the final leg

Ship’s Log……..

We have embarked on the last leg of our journey called the 'school year’ after a brief stop for "R & R” ~ a.k.a. Spring Break. Can you believe it? Nine more weeks and we will be in dry dock for summer.

This might be the last leg but it is the most nerve-wracking part of the journey. Like the sirens calling to the sailors, TAKS is calling us into its lure. I must leave my passengers in the hands of another for three weeks while I help the 8th grade travelers prepare for their day of reckoning. Remember my post in January about personal days? (see here) I will be helping him review content from the beginning of the year and he is not pleased! The bottom line: his benchmarks exam results worry me.

Our department spent last Monday devising a plan to prep the students without boring them to death with worksheets. How? We will be commandeering the library and creating ‘centers’ with an instructor at each one. The centers are as follows:

• TAKS content and skills packet review
• Hands-On (manipulatives)
• The C.O.W.! ~ Curriculum On Wheels (I love this piece of technology)

Class periods are 60 minutes in length and every 20 minutes passengers will rotate to a new station. This helps with the boredom factor and maybe piques their curiosity. At the end of each week, we are planning to play “Jeopardy” as a way to review the week. If time allows before testing begins, there will be a competition between the two 8th grade classes. The passengers and I are eager to get under way even if their regular teacher is not. I don’t relish being away from my own students for so long but as the department chair, I must assist when there is a need.

This has been an extremely busy week along with the above, I had purchase orders to complete for signature by this coming Monday or lose the funds. That won’t happen on my watch ~ I don’t want the captain (FL) to use our dept. as a scapegoat.

I also had to rate ELL passengers on their speaking, listening and writing abilities as part of the TAKS prep work. Yikes, no rest for the weary! I am signing off and will try to update when I can.