March is always a long, long month for teachers.  Here in New York, the state tests are looming over our heads as we try to prepare our students to be successful and keep the stress to a minimum.   The kids have been cooped up in the classroom for indoor recess for months, and tensions seem to be high all around.  Fortunately, I've found a few simple traditions that I've shared with my students for many years that help lighten the mood and make testing season more bearable for the students (and me!).  

     The day before the tests begin, I always gather my students around and read a picture book to them about state tests.  There are a few to choose from, but I've been reading Testing Miss Malarkey by Judy Finchler for years, and the kids still enjoy it.  (I substitute the name of our state test for the name they use for their test, and the name of our school for the school's name in the book.)  This particular book talks about how the teachers and parents become stressed out before the tests, only to realize that their children were ready and did great on the tests.  It opens up a discussion about how it's really only a test, and that while they should try their best, when it's over, nothing really changes. Everything goes back to normal and there was no need to stress out in the first place.  The story is silly and exaggerates the situation, which causes the children (and me) to laugh at just how ridiculous it is.  It definitely lightens the mood!

     My students would totally tell you that the biggest perk about testing week is that I don't give them any homework.  Well..... almost no homework.    The night before the first test, they actually have two things to do.  First, I ask them to read a letter that I wrote to them, and second, I ask them to read the "prescription" I gave to them.

Here's the bag the students go home with the day before the test.

      The prescription idea was shared with me by my friend Cindy when we both started teaching fourth grade, and we've both been using it ever since.  I give each child a bag as they leave the classroom the day before the test and tell them that this will help them do their best.  I also tell them not to open it until they get home.  They get so excited wondering what is in the bag!
   

The "Prescription."

Here's what's inside! Cute!!

     These prescription bags are so quick and easy to make, and the kids just LOVE them.   On the day of the tests, you'll see many of them with their little toothpick and penny and eraser sitting on their desks- it's really cute!
     Finally,  I send my students home with a letter typed on colorful paper.  In the letter, I tell them what to expect on the test the following day.  For example, "There will be 3 passages to read and 26 multiple choice questions to answer."  I also remind them of the strategies we've been practicing to help them answer that particular type of question. Finally, I praise them for all of their hard work and great effort.  The letter has stickers and clipart and is very light-hearted.  I send them home with a letter to read before each day of the test.   When the test is over, they are so sad that there isn't another letter to read!  :)

     I'd like to take this moment to share a few personal thoughts about testing. I wish the parents of my students could see their children as they are taking these tests.  They work so incredibly hard and always try their very best.  They take each question very seriously, and while they sometimes agonize over an answer, other times they find a question to be "so easy!"  Watching them work so intently is  truly touching to me.  I know that regardless of how their child performs on the test, my parents would be filled with such love and pride if they could see what I see on those days.
      On the flip side, I wish that the people who work for the Department of Education would come into my classroom and watch my 4th grade English Language Learners or special needs students, who are reading at a first or second grade level (and making great progress, BTW) take these tests.  Struggling for over three hours each day of the test to read material that is written on a 5th - 7th grade level and trying to understand what they are reading...... that is deeply disturbing and heart-wrenching for an educator (or anyone else) to watch. It breaks my heart, and I find it completely inappropriate.  I am learning nothing about the growth of these students because these students are simply not able to read this level of text yet.  My hope is that if our children continue to be tested, that one day they will be given tests that are appropriate to each student and that will actually truly measure growth.

xoxo

Siblings.....

The Pirate Year

     As I've said before,  there have been a few summers when I wasn't as motivated to create a door as I was in other years.  I thought that maybe I could tone it down a bit and just make some nice decorations for the door itself, and incorporate some activities that went with the theme into the first week of school and call it a day. That was until I realized that I had siblings in my new class...

Captain Maggie

  The Pirate Year was absolutely one of those years.  I had to move my classroom (again) and things were extra busy at home that summer, so I was going to just make a low-key, cute door.  But then I got my class list...  I noticed that I had 5 new students whose siblings I had taught in previous years.  I also had the sweetest girl that my daughter babysat for and a boy who had recently lost his mom to cancer.  It became clear very quickly that that wasn't going to be the year to cut back, and so I rallied.

 It turns out that once you've been teaching in the same community for a long time, there is always going to be a sibling or a special circumstance where you just don't want to let the kids down.  You sort of develop a reputation, and there's no way that you can go back to the old "apples on the door" decor.  Fortunately, it's those exact kids that you don't want to let down that keep you going.

     Every single year , without fail, I get a bunch of 3rd graders (I teach 4th grade) come up to me and ask me what my door is going to look like the following year.  I get former students who come back to ask me about my next theme and offer to help me decorate my classroom.  They come to me bursting with ideas and suggestions. They love that I have a new theme each year and always want to be a part of it.

 It's become a bit of a tradition for me to post my back to school doors on social media the first week of school.  I have friends, colleagues  and old students who look forward to that post every year.  It's amazing how something as simple as a classroom door can bring such joy to people- old and young- but it does! I love to watch the expression on my students' faces as they see "their" door for the first time.
    Once you witness their faces, I can tell you, there is absolutely no going back.