Let's Be Honest

This is the month for state testing in Ohio. My fifth graders just completed 3 days of testing-math, reading, and science.  I live in a state in which 50% of my evaluation will be based on this year's reading and math scores.  My students this year will determine my evaluation for next school year 2013-2014. Does it make sense?  Can I explain it even to my husband, parents or neighbors not really.  When they ask me questions that I can't answer as an educator of 24 years it makes me extremely disheartened.  

But let's be honest.

I chose to integrate test taking strategies all year.  My school has implemented a K-5 procedure for helping students with their extended responses. We worked on our RACE strategies all year, and my students know how to break a question apart (TTQA) and answer with evidence and support.  But let's be honest.

When my door is closed, and we are having rich conversations about our read aloud this year. Sharing Wonder and How to Steal a Dog. Allowing students time to work on their weekly reading goals which for several students includes reading a poetry book or a non fiction book for the first time. That is true celebration!  These success stories will not be a part of my evaluation because there is not any way to "measure" the value of these experiences. I would argue there is a way-

I would argue the value is 100%- all of my students have read a new genre this year-one they never would have considered in the past and several are now hooked on that genre.

I would argue that the value is 90%-almost all of my students wrote and published their first poem ever. By publishing, they read it front of their peers on Poetry Friday.  

I would argue that the value is 85%-most of my students have a private vocabulary notebook that they carry around from school to home and collect their words on the weekend, watching ESPN, reading the paper, or at a soccer tournament. 

I would argue that the value of 100% is ALL my students are readers because they want to be-they do not record minutes, they don't have to read a genre every month assigned to them. They are all readers because they choose what they read, when they read and set their own goals.  My students are all READERS!

Let's be honest-isn't that what we want for all students from K-12?  Not individually assigned a color of red, yellow, and green?  Let's be honest.

Priceless Read Aloud: How to Steal a Dog

Read aloud is the knockout punch in my reading block everyday.  There are several components and next to conferencing with students I think read aloud is my favorite part for several reasons.  First, read aloud is about building our class community and sharing a marvelous book and having conversations is an integral part of community.  Next, I don't kill a read aloud with worksheets. This year I committed to collecting my students reader's notebook (RNB) once a week, so I could continue a personal conversation with my students.  This has been the power punch for me.  I encourage students to write about a prompt that I provide or just write about what they are thinking about the book. I have been amazed at how honest the students are and more importantly I have learned several things about my students that I don't think they would have told me.  Reinforcing the "power of the pencil."  Finally when we complete our book, I have my students write a personal reflection. I blogged about this idea here when we finished Wonder.  

We just finished How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor.  This is on my must read list every year in 5th grade.  Here is my original post from January 29, 2011. Georgina, Toby, Momma, and Mookie teach us so many important life lessons.  The woven themes of giving back, importance of family, "don't judge a book by it's cover" and never giving up are all intertwined throughout the story.  Georgina has so many decisions and the process of her thinking is saved in her writer's notebook which is just an added plus for me. Finally, I asked my students to write their responses, and to say that I was overwhelmed was an understatement. In addition, I suggested to my students to share their thoughts about this book with their parents. Several students chose this option also.  

She sure realized all the life lessons.

LOVE his opening lead!

Conversation between my student and her mom.

Finally, I tweeted out Friday night I was reading my student responses and Barbara O'Connor responded back to me and now I have some very special tweets to share with my students today.  Thanks Barbara for making my Friday night and my students Monday morning.

January App of the Month will Link How to Steal A Dog

The best things in life are free and evernote is free!  This was proven as my students submitted their favorite app of the month and why.  Their #1 pick is evernote which is amazing to me for so many reasons but first let me tell you why they chose it.  


*a much faster way to connect with Mrs. Caplin than collecting our notebooks
*it is so much fun to do wonderopolois and evernote on my iPod I can go anywhere to do HW
*Mrs. Caplin can drop the directions into it and I can reread them if I don't remember
*it is a step towards more technology and less paper/pencil
*I like typing better than writing
*if I don't know how to spell a word it helps me with the spelling
*we can choose our own photos to support our thinking
*it's useful because my handwriting is messy and I don't have to worry about it
*I can work on evernote at home - all I need is my iPod (my book bag is lighter)


As a teacher, I first reflected on how evernote is an application that can be put on various platforms, mobile devices as well as computers and allows accessibility to notes anywhere.  There is no game element, no strong visuals, and no opportunity to win a prize at the end.  I found this amazing as I think about the wide variety of apps they could have chosen.  If I would have predicted what might have won, I would have chosen Tap Reef.  


I  already blogged about how I love evernote and we have just touched the surface on how to expand using it.  This week we are going to use it for our read aloud:  How to Steal A Dog which I am reading to support persuassive writing as well as point of view.  I can't imagine being able to read everyone's thoughts at the end of each day.  I use to maybe once a week collect 24 reader's notebooks and take them home, come in early or just stay after school to read their thinking.  Now all I need is my laptop :)  

On a literacy side note, let me tell you about this amazing book. My friend, Karen at Literate Lives told me about this book when it first came out.  Have you ever read a book and  fell in love with it and could not put it down?  The life lessons in this book are so important and through Barbara O'Connor's story, she does a beautiful job of helping the reader learn about homelessness which is topic that is not written about in many elementary books. One of my favorite lines in the book, "I guess bad times can make a person do bad things, huh?"


 Also I want to introduce my students to Barbara O'Connor who has written so many tremendous books for kids.


*Greetings from Nowhere (another HUGE favorite of mine)
*Small Adventures of Popeye and Elvis
*Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia