Tuesday the Mid-Point of May

[Twins' Mom]

Oy. Ds is upset/overwhelmed/worried about the wonderful job he has for the summer. They actually want him to fly out of town with the owner's grown son on Sunday on a "plant efficiency project" next week to expose him to the concept. He's really, really upset about this - I'm thinking he's worried he won't be able to do what they ask of him, and I'm trying to reassure him that they know he's a college freshman. He's also getting paid about twice minimum wage. And he's upset and dh is upset because the employer is someone dh knows.

Oy.

[Harriet]

I would think ds would be really good at a challenge, Twins' Mom.

Dd13 says the extra practice she did online was a help, and she's pleased with today. All she ever really needs is the will power to double check, and then if there's still time, triple check, because her mistakes are usually misreads or simple mistakes that could be caught upon review. The math teacher announced this afternoon that EOGs are over (for math) and they are not going to even think about them again. I thought that was very wise and said so. Dd laughed.

"Mom, she means now we really buckle down for EOCs. We started today." Sigh. (End of Course, which will be harder.) She has a total of 30 emails to send her science teacher by bell tomorrow and only has about 5 done because she was intent on math until today. (proof of completion of 30 quizes in preparation for tomorrow's EOG in science.) This has really been an event this year - I don't remember any end of grade emphasis like this for either of my older children.

I napped, which was probably my body enforcing some healing. Wow, I felt wiped out. Even Tobias just laid down beside me rather than his usual attitude that my naps are his signal to play with me.

I would really like to claim some work done, but there has been zero beyond the school run and my ddad's supper.

[Elizabeth]

I have been working on adding file names to pages in a PDF document. Long and tedious, but necessary. Payroll is almost over, then I pick up DD10 for Girls' Night Out. I have made my list of things I need to take care of tonight: trash and recycles out, Quicken update, put away laundry, redo shopping list. See y'all tomorrow!

[OKay]

Out of the house before 7am with a list of 9 stops/errands to do. Driving on the interstate to first stop (doctor appt) the car started acting up. It started shaking so bad that I pulled to the side of the road and checked to see if a tire was flat. Nope, but it was impossible to drive at normal speed without shaking to the point of being scary. Getting that checked/fixed added the 10th errand/stop to my list. I finished them all and made it home in time for DH to leave for his meeting. LOOONG day for sure!

Playing outside with LO tonight I heard myself say......
"The worms need to stay outside so they won't get sick and die."
" We do not bring the worms into the house"
" Let's put your pants back on."
" Thank you for being such a good helper"
" Let's play in the water without being naaakkkkiiiidddd"
" Yes, China is on the other side of the world - just keep digging and see if you find it"
" You are big and strong to pull those heavy branches. Thank you for helping"
" It hurts the dog to have his ear pulled. Pull your ear and see if you like it."

Such is my life.

[Emptynester]

"Let's play in the water without being naaakkkkiiiidddd"

AWWW! Why not????

Ducking and running

[lucylee]

Such is my life.

That is so sweet, OKay .
Still thinking of you & praying for you & all involved in this situation that keeps revolving around you. * sigh *

(((Harriet's dd))) Oh my goodness. This is one reason I think I am ready to get out of education. The group of freshmen I have right now are the last who will be required to take the state graduation exam. Looming on the horizon for our state will be mandatory ACT in 11th grade and End of Course tests. If these EOC tests are state-mandated... well... in my mind, that will take away any semblance of freedom and creativity a teacher has to choose material & coursework. I fear education will become just an assembly line... 15 verbs today, 15 pronouns tomorrow, read 5 chapters of ___ by ___. I do not think I could deal with that. I figure next year will be a "pilot" kind of year, where we are just testing the waters -- IF they even get us to that point within the coming year. However, if not next year, it will be soon, and it will be a long time before the pendulum swings back.
I know this may sound like I am just an old-fashioned, fuddy-dud teacher who is set in my ways and resists state-mandated accountability. However, I truly believe that we were better educated "back in the day" when I was a student and teachers just TAUGHT -- without the all-mighty pressure to meet some magical number on a standardized test. Testing is not the only thing wrong with education today... the self-esteem for all, regardless of merit, movement has helped... lack of discipline in the home & the school has helped... worship of technology has helped... a LOT of factors have helped... but IMHO, we are going backwards in a lot of our educational philosophy, and I am just getting too old and too tired to fight it any longer.

OTOH... today was awards day at our school, and it WAS rewarding to see much deserved & much needed scholarships go to so many students whom I have enjoyed watching grow up over the past 4 years... it WAS rewarding when the father of one of my best senior newspaper students introduced himself to me and told me he'd heard a lot about me over the dinner table, that ____ really thought a lot of me... and it WAS rewarding to get a very nice, complimentary, and encouraging e-mail from the parent who organized a prayer circle of parents to pray for our students & faculty, and I have corresponded with several times this year. There are a LOT of really rewarding, happy moments that I know I will miss terribly when I walk out of that building for the last time.

Still... I am VERY much ready to walk out for 8 weeks!

Waving to Elizabeth... Indiana... MT... Nancy...

DH has had me involved in some long and tedious computer work tonight, also. Made longer & more tedious by our contrary computer, but also by his frustration level AND the fact that I had no interest in helping him AT ALL. He also made me his secretary, as I was requested to phone dbil AND ds, re: football tickets and the long & the short of this is that now I will be called upon to use ds's expensive ticket to a ballgame in Sept IF ds cannot accompany dh & dbil. * sheesh * Be still my heart. I really cannot wait to spend a Saturday driving to & from Atlanta w/dh AND dbil. * sheesh *
Maybe ds WILL be available. No way to know until sometime in August, probably. * sheesh *

(((Twins' DS))) I can sooo relate to his anxieties tonight. I'm sure he'll do FINE, and he'll probably have a great time on the trip... but ooohhh... I can relate.

Such a short sentence, such a lot of work.

WTG, Harmony!

WTG, helia... lots of activity at your house, too!

(((Sadie))) Hope you have relief from pain by the time you read this!!!

Hope things are okay w/Dee & family tonight...

[Cowinkie]

Amen Lucylee... My school retirement party is tomorrow. Sure you don't want to join me???

[Harmony]

Lucylee and Harriet, do you know if those tests you've both been talking about are the same as the FCat given in Florida? I was discussing that with DD2 today and we were wondering. How does the no child left behind legislation tie in with all this? I'm told in FL the FCat is very heavy in testing of reading comprehension / composition. The gripe here is that teachers don't teach any more. They teach only for the FCat and spend so much time on that there isn't time for regular teaching.

So different these days. Cowinkie, enjoy your retirement party.

Hedges and veggie garden watered.
Kitchen cleaned up after making tomorrow's lunches.
Finished reading a book. Brought it home for DH and of course I had to read it too. Animal Farm. Can't believe I never read that. One of the church youth said she liked it and DH had to read so he could talk with her about it.

I hope Indiana is doing okay today.

[lucylee]

Yes -- thinking of Indiana, also! Hope everything is okay!

Harmony, I don't know exactly how similar different tests are in different states, but my hunch is that they are ALL somewhat similar, and somewhat driven by No Child Left Behind.

However, here, it seems we are putting much more emphasis on reading and mathematics, with less emphasis on composition. Our state graduation tests cover 5 areas, though -- reading, math, language (grammar), science, and social studies. Students take these tests for the first time in 10th grade, then (if they have not passed) again in 11th grade, and if they have still not passed, they get a chance to take them in the summer before 12th grade, PLUS THREE chances within the 12th grade school year. That means 3 weeks of their senior year can be devoted solely to testing, PLUS the "remediation" time given over to "reviewing" prior to the test. Now, in all fairness, the great majority of students will pass at least some portions of the test early on, so by 12th grade we might have, for example, 15 students taking the social studies test on Monday, and 12 taking the language test on Tuesday, etc. Once a portion is passed, it does not have to be taken again -- each "subject" stands alone. I'd even go so far as to guess that the majority of our college-bound students pass all five areas during the 10th grade round of testing. However, here we are in the middle of May, and there are a few who will walk through graduation next week, but their diploma cover will be empty until they pass that test... and they will get to try again in June.

The point is, YES, you are sooo sooo right -- we are spending so much time teaching to the test that we don't really have time to cover the things that make a well-rounded, educated person. For example, there is nothing on the test about literature at all. Reading covers comprehension and basic literacy skills -- find the main idea, what literary device is used in this passage -- symbolism, figurative language, etc... But students are not required to have any sort of background knowledge of classic literature, etc., the things that EVERYONE used to just "know" by the time they graduated from high school.

And there are NO composition skills required, of course, b/c they cannot be tested in an ABCD format.
We DID have a state writing test that was given to 10th graders for several years, but for some reason, the state has dropped that.

So... as a result, we naturally spend less classroom time on literature & writing, and that is a very sad confession for this English teacher to make.
OTOH, I still refuse to throw Romeo & Juliet to the winds, and during the last six weeks, I spent a great deal of time using it to impress on young minds the importance of thinking before we act, talking to our parents before we assume we know what they're going to say, and being patient enough to see if love will stand the test of time, among other life-lessons I believe hold true today, just as in Shakespeare's time.
I did not require my ninth graders to do a research paper... and I do feel bad about that.
I feel less bad about it when I look at how many times my class has been interrupted for this or that fundraiser-fun day- something or other during the last six weeks.

Yes, Cowinkie, have a wonderful, wonderful party, and congratulations on your retirement.
I would sorta like to join you... but I think I'm just going to have to go through a year that has me pulled in ten different directions before I CAN accept my own retirement. I'll be watching you next year... in fear AND envy!

[Lynlee]

ATM - Schools are in the middle of 3 days of annual standardized testing of all in Yr 3, 5, 7, 9. Its nationally imposed. There have been major differences in state sylubus and even school starting age so it has not been a level playing field. This year it was mandated to get to same core sylubus - without any provision for children to catch up on areas they have been assumed to have covered previously under new set up, but maybe wasn't covered by their old state system. Crasy imo. Our state introduced a prep year with average age in each class becoming 6 months older. The start year of that is dgd now in yr4.
One result of all this - students are taught to do the test - I head today reports it was less stressful because of that. Another result - No state wants to be ranked last. Schools are scored too. Individual child results get to the schools I think. Results of states and schools get put out there and haggled over. Its all a bit of a political bunfight. It will be a while as it all gets worked through. I have no idea whats right or wrong. Thinking the only real assessment sees the one child ends the year able to do things they couldn't do a year ago. Though this system has been going long enough they can compare same group over different years. So I guess they are looking to see if some are "catching up" though they may be just better prepared to succeed on the test. Who knows how that translates to being ready to live in todays evolving world.

Remembering the great depression kids who left school after yr6 and could go anywhere with that much education. Remembering my dfather helping with tertiary maths with a base of his yr6 education.