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1857. arkymalarky - 4/16/2016 6:05:16 PM Looked at school grades and Stan's former school was one of two A's in the whole state of Arkansas high schools. 1858. arkymalarky - 4/16/2016 6:08:55 PM When Stan was there they were tied with Fayetteville scores in high school for first place. Rural school close to Hot Springs. Nothing distinguishing about it in terms of high-income the world Central locations or anything. Principal is a former coach stan and I worked with. 1859. Ms. No - 4/17/2016 3:05:50 AM I haven't had Juniors in so long I barely even remember the ACT. I'm glad it's getting better, though.
I've been on the committee evaluating the District Benchmarks that are being put together, and the more I see the INSPECT questions, the more I dislike them. They're modeled after the Smarter Balanced tests, so it isn't really INSPECTs fault. I just think the test writers are fucking morons.
The vast majority of the reading samples are deadly boring --- no kid, no where can scrape up two ounces of give-a-shit over most of the readings which means that there's less comprehension going on. Hell, I can barely figure out some of the bullshit they want. Then there's the item scoring.
If a test item asks you to highlight/underline/select the THREE different lines from the text that support a conclusion of X, then there ought to be 3 points granted for the answer and you get dinged for missing however many you miss.
Nope. These brilliant fuck-tards have determined that if you don't get all three correct, you lose the entire ONE point for that standard. In fact, you can get all three right, but if you step out of line by a single word, you get the question wrong.
How does that give any kind of accurate reading of a kids skills or proficiency on a given standard?
These so-called "data" buffoons need to take a long walk off a short pier. I swear, these tests are only better than the old Scantron jobbies in the hand-scored items.
Imagine that, the tests are most accurate when scored by a living, breathing human being -- the kids' teacher. The person who could've told you already whether or not and how well Johnny can read.
Sheesh.
/rant
Wow. I didn't know I had a rant bubbling up. I really just meant to say "Yay for you, Arky!" 1860. Ms. No - 4/17/2016 3:06:37 AM And I totally agree about the school-shaming.
If shame were a really useful tool for getting things done, nobody would be fat or have a messy house. 1861. arkymalarky - 4/17/2016 6:47:24 AM The ACT Aspire is our whole program replacing PARCC, grades 3-11, and it is light years better. The Other is truly awful, and only 7 States are still using it.
I liked our old benchmark test. I was on the state range finding committee for 8th open response, and it was as you say it should be. Age-appropriate and practically assessed. But with the Aspire system, all that is already baked in. I think the turnaround on results should be a lot faster, too. We got our PARCC results this Nov. Had they had enough brains to get and keep 50 States on board, I don't believe they could have gotten them in by this year at all. I loathe Pearson. Aspire uses their testing software, which did fine, as long as you looked to Aspire, not Pearson, for admin instructions and FAQs. 1862. arkymalarky - 4/17/2016 6:54:56 AM PARCC had mistakes, and we're so anal about their stupid test security it's almost impossible to address them. My sis-in-law did fifth grade last year and got in s lot of trouble because the kids were pointing out a major error and she looked at a kid's screen (not reading the question) in trying to report it. 1863. arkymalarky - 4/17/2016 2:44:51 PM One more thing about Aspire. You can tell I like it since I keep talking about it. Kids not only can see progress from year to year and whether they're improving, but every year they're also working toward a goal that's meaningful for their future academic success. This is something you need a translator to interpret for you. I never did understand what the parcc was supposed to be assessing, and I never did understand what the results were supposed to be showing in terms of the group of kids and the individual kids. I knew they tried to assess synthsis with three articles, and that my ninth graders beat the state and National averages, but those were only 37 and 39% respectively. 1864. arkymalarky - 4/17/2016 2:45:12 PM That right there indicates a poorly designed and essentially meaningless test. 1865. arkymalarky - 4/17/2016 2:46:10 PM PARCC is something you need a translator.... 1866. Ms. No - 4/25/2016 9:56:55 PM I must not slap a child....
I must not slap a child...
I must not slap a child...
I hate windy days. It makes the kids crazy and gets on my last nerve. I am so done with this year. I don't even want to teach the fun stuff at this point. 1867. arkymalarky - 4/25/2016 11:31:02 PM Any chance seen that t-shirt that's like writing sentences, "I will not screen, throw chalk, etcetera etcetera. I am the teacher." 1868. arkymalarky - 4/25/2016 11:34:20 PM And it's Monday, and I'm too tired to proofread my voice to text. 1869. arkymalarky - 4/25/2016 11:36:08 PM I got a stupid stomach virus last weekend, after having been sick with a sinus infection all of spring break, and I missed two days of last week. So irritated. I'm trying to be strategic about my absences for the next two years, which is when I'm going to retire. 1870. arkymalarky - 4/25/2016 11:41:53 PM Point of the previous post is that I am ready for this school year to be over as well. Our last day is May 25th, so I don't have much longer. This week is going to be so long, but looking at May next week is going to be great. 1871. Ms. No - 4/26/2016 9:49:33 PM We're not done 'til June 16th. This is the longest haul for us --- 12 weeks straight with just Memorial Day off.
It's also "Project Season" which makes everything crazy. At least I can put my Action Civics stuff to bed this weekend.
So far, I've wrapped up my History Project presentation. Tomorrow night I present my Unit Plan to my reading strategies class. Saturday is the Action Civics showcase (all. day. long.) Y-PLAN presentation the week of the 15th -- or maybe the 25th depending.
And then all I'll have left is the PBIS stuff.
tired. tired. tired. 1872. arkymalarky - 4/28/2016 2:02:07 AM Do you ever take sanity days? I have to several times a year or I would have gone nuts long ago. My school actually encourages that by not counting sick days and personal days differently.
Oh, and On a related subject we're going to be doing the gathering at the end of July this year. 1873. arkymalarky - 5/5/2016 1:16:27 PM I said two years above--99% Sure next year is it. 1874. Ms. No - 5/5/2016 8:24:27 PM I haven't taken a mental health day in a couple of years. I end up being out so often with other school-related stuff that I feel bad about taking off yet again on my classes. This creates a problem because even though I'm out of the class on those PD days, I'm not just kickin' it with a book and a Mai-Tai, either.
I'm eyeing my calendar right now trying to figure out when I can take a day without throwing my lesson plans into chaos at this point. If I don't pick one soon, I'll run out of time to do so. 1875. arkymalarky - 5/5/2016 11:28:33 PM I'm out today, but not for sanity. Crazy-making family stuff.
But the good news behind the one year left is...wish I could post a pic...I'M GONNA BE A GRANDMA!!!! 1876. Ms. No - 5/6/2016 4:34:07 PM WOO-HOO!!! Congratulations!! This is so cool!
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