Today I was in my classroom until lunch time. Many times teachers are viewed as getting up in front of the class and just teaching to the students. I, myself have been guilty of thinking that teachers are just getting up and teaching because I have not had the experience of seeing behind the scenes. Now I do know that the longer I am in this education field the more I am realizing how much work is put in it or should be put in it. Today I had the pleasure of laminating pages for a game to be played in the classroom, helping a little boy with reading, assisting in AR testing, and being present during the student's MAP testing. This all happened between 7 am and 11 am.
The most interesting part was to be able to see the MAP testing. MAP testing is a computerized adaptive testing system that tailors tests to a student's achievement level. Each student takes a test that is dynamically developed for him or her as the test is being administered. Just to remind you I am in a second grade class, and the questions on the test were asking " what is the simile in the paragraph?" and asking students to identify context clues within the story. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my student's did not know this information yet. My CE also knew that these second graders did not know some of the information. I noticed after the testing that some of the student's seemed to be a little on edge. So today when I made it home I went on the search for more information about MAP testing, and how to better equip student's with taking the test.
Here is what I found:
Your school district utilizes MAP for many good reasons. I want you to be intentional about learning everything possible about this program. Seeing how the students are tested is important - but I also want you to focus on how the data are analyzed and how the data informs future instruction. Learning this now will greatly help you during student teaching!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you blogged about the behind the scenes information. You are right - the public views teaching as an 8-3 job - they never fully understand all that comes into play in order for a classroom to be successful.
What connections did you make to the NCTCS? What is your action plan for student teaching based upon your learning this week?