Teacher Tidbit of the Week: Ron Clark's Essential 55 #11 "Surprise others by preforming random acts of kindness. Go out of your way to do something surprisingly kind and generous for someone at least once a month. "
Testing Talk: In our class we see ANY test (especially EOGs) as a wonderful opportunity to show what we have learned. It is NOT meant to be a stressful or scary event (even though it can be made to feel that way). If your child is stressed or worried about the tests that come at the end of the year...here are some things you can say and things you should try not to say to help.
What TO Say
*You have learned all that you need to this year.
-Here is why: If children feel confident that they have everything they need to be successful, they start to beleive it. Once they beleive they are prepared a lot of nervousness falls to the wayside. *You always do your best. -Here is why: By pumping them up that they are in fact hard workers they will want to continue to be hard workers. *You have grown as a learner this year. -By telling students they have already shown lots of growth they become more excited about the idea of getting to show MORE growth. *You get to show off everything that you have learned -We do not want students to have a negative attitude toward testing. We want to put it in our students heads that tests are a good thing, an opportunity to show what we know. Negativity and positivity can BOTH effect how someone does on a test. |
What NOT to say
*EOGs determine if you pass the grade.
-Here is why: You don't want kids to feel pressure or worry that they may have to repeat 5th grade. Plus, it's not factual anymore. While true in years past, students can be promoted to 6th grade without having scored at 3 or 4 on EOGS. *You won't get into honors classes if you don't get a good score. -EOGs are a data point to help middle school advisers place children. We don't want to put pressure on kids to be in honors-especially if the data tells us they aren't ready for that yet. *You have to get a 3 or a 4 -All we really want is to see that from last year to this year a student has grown. While EOGs are given a score of 1-4 there is also a real number score that goes along with those ranges. We just want to see growth. *It's important to do the best you can. -By saying it this way, a child may feel like they can't or don't always do their best. We want children to feel confident that they are ALWAYS doing their best. |
Links worth clicking
For Parents:
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