Hi everyone! I have been off the blogging world for a couple of weeks now and I think I’m finally back! I forget what the first few weeks of kindergarten are like every year, but really I have been working since July (and sometimes my own expectations… are well my own)… and just now the dust is settling in! PHEWWWW!
Anyhow, this week I start tutoring in our after school program and begin working with lovely 3rd graders! Anyone know of AWESOME 3rd grade blogs I can follow? I picked one of our 3rd grade teacher’s (WONDERFUL BRAIN Mrs. Gonzalez) this past week and she shared great ideas with me, one of them a “keyboarding” website, that I will shortly be sharing with you all.
In a nut shell, I always tell myself, that I WILL NEVER BE A TEACHER that TEACHES to the TEST! Instead I want to give and teach students, standards, strategies, resources, ideas that will help them solve problems and find solutions (“Teach HOW to THINK, Not WHAT to THINK”) … in my world if I do that; give them ANY MANDATED TEST and VOILA they will be successful! And this is my case right now. Last week I sat in our meeting where we were explained and told what the after school expectations will be and what needs to be “taught.” None the less THE PARCC assessment was stressed and how it is crucial for us to help our students prepare for the test!
This is the first year our school district and many other school districts across the nation will be using this standardized test to evaluate student growth and teachers alike.
In order to be proactive and help decrease stress levels for both teachers and students, I have a list of 3 websites that you can use in your own classroom to prepare your students with computer literacy lessons and activities! Parents, you can also use these at home to help better prepare your students if you would like to.
http://activities.macmillanmh.com/reading/treasures/stories/teachcls.html
2. This next website links you to “games” that students can play. All games and sites linked from this site have been found to support Common Core standards for Math and Language Arts (cited directly from their home page.) I have personally used this site at home with my 5th & 7th grader at home and they like it. It does re-direct them to other sites, so I have to re-direct them back to the original site.
http://parccgames.com
3. Lastly, the actual practice Tests for PARCC. Parents and teachers, I really encourage you to take a look at these tests and try “practicing” them yourself and with your students! Then comment below with your thoughts, ideas, opinions! http://www.parcconline.org/practice-tests I will keep you posted on how my 3rd graders will like and use these sites. In the mean time, I will only have 10 students three times a week for an hour and fifteen minutes. this is what my schedule will look like. I’m planning on using “2 center rotations between me and their journal activities” and no more than 5 to a group. Mini lesson will be based on student needs and test/assessment data. 3:15 to 3:35 – Homework Time 3:35 to 3:45 – Reading Mini Lesson (Tuesday) |
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