Ok, not as catchy or fun as March Madness, but I had to alliterate.
This week as you may know was filled with testing. Kindergarteners took their math and reading assessments on the computers or Chromebooks. We will finish all testing, especially with absences or retakes and then you will be able to find out how your child scored. For the kindergarteners, this was the first time testing. This could mean that they were simply trying to complete the test and the many mouse skills that accompany them. Some questions just ask you to click on one answer and hit the next button. Others request very language based demands such as choose "all" of the..., or put the " " on top. Place 4 on the table. That requires thinking about the language concept AND execution. Tricky!! Other questions ask you to click and drag a set of items. That is such an associative task (multiple requests at once)!! Oy! So, I was proud of how they behaved and complied with the directions. Some kids will not have scores accurately portraying their skill set. Others it will be more accurate. Either way, I will be able to speak to that as I participated in giving the assessment. This is also not an accommodated test. Other than taking it on a Chromebook in my room, this test levels the child based on how they are performing. They answer accurately, it gets a bit harder. They miss a few, it aligns to a lower set of skills. It tries to adjust to their level and then compares to same aged peers nationally to give a percentile ranking. I'm tired just reflecting on all their hard work! :) I'm super proud of them.
Needless to say, most of my groups were easy-going, free choice, preferred interests because of the demands of the testing situations. We practiced mouse skills on minimouse and the first graders read the book "Ish" with Mrs. Szalay. They also drew pictures of themselvesish :) Cute story about not being perfect.
We have been covering how to get help when you have a problem as well. I have a few sessions of testing next week and will continue problem sizes. Have a wonderful weekend and thank you SO much to all who donated to our Chromebook Donor's Choose. Thank you also to the Cataldo family for donating an ENTIRE Chromebook. Everyone has been so generous. We appreciate it more than we can express. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
This week as you may know was filled with testing. Kindergarteners took their math and reading assessments on the computers or Chromebooks. We will finish all testing, especially with absences or retakes and then you will be able to find out how your child scored. For the kindergarteners, this was the first time testing. This could mean that they were simply trying to complete the test and the many mouse skills that accompany them. Some questions just ask you to click on one answer and hit the next button. Others request very language based demands such as choose "all" of the..., or put the " " on top. Place 4 on the table. That requires thinking about the language concept AND execution. Tricky!! Other questions ask you to click and drag a set of items. That is such an associative task (multiple requests at once)!! Oy! So, I was proud of how they behaved and complied with the directions. Some kids will not have scores accurately portraying their skill set. Others it will be more accurate. Either way, I will be able to speak to that as I participated in giving the assessment. This is also not an accommodated test. Other than taking it on a Chromebook in my room, this test levels the child based on how they are performing. They answer accurately, it gets a bit harder. They miss a few, it aligns to a lower set of skills. It tries to adjust to their level and then compares to same aged peers nationally to give a percentile ranking. I'm tired just reflecting on all their hard work! :) I'm super proud of them.
Needless to say, most of my groups were easy-going, free choice, preferred interests because of the demands of the testing situations. We practiced mouse skills on minimouse and the first graders read the book "Ish" with Mrs. Szalay. They also drew pictures of themselvesish :) Cute story about not being perfect.
We have been covering how to get help when you have a problem as well. I have a few sessions of testing next week and will continue problem sizes. Have a wonderful weekend and thank you SO much to all who donated to our Chromebook Donor's Choose. Thank you also to the Cataldo family for donating an ENTIRE Chromebook. Everyone has been so generous. We appreciate it more than we can express. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.