Yesterday was kind of a weird day at school. The kids were kind of thrown off by the rioting in Baltimore. We talked about it first thing in the morning. They had a pretty good handle on it. They talked about how unproductive it was and how weird it was that people were destroying places that served the neighborhood. Why burn down a pharmacy? Don’t you need to get your prescriptions there?
The day was a pretty normal one otherwise. Classes happened. We rehearsed the spring musical. New pieces of artwork were hanging on the walls. This was my favorite. I love how part of it goes onto the other wall. It gives it a 3-D aspect.
Roller coaster.
Today we start standardized testing. I both like and dislike testing days. They take little preparation, but keeping the kids quiet during the tests takes extra energy. Hopefully the tests will go smoothly.
Good. I’m glad they talked about it, and I’m glad you were there to listen. Now they know there’s another adult they can come to if they have questions.
Do you have enough No. 2 pencils for this test? Is that still a thing? I have no idea.
Yes, number two pencils are still a thing. I’m getting ready to sharpen some spares right now.
We’re dong all of our standardized testing on computers now. It’s interesting because they are smart about how they ask the questions. If you get questions right, they give you harder questions. If you get questions wrong, you get easier questions.
In effect, everyone gets their own test. We get some pretty detailed reports back saying what each student (or the whole class) needs to work on.
Wow! It’s like you’re in some futuristic existence! What else do you have where you are?
Brad: What’s the spring musical?
The musical is the story of the Exodus. It’s written by the same guy who did the David story we did in Maui two years ago. Because of the similar-sounding music, I’m having lots of flashbacks. It’s fun.
You have enough computers to do that?
Of course you’re probably talking about tablets or laptops. We’re still using only desktops and only the computer room. We have some tablets, but they are infested with games right now, so I’m leaving them in the closet. Cleaning them up will be a summer project.
Our school uses this method as well and I love it. The information you get back as a parent is so detailed and helpful…I can’t imagine how useful it would be to teachers/administrators. Yay, technology!
Alright, just stop that, Lloyd – you’re making the rest of us feel incompetent or something. We, too, wish we had ways to do individualized tests all on computers like that. (and congrats to your place for being able to actually assess individual student growth that way – imagine that!)
Know of any endowments or foundations to which you’d like to forward all our school names for possible underwriting? Just asking…