Another Reason to Hate Standarized Testing

I hate this time of year! The teachers are stressed, administrators are stressed, but worst of all, the kids are stressed. We have kids cry, not come to school, and throw up. Every time we administer the very important test, there is a child who throws up. Never fails. Should a 3rd grader really be that worried about a test?? I feel so bad for them, but so much rides on them passing THE TEST. Some kids just can't take all that pressure.

And now for the answer to the clues in my last post! They were describing a dog! The fag should have been fat - I had the child read it to me!

What am I?

I kept an eye on my neighbor's 2nd grade class while she ran to the little girls' room today. They were writing about something. Who can figure out what they were describing?

My _________ is 500 pounds.
My _________ is 60 feet tall.
My _________ is fag (yes she wrote that - I'll tell the real meaning later!).

I'll post the answer later!

Did this really just happen?

I had a parent flag me down in the hallway. It was Tardy Boy's mom. She asked me if Tardy Boy was at school. Umm, yes, he is. How do you not know that?? Yes, she was home. I know she works nights, but she was looking for Tardy Boy - 2nd grade, and his siblings in 5th, kindergarten, and pre-k! You would think getting 4 kids off to school would be important and she'd know where they were! Then she asked me what he was wearing and if he looked ok. Oh my.

April Fools!

I love April Fools Day! The kids (and my husband) are so gullible, I just have a great time! Here's what I pulled this year.

This morning when the hubby got up, I told him the dogs had pooped in the garage and it smelled bad. He was not pleased thinking about cleaning that up!

Before I left for work I rotated the image on the computer so it is now upside down! I love it! Just as I finished this post, I got a text - JERK! Ha, guess he went to check his email!! He said he's getting a cramp in his neck!

On lunch duty, I told 2nd grade they had come in too noisy and would have no talking the rest of the week! They all fell for it! Of course I told them the truth and they spent the rest of lunch trying to trick me.

One 1st grader did get me. With the oldest April Fool in the book - there's something on your back! Of course, I had no trouble believing them - I was in the lunchroom with 1st graders! She was thrilled to trick me!!

Anyone have any good tricks for me next year??

Quick Tip

We had Parent-Teacher conferences this week. Usually, I'm lucky to get 5 parents and I teach about 45 kids. Since I'm not their child's classroom teacher, many don't think to come see me. I've asked the teachers to tell them to come see me, told the students to send their parents by, and stuck notes in their report cards. Nothing worked like my new idea. And it was so simple - why didn't I think of this sooner? I made a post-it note telling the parents to come see me and gave them my room number. The teachers stuck them on the front of the report cards. I've seen 24 of my kids' parents!!! I'm doing this every time!

I Just Can't Spell!

Ping-pong boy (a 2nd grader) was working on the computer directly in front of me this week. I glanced up from my small group to see how he was doing. He should have been typing out a word the computer said. Instead, he had typed a s s. He saw me looking and frantically erased it. I called him off the computer to sit by me until my group was finished. Then I asked him why he typed that. His response? "I was just trying to spell as!" Sure you were. That's why you were looking over your shoulder to see if I was looking. And he could spell both words just fine when asked.

I See a Pattern

Today I was standing in the hall as we were getting kids back from a break from The Test. One student in 3rd grade started talking to me.

T: Mrs. Z - is it always like this?
Me (totally confused): What?
T: You know, mean, nice.
Me (still confused): What are you talking about?
T: Well last year I had a mean teacher, this year I have a nice one, so next year. . .
Me (trying not to laugh): Who's room were you in last year?
T: Mrs. D and this year I have Ms. L.
Me: Oh, well you know Mrs. D's sister-in-law teaches 4th grade. Maybe you should have her!
T: Nooooooooo!

I loved how he was so worried about this pattern!