To be honest, I don’t know the last time I posted.  As I’m sure many of you can relate, the busy-ness of the season has certainly overtaken me!  And I know I say it often, but this site has been extremely s-l-o-w, so I’ve had little patience waiting for it to load so I can post.

In any case, I’m about to head down to the basketball game (yes we’re having a basketball game despite the snow day) and I thought I would take a moment to leave a little food for thought.

As we’re gearing up to bring our poetry and storybook units to a close and head off for the holiday break, I’m reminded that far too often we engage in activities without really knowing why.

I had the privilege of attending a two-day workshop last week, where we talked and learned more about the value of assessment.  It really opened my eyes to the kinds of assessing I need to be doing more often in my classroom.  And no that doesn’t mean more tests.  Think of it as more “check-ups” to see whether intervention is necessary

It’s ironic actually, because it’s rather similar to those well-child exams that are required – the one my husband is taking my son to this very moment.  A periodic orientation to know if things are going well or if something should be done.

I also learned that I really need to do a better job of communicating to my students what the objectives (or targets we’re now calling them) are for a particular lesson and/or unit.  As this unit comes to a close, I’m questioning whether I’ve done that.  Whether every student would be able to tell someone what they learned (or what they were “supposed” to learn) as a result of this project.

I hope to delve into this work more over the holiday break and come back refreshed and ready to lead my students through the final half of the year!