Dear teacher friends,
Here we go again! Another season of state assessments is upon us. Every year, the weight of the assessments creates pressure for administrators, teachers, parents, and unfortunately the students. I’m sure you are feeling anxious, but you do not want your students to feel the same way.
“Test Prep” are the two 4-letter words that cause fear and loathing in the heart’s of teachers everywhere. I have heard teachers complain about how test prep takes away from teaching time, and causes extra stress to students. It doesn’t have to be that way!
Keep your test prep fun, sweet, and simple! Whether you have a few days, a week or a little more time to dedicate to reviewing skills taught all year make it a time filled with games, practice, and prizes in your classroom. For instance, dig out the task cards that you have used all year. Place them around the room for a game of review Scoot. One way that I have done this in the past for a math review: Cards 1-5 Order of Operations, Cards 6-10 Adding and Subtracting Fractions, Cards 11-15 Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying, Dividing Decimals, Cards 16-20… You get the idea. You want to have enough cards around the room so that each student starts with one. You can have more if you have time, but make sure that you review the answers with your students when the game is over. If you don’t have time to review during the same class period, try to review the answers the following day.
(If you have never played Scoot before, you don’t
know what you are missing! My 5th graders beg to
play at least once a week. I wrote about how to play
in a previous blog post. Check it out here to learn more.)
Keep in mind that realistically, you will not be able to review all of the skills. It is imperative that you choose standards that your students still struggle with, standards taught at the beginning of the year, and standards that you know your students can excel at if they are just reminded of the skill. Good luck!
Once testing day(s) arrives, it is important for your students to know that you aren’t worried. And if you are nervous? Fake it until you make it! Remember, the test-taking attitudes your students form now may impact their test-taking behaviors for the rest of their education. After all, standardized tests don’t go away as you go up through the grades. If anything, you are creating the foundation for your students to take the SAT in high school. Keep in mind that a lot of your students’ attitudes will be shaped by the feelings you project.
This is the time for you to emphasize that testing is a chance for your students to show off and show what they know. Each morning students are testing, I give testing treats. This is just a little something I give to ease the stress.
🍭Dum Dum lollipops: Because they are not dumb-dumbs!
👓Nerds: So they can be a nerd and read every word!
👓Nerds: So they can be a nerd and read every word!
😋Blow Pops: So they can blow the test away!
Providing your students with motivation before and during testing is the best way to keep your students engaged during the entire testing process. If you have any additional motivational ideas for keeping students focused, engaged, and prepared to do their very best leave them in the comments section.
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