I was in Washington Square Park today looking at curriculum and doing lesson planning all the way up until the NYS (that's basically in 2 more weeks!!), and I noticed that we have basically covered everything that has been assessed in the last six years. (Yeah, we had to look and carefully analyze each one of those tests in one of our meetings. #nycteacherprobs) This is extremely surprising, however, considering we start school several weeks after most school districts upstate. I was expecting to be still teaching material for the NYS up till the day before the test...
Guess we're having two weeks to review for the Big Test! I have a bank of activities thought out to prepare for the test, review activities I sometimes use to review in class for unit tests and for the midterm, so students should be able to remember the routine for those activities. We will definitely be doing some practice with the multiple choice when we get back from spring break.
One thing that should be really exciting for my students is that this year, our administration is offering a D.C. TRIP for all students who earn a 3 or a 4 on the ELA/Math/Science NYS exams this year. We looked over the interniary and it looks pretty exciting! Parents get half off what it would be for a normal school D.C. trip since our school found "extra money in the budget". Students who earn a 3 or 4 on the tests who choose to not go on the D.C. trip get a DAY OUT IN THE CITY for only $25! I'm definitely signing up to chaperone one of those activities!
I am confident that the vast vast vast majority (like 95% of my class) will be able to at least earn a 3 if they are able to retain all of the concepts and material we've discussed this year. I really hope that my review activities will help solidify and clear up anything students were previously struggling with. Next year, I'm going to get my first value added/TDR report. The TDR's are scattered all over the place in my school - some teachers are at 10's and 20's and some are at 90's. Three are at the 99th percentile! (Hopefully someday I can get up there! ;)). But my goal for this year is definitely at least an 80 to put me in the "above average" category. Now, there's no doubt that these reports are erroneous and unreliable, but it still feels good to know my "value added" is high. We need to set big goals for ourselves. :)
When I didn't lesson plan, I had tons of fun at home, catching up with old friends, visiting professors from NYU and hanging out in the Big Apple! Oh, how I love spring break.
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