August 19

The start of something GREAT….

We're Back - RTG!Today marks the start of a GREAT school year!  And I do mean GREAT!  I have been so excited to get back to school this year because I know that means there are GREAT things in store for all of us!  I know that my students are going to become better readers and writers throughout the school year and that gets me excited! 🙂

But first, I’d like to give a shout out to my students from last year!I am extremely proud of them.  When I received their OAA scores, I just wanted to give them all a “high 5”.  To be honest, I really just wanted to hug them and give them a great big pat on the back and a “Great job! I’m so proud of you!”.  They really put forth a tremendous effort on their OAA tests (I couldn’t have asked for more), and their results reflected that effort.   Most importantly (at least in MY eyes, if not the State of Ohio’s), I am extremely proud of the personal growth that they showed, especially during the last two months of the school year.  There were days at the end of the year when I had to do a double take and ask myself “Are these really the same kids that walked into my room last August!?”  Wow.  I know their 8th grade teachers will enjoy them this year!

And now for today, the first day of another school year.   After meeting each of my students today, I am even MORE excited!  There are a lot of changes and challenges in our curriculum and testing this year, but I am as excited as ever to prepare my students for those challenges!

I hope that all the teachers and students who are starting another school year feel as excited as I do.  IT’S GOING TO BE A GREAT YEAR!! 🙂

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May 1

Another day of testing…..

quiet pleaseDay Two of testing for our students.

Today the students are working on the Ohio Grade 7 Mathematics Achievement Assessment.  So as I sit and type this, the students in my room have their calculators and pencils in hand, mints or gum in their mouths, and appear to be solving math problems that should indicate how well then can do in mathematics.

I hate days like this.  It makes for a long 2 1/2 hours when my classroom is quiet and I cannot interact with my students.  Although I have been kidding with them a lot lately about “evil teenagers”, they are pretty interesting kids and they do make my days interesting!  😉

Now, to just get through this morning…

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February 7

Moving Through the Year

It is hard to believe that this school year is now half-way over.   For the first half of the school year, our focus has been on the standards of Reading Process, Acquisition of Vocabulary, and Reading Applications of Information, Technical and Persuasive Text.    We are now focusing on Reading Applications of Literary Text and will continue with Acquisition of Vocabulary. 

We will also now begin the process of gaining momentum in preparing for the OAA that will be administered in late April. We will be focusing a lot on reading strategies, test-taking strategies, and impressing “Martha”.  Thanks to Mrs. Stevenson at Laurelville, “Martha” is the fictitious person who will be scoring their OAA extended response questions.  She will be a constant presence in our classroom over the next few months!

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