Thursday, December 4, 2014

30 to Go! Benchmarks, Stations and Edcamp OH MY!

I'm not sure if I'm going to hit my 100 post goal for 2014, but I am sure going to give it a try!

Benchmarks:
Today I got the results for our second benchmark exam.  My 6th graders did a smidge better than the first exam and my 5th graders did significantly worse.
My first thought is how depressing, then I started looking at what happened.  To be honest, I had approximately 20.5 teaching days to teach my 5th graders computation with decimals, and operations with fractions (up to multiplication).  Is it me or is that like too much in too little time?
Also these exams were given on the Monday and Tuesday after the Thanksgiving break.  Now, I don't know if this is always the case, but I wouldn't even give a regular test after a weekend, so I have to think this had an affect on their performance.

Stations:
Stations? Centers?  I know that I need to use this strategy more in my classes.  I am struggling with how to implement and teach procedures when I am so swamped with content (see above!) My students are so needy, I need to teach them to be more independent.
Some of my struggles also include time, only about 45 minutes most days and space, my classroom is so tiny it is almost impossible for kids to walk around without bumping into desks, tripping over books, or just getting in the way.

Edcamp:
My principal wants to bring an Edcamp to our school!  She's never even been to one before but keeps hearing me go on and on about how wonderful they are.  She asked if I would help out getting it organized.  Wooo hoooo!


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