Surviving the Testing Season

Tis' the season to begin test prep...falalalala... Teachers across the country will ring in the New Year by gearing up for standardized tests. No matter how we feel about, it's a fact of school life. How do we keep our sanity, teach our curriculum, and keep our kids motivated during the test prep season?

Remember the Reason
When the stress of the test creeps up on you - remember why you are in the classroom. You are there to teach children the curriculum. You are not there to teach a test. The test is an assessment of skills and knowledge. Children who know the curriculum should do fine on the test. Don't throw out best practice for the almighty test. Instead, embrace best practice based on current research and theory, and keep the test prep in perspective.
A Teacher's Guide to Standardized Reading Tests: Knowledge is Power

Teach the Test as a Reading Genre
Standardized tests qualify as their own genre. Familiarize children with the format of the test and how to navigate through it. A couple of weeks of analysis and practice should help your students get comfortable with the format without the stress. Give your students your best tips, tricks, and strategies for tackling the test without going overboard. Too many "strategies" can defeat the purpose and overwhelm your students. Keep it simple.
Test Talk: Integrating Test Preparation into Reading Workshop

Motivate Your Students to Rise to the Challenge
A lot rides on student's scores these days, so it is necessary for students to take the test seriously and do their best. Let your students know that it is important, and you expect them to rise to the occassion. You must also let them know you have confidence in their ability. Kids need to feel that someone believes they can achieve their goal. Feed positive energy to your students by letting them know that you believe in them and know they will do fine. Some schools go so far as to hold pep rallies and give out incentives for strong performance as a whole. If you are not comfortable with this type of motivation, then stick to sharing lots of positive thoughts.
Motivating Students and Teachers in an Era of Standards

Take Time for Recess
Kids get stressed out just like adults. Don't overload your students with test prep and homework. Give them some down time whether it's a night off from homework, extra recess, or game time in the classroom. Kids need a chance to blow off some steam (and so do you), relax, and just have some fun. Too much work and stress can cause kids to literally make themselves sick. The season may be time for getting serious, but kids need a chance to just be kids.
Elementary School Recess: Selected Readings, Games and Activities for Teachers and Parents

Take Time for Yourself
A stress out teacher equals stressed out kids. If your nerves are raw and you are feeling grumpy, it's time to take time for yourself. Leave the papers at school and go get a massage, or a facial, or a footsie rub. Take in a funny movie or inspirational teacher movie, have a glass of wine, go out to eat at your favorite restuarant, and spend some time with your family and friends. If you want your students to chill out then you've got to model being chilled. A chilled out, happy environment makes for better testing conditions.

Innovative Ideas for Integrating Technology

Welcome to the 21st Century! Are you ready to create websites, blogs, podcasts, or movies? Kids are all about wires and visuals, and it's time for teachers to catch up and keep up. Teachers across the nation are using technology in innovative ways to enhance the learning experience across the curriculum. Here are five exciting ways you can go high-tech on a budget:

Create an Interactive Classroom Website
Today websites are easier than ever to create. There are a ton of free hosting and website creators specifically designed for teacher created websites. Here are just a few -

Teacher Website, School and Teacher, School Rack, Class Notes Online, Educator Pages, Class Jump, Teacher Web, EZ Class Sites, Bloust

These websites offer everything you need to get started, but if you are like me, and you want to maintain control of your site in case your host disappears, I highly recommend using Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003. You will want the 2003 version. They are no longer making updates to Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003, but it is still a great starter program. If you are technically savvy you might want to check out Microsoft Expression Media 2 Mac/Win, the new web master program from Microsoft or Adobe Dreamweaver CS4.

A classroom website is a great way to communicate with parents, display student created work, provide downloadable copies of assignments and projects, and share your resources with other teachers. You can get your kids involved in designing pages and adding content. You can open your site up to the public or make it password protected. Students love to visit their teacher's sites to get updates and instructions for assignments and links to sites for research or just playing educational games. Check out these classroom websites, and when you finish your site, stop by and add your link.

Blog for Literacy

The blogosphere has reinvented the Internet and revolutionized how the ordinary person communicates with the world. News and information moves online at warp speed, and bloggers are the engine on the keyboard. Your students will most likely read and write blogs by the time they are adults (probably sooner). You can jump on the blogging bandwagon and add new dimensions to your instruction.

In the old days (old days being just recently in this case) students wrote written responses to literature in journals. We had every kind of journal imaginable. Now we have the opportunity to take our journaling online. Blogs are the perfect way for students to write their entries. The advantage of using blogs is the opportunity to interact. Blogs allow comments. Students can comment (journaling back) on other student's blogs. The teacher can leave comments, or open it up so that parents can get in on the blogging fun as well.

There are lots of possibilities for blogs. You can create class journals on a novel study, a themed blog on a social studies or science topic, literature circle blogs, individualized reading and journaling blogs, poetry blogs, fiction blogs, and more. You can take your blogs as far as your imagination can go.

The only thing standing in your way is filters. In order to use Blogger or Wordpress, you will most likely need special permission to have the filters turned off. Another option is to use a blogging site designed specifically for teachers and students. Here are a few places to check out for creating blogs: Class Blogmeister (free), Class Press (charges $24.95 a year), 21 Classes (free and paid subscriptions), Gaggle (free), and Edublogs (free).

Podcast Performances

Podcasts are similar to radio shows. You can feature one or multiple speakers, add music, give lectures, do interviews, or create a "radio show" type of performance. Once you create your podcast you post it to a website (a classroom, school, or district website is perfect).

In order to create your podcast you need a quality microphone that connects to the computer like the Alesis USB Mic Podcast Kit and podcasting software. You can download free podcasting software at Audacity.

Once you are set up and ready to go, it is time to decide what kind of podcast you want your students to create. Perhaps they are working in a literature circle. Could the create a podcast of their discussions around the book? You might want your students to plan an old fashioned storytelling podcast similar to radio shows in the olden days. A student could create a podcast to share information they have researched, or maybe they could interview an expert on a subject they are studying. Students could read their writing out loud, or create a poetry reading podcast. There are many options and opportunities in podcasting for the creative and reflective teacher. Podcasts allow students to make their voices heard, to practice public speaking, and to apply their knowledge orally.

Movie Making
Movie Making combines reading, writing, theatre arts, and technology into one dynamic and exciting project. Students create a script based on their imaginations or a known story. A first time script might revolve around a classic story or fairy tale. They will plan, write, practice, perform, and film their movie. The end result is exciting! Here a few steps to follow:

1. Brainstorm the movie topic. Students (or the teacher) decide what their movie is going to be about. They might create something from scratch or use a storybook as a guide.
2. Plan the scenes. Each scene requires detailed planning. Begin by deciding what scenes you will need in your movie, and putting them in an order. Don't forget your introduction and credits!
3. Partners or small groups of students can plan each scene in detail. They will need to write the script and plan the actions. They will also need to decide where the scene will take place, what the set will look like, and what props they will need. It doesn't have to be elaborate, but it does need to be well thought out.
4. Plan, practice, and film each scene. Once the scenes are written and designed you will need to assign "actors" for each scene, put the props and set together, rehearse, and film. You will want to use a good digital movie camera like the SANYO DIGITAL MOVIE CAMERA and a tripod like the Sunpak 620-092 9002DX Tripod with 3-Way Quick-Release Pan Head.
5. Next you will need to load your movie into a movie making software. If you have Microsoft Office, you most likely have Microsoft Movie Maker. If you want to upgrade, I recommend Pinnacle Studio Version 12.

Once your movie is made you can hold a "movie premiere" complete with popcorn and drinks. You can also post your movie onto your class website. Don't forget to get parent's permission for their children to appear in the movie and to place it online. Check out Beth Newingham's website to see great examples of class movies.

Interactive Ebooks
An ebook is an electronic book made available online for readers to download. Today ebooks are more exciting than ever to create. You can combine text, audio, images, and video to make your ebook stand out.

You can choose to create a class ebook, small group ebooks, or individual ebooks. Select a topic, research it, write it, and put it together in a Microsoft Word Document. Add pictures, audio, or video clips to make it even more exciting. Upload your document to Lulu, mark it private, set it up as a free download, and give parents the password to access it. Your ebook can be as long or as short as you want. You can also save a copy to your computer (save it after you upload it and preview it on Lulu where it is turned into a pdf file) and burn it onto a cd to give to each student.

Students can create poetry books, a magazine, a book of stories, and more. Ebooks are another way to combine writing and technology into an interactive and dynamic product.

Digital Storytelling
Digital storytelling is possible at any grade level. All you need is a camera like the Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (Black), a simple mircrophone and Microsoft Movie Maker. Another option is to place your pictures into Microsoft PowerPoint and set it as a slideshow.

Once you have your technology set and ready to go, you will need to get your students to write and illustrate. Take them through the entire writing process. Students create their stories and lay them out on a storyboard. The easiest way to do this is to either give them a sheet of paper for each scene, or to place each scene into a PowerPoint slide. Combine words and illustrations on the same page (like a picture book). Videotape or snap picture of each page and place them into your movie making software or PowerPoint. Add audio of your student reading their story aloud and music for the background. The end result is a digital storybook.

Integrating technology into the curriculum is a worthy investment of your time. The opportunity to engage your students shouldn't be missed. They will have a blast using technical tools to create a product based on their learning.

2008 Lisa Frase
Teaching eVentures

Motivate Reluctant Readers

Let's face it - some kids do not like to read. They read below grade level. They don't like fiction and they don't get nonfiction. They would rather play video games, watch t.v., and run around their neighborhoods. The older they get, the more reluctant they become. So what is a teacher to do? Here are five tips to get your most reluctant readers on the road to reading by choice.

Tip 1: Read Aloud

You might feel as if you don't have time to read aloud, but when you are at critical mass, you need to take matters into your own hands. You've got to read aloud. A short intense moment from a great book, a few lines from a hot magazine article, or a poem is all you need to grab your student's interest. Find out your kid's interests; whether it is music, skateboarding, video games, or scrapbooking - you can find a book or article to entice them to read. Read a piece aloud and then make it available to your students. Remember to read aloud like a drama queen (or king). There is nothing more boring than a boring read aloud. Spice up your read aloud using your voice, funny hats, and props to draw your kids out of their own worlds and into your world. Start with high interest topics and then you can sneak in an occasional great piece of literature. Choose the "hot spots" from great books. The goal is to get your reluctant readers to want more.

Tip 2: Read for Enjoyment

One of the reasons readers are turned off to reading comes from overzealous teachers who make reading all about answering questions, completing assignments, and creating projects. We do so much "stuff" that we drive the enjoyment out of reading. When was the last time you read a great adult novel from the best seller list only to answer questions at the end? Yes, in reality we need grades, but also in reality we need our students to want to read. One way to accomplish this goal is through literature circles. Talking about books at a deep level (and hearing enthusiastic classmates talking about books) adds a new level of interest to reading. Reluctant readers want to belong to the group, so they will read in order to participate. Choice in reading makes a difference as well. Take the pain out of reading and save some paper (from copying all of those comprehension quizzes) by making your classroom a joyous place to read and love books. You don't have to give up an occasional assignment (you do have to get those grades), but everything you read doesn't have to be about doing "stuff". Just read and enjoy it!

Tip 3: Add Real World Reading

Kids are interested in the real world. They are surrounded by media literacy. The Internet is a different kind of reading world, and it's one that will draw your reluctant readers in. What are your kids interested in? You can find it on the Internet. News, entertainment, how-to, sports - it's all there. Find an article, a blog, or an ebook to share with your readers. You don't need a computer lab to make it happen. Print it off, make copies, and say, "Hey, I found the coolest thing online last night. I know a lot of you are into skateboarding. Did you know...?" Information reading is hot, and the Internet is full of information (both good and bad). Find your reluctant reader's "hot topics" and bring the world of reading to them.

Tip 4: Actively Engage Your Readers

You need to teach cause and effect. It's on the test. We've all been there, so let's think about how we can get our most reluctant readers to get on the bus. Read a "hot topic" together. Talk about it, then make the cause and effect (or any skill or strategy you need to teach) connection with a hands-on reading experience. Some kids need to move, visualize, and talk in order to connect to the text. List the cause and effect relationships from the text on cards. Let kids work together to read through the cause and effect situations and match them up. This requires engagement - talking, reading, moving, seeing, doing. You can create activities (not too many) that help teach a skill without boring your students to tears. They will get involved because it is fun. Fun isn't an objective, but it certainly helps motivate reluctant readers.

Tip 5: Celebrate Reading

How do you get kids to read at home? Let's see...create a reading log, require twenty minutes a night, and make their parents sign...and if they don't - sit them out during recess as a punishment. What's wrong with this picture?

First, you need to talk to each student and make sure they know how to choose "just right" books on their independent reading level. Next, you need to establish trust. That's right. You've got to trust your students. Give them a reading log, but don't require their parents to sign. Instead ask your students to write down each book they finish on their own time (or magazine article). Each week take a count of the class books "completed." Set a class goal for reading so many books as a reading community. Once students reach their goal hold a reading celebration. Invite special people (like the principle) to read a book, have a treat (like ice cream), and hold have a read-in. Set the standard from day one - you must contribute to the community in order to celebrate with the community. Caution: Do not use removal from the reading celebration as punishment for other behaviors. If the student participated in the reading they must be allowed to participate in the celebration.

How do you hold students accountable for reading (and honestly recording their completed books)? The day you add up completed books hold a book talk circle. Students get into small groups and talk about the books they've read. They each share an oral review of their latest completed read. Peer pressure to participate creates natural accountability. One or two times of being the only one with nothing to say will get old. Reluctant readers will want to be apart of the reading community and the celebration.

Try these favorite read aloud books to motivate your reluctant readers: