Ode to Testing!

there are so many things i should be doing right now i should be looking at diagnostics and choosing the next story to go over with my class i should be looking at last week's pretest for inequalities that i am not going to have time to teach prior to the test i should be looking at my physical science 3rd/4th grade indicators to see which ones need to be reviewed for tomorrow but no i am typing a blog because right now i am disappointed that i have fallen into the testing mode in my classroom.

As I read the above message I realize that the next four days and one day next week aren't going to make a difference for my students success on their three state tests. I have to trust the groundwork that I have laid so carefully throughout the year. BIG ideas including read carefully, read for understanding, identify the important vocabulary, underline the key information and take time to reread and check your answers. I think tomorrow I will read aloud Courage helping my students and myself to stay strong. We can discuss the importance of having courage when you're nervous and not quite sure what the correct answer might be.  Yes I think that will help all of us.