How do you use your PLC time? How is it structured? What roles to different members have and how does your meeting time flow?

Beginning of the year activity -- turned test prep strategy!

At the beginning of the year a few years ago, I decided to play 4 corners with students with get to know you questions. I put up a slide-show with questions and the 4 possible responses. I set out the rules (no running, must choose one of the answers, keep within your own space, etc) and labeled each corner. When they made their selection, they could talk with another person or in a small group, why they choose that answer. Then they could share if there was another one they would have picked. If only one student was at a corner, I would go over and talk with them.

What I realized a few weeks in was that I could also do this with math multiple choice questions for practice (I taught primarily math at the time, but you could do it with other subjects too). Students then had to show their work for the answer or explain how they got it. I occasionally would throw in a question that had multiple right answers and would share that up front with students. They then could discuss in their groups if they thought any of the other answers were correct and how they knew.

This is something I just recently started doing with my third through fifth grade intervention students: when we have an exit ticket, I will leave some highlighters next to the turn in bin. Students highlight their name when they turn in the assignment: green if they feel like they got it; yellow if they feel like they mostly have it; and orange if they are still struggling. This provides them some self advocacy and allows them to share with just me that they may need more help or that they felt great about the assignment!

What are some ways you practice self-assessment with students?

Getting ready for testing for elementary age students: what are some of your favorite review games?

We love to play Stinky Feet -- I simply use a large chart paper with a foot on it and post it notes. As teams answer questions, they get to pick off one of the post-it notes and see how many points are given or taken. (Not always the best for very competitive groups if they lose points so you can just do various amounts of positive points!)

This blog though makes it more technology-interactive: https://theuniqueclassroom.wordpress.com

One thing that I hear teachers say is that they do not teach to the test. I feel that if the test is assessing the standards, and you are teaching the standards then you should teach to the test. I use the released test to show the students how questions are worded and how to look for patterns in the format. I liken the test as playing a game. The more a person knows the rules of a game, the better they will do. Likewise, the more a student understand the testing structure, the better they will do.

How do you review for state testing on math? For geometry, I print a blank bingo board for each student. Around the board, I write 24 vocabulary terms to put on their boards randomly. To play, I either say a definition or draw a picture of the term. When the students get really good, I invite student callers to the game.