I've probably mentioned on here my recent foray into reading testing. That has been going well, if not slowly. I've been pleasantly surprised by several students who read extremely well and answered most, if not all, of the comprehension questions right (and thus get to move up a level). Other students have me at a bit of a loss. They are definitely struggling with the reading - it's super slow, and they're making a lot of mistakes - and it's tough to know whether to keep them where they are or move them down. I feel a bit bad moving children down as they have been given a big confidence boost by being moved up. I have a feeling this will be a constant inner battle for my whole career though, so I'm not going to let myself lose too much sleep over it for the time being. I've also had some students read really well but have no clue what they just read. So I'll be trying to sort that all out in the next little bit.
I've also had a second go at marking writing. I think I definitely changed my approach this time (it helped to come home on a Friday evening and have so much energy that I was able to read through a good two thirds of them) and the experience of having done this already for these children made it easier. I found that several children had actually gone and done what I'd been teaching them (fancy that) and they really made an effort to work on the things I identified as their targets. I was able to move a few of them up a level (though that might not completely compensate for the few I moved down levels last time - yes, I know what I wrote above, but writing is not the same as reading) which was nice, but others actually wrote a bit worse than their first one and completely ignored both what I was teaching and their targets. Is this a normal thing to only get a bit of success. I guess the question is now, how do I get to those other children who weren't listening, or to put it a better way, using their habits of mind (specifically: make it right, prior knowledge and taking responsible risks). There has been some success, so I'll start with what I've got and build on it. I'm not going down without a fight (metaphorically of course!).
I feel like I've turned a corner with my class in recent days as well. There is a greater closeness I have with many of them and they're starting to figure out my rhythms and idiosyncrasies. We've bonded on some level which has been nice. Yes, they can still take an foot when I give them an inch (and this from a Canadian), but they are responding much better to things and even today I saw some amazing focus and effort from some students who had previously not tried so hard. Even in things like the basic facts practice (test) I've noticed some phenomenal improvement from most of the class. I've not had to send any sheets home (yet, but I will) yet they are taking huge strides every time we do it.
Planning is still a bit of a time killer and I'm having a bit of difficulty getting it done before the weekend. In fact, I'd say it's near impossible at this point. I want all of my lessons - at least on paper at this point - to be great lessons. I'm definitely picking up lots of helpful hints lately, though it does have the effect of making me feel a bit (only a bit, I'm not nearly as stressed as I was two or three weeks ago) overwhelmed with how to structure things. But the key, at least I think it's the key, is to try and get some things embedded, not just in my practice, but in the children as well, so they can help keep our (yes, our) classroom running like a well oiled machine (teaching similes this week, it helps to try to use them in my writing). I'd say the quality of my planning is probably the best I've done, though I know it will get even better over time. I'm able to think very analytically and methodically about things and now that I've had time to do some of my own assessments, I've got a much, much clearer impression as to where the children are, where they need to be and how to get there.
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