGAIN, "N" is a variable, in this SENTENCE what does "N" stand for? Morton?"
Teacher watches as:
Mary gave up looking for book and is now wandering around room talking to friend.
Spike is crawling on floor looking for lid to highlighter.
Morton answers," Nebraska."
Conclusion:
I'm doomed
Enjoy.
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7 comments:
OMG! It's so true! I love that Mary was looking at the ceiling for the answer...sometimes a higher power can help!
Gotta love that testing! Just remember, if they don't score well, it's probably something YOU did or didn't do!;) Ha!
Ahh, thanks for the support!
When does testing start this year (or has it started already?)?
Through your years of testing experience, is there a question or two that stand out as especially weird or totally out of touch with what kids should really be learning?
It's almost Friday! :)
Testing at my school begins the middle of May, with some parts omitted due to budget constraints by the state.
The only thing I can think of as being out of touch is this: Our reading section is THIRTY TWO pages long with NO break. It is to be done all in one stretch.
As an adult I cannot always stay focused for 32 pages of a test. Not to mention the added element that this is expected of children under the age of 10.
"No Child Left Awake--um-- I mean...Behind! Yeah, that's it!"
How about you? Any part of the test that appeared to be a hurdle at best?
The English dep't teachers acted as "runners" during STAR testing, meaning we would make the rounds and relieve other teachers to take a break. I can't remember having a chance to take a close look at the test booklet, since it was never really in my possession, but I do remember hearing comments from kids about the "lame" essay questions. Sometimes the reading comprehension parts were said to be confusing or just plain old dull. Many times I would see the majority of the students finished WAY ahead of time and then there was a ton of time that they had to just sit there while one or two people took the whole time. For some areas, too much time seemed to be allotted, but I guess that's just necessary for everyone to work at his own pace.
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