So I'm a bit behind on my posts, but there's no better time than now to catch up right? Look forward to many posts by me today! Lol Starting back at chapter 4: The Data Toolkit...
In this chapter I really connected with the information because it was talking about analyzing your students and sorting them based upon their need, or target. For my project, I was faced with the challenge of over half my class in the red zone at the beginning of the year for math. I decided that I was going to tackle this and I wanted my students to be a part of this journey each step of the way to them being successful and in the "green." I took my students and a green, yellow, red chart and issued each child a number. I then placed the students numbers in the category that they stood in for math in the fall. It was amazing how the students took the information. It was very confidential as they only knew their own number, but when they saw where they were they were merely blown away! I really think that students take these easyCBM assessments and they just blow right through them and don't see the benefit of them. I took the time to really talk about the assessment and how the data is used once they take it. I had many students upset with themselves and determined to move to the green. The amount of students who suddenly got serious during math instruction time increased tremendously and I had students make great gains in the winter easyCBM assessment not only because I was providing interventions to increase their knowledge, but because I felt that they valued the test more now and they took their success into their own hands. I look forward to seeing how far they have grown at the end of the year.
Way to go Amber! I too have been having a lot of straight talk with kids about assessment and what it means for them. We keep data folders and visit them often. The kids see a data chart in the classroom and really want to move up to the green zone. We recently did OAKS reading and I brought in snacks and we had a lot of discussion about strategy in testing. I had a kid recently gain 17 points in his reading OAKS and he began the year reading at a second grade level. He missed passing by only 2 points. I was blown away and so proud of him. I also think a big part of your success is that kids know you care enough to do the hard work. They are responding to a caring motivated teacher! Awesome!
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