ISAT Blues...

It is official... 31 school days until ISAT testing begins. Ugh! Blah!! Yuck!!! I think that may be every teachers worst nightmare! And as the days get fewer, I am getting more and more frustrated in the writing department! It's not that I don't have confidence in my students' abilities... or that I don't feel like I am preparing them enough. I have been cranking out some pretty decent sample expository papers if I do say so myself! Trust me, we are writing more than my little 5th graders desire! Today we wrote about the many jobs people have. Each student had to pick one job they would like to have when they grow up. Then the more difficult task~ They had to each write a 5 (or at least 4 really, really good!) paragraph expository paper about that ONE job. All while showing voice, using "adult" vocabulary, and really impressing complete strangers who clearly don't understand 5th graders and what level they SHOULD be at. (Note: If someone is reading this and has graded 5th grade writing on the ISAT, please leave me a post showing guidance!). Needless to say, we still aren't ready for the test. We've been in school for 90 days and still aren't ready. They will do fine. I know they will do GREAT on both reading & math. Most will do fine on writing, but some of my outstanding students will be below and some of the weaker students will either meet or exceed. It will all depend on who grades the individual paper and how the grader uses the approximate 3 minutes per paper to evaluate my student(s).

The only reason I am posting this is because I would rather vent to the keyboard (and all my worthy followers) instead of one of my 22 5th graders!

Happier note~
Our 8th grade basketball team beat Maroa -Forsyth on the consolation side of the conference tournament! They played great and my cheerleaders looked mighty fine! I also signed up for my last evaluation of the year. As a non-tenured teacher I have to be evaluated twice a year. I of course chose my favorite subject, math, for my first observation in early October. My second observation will be at the end of January. I am planning to be observed in Science since it's one of the only subjects I haven't been observed in. Luckily we will be studying the Solar System, one of my favorite topics, during this time! I guess I better get busy planning!