School and the City

What is academic vocabulary? Think: All of those words students may encounter on assessments. I typically consider academic vocabulary to be verbs, like infer, analyze, compare, summarize, and so on.  I went to a professional development one time with an amazing speaker who said something that I will never forget. She said: "Vocabulary should be a hurdle for students, not a roadblock." Ever since then, I've tried to be extra intentional about providing my students with daily exposure to such terms so that they can become familiar with using them in daily conversations. Although this seemed to help, I felt that my students needed a tangible resource to practice with - especially for those visual and kinesthetic learners. So, I made puzzles! What's not to love? There are three types of puzzles: common academic verbs RELA nouns math nouns Let's help our students master high-level academic language so that they can truly show ...

We finished testing last week. Whew! Now we relax AKA anxiously await the results. *fingers crossed* I already told you some of the things we did to prepare for testing, specifically 4 ways to reduce testing anxiety , but here are some things I did throughout the testing week to keep kids calm and positive.  Say Goodbye to Worries: One day, we read Wilma Jean the Worry Machine, which is a Julia Cook book about a young girl who suffers from anxiety. Throughout the book, she learns that worrying isn't helpful and what she can do to deal with it. You can find it on Amazon here (affiliate link) or watch on YouTube here .  After reading, we talked about all of the testing "What Ifs" that students may be wondering. Like Wilma Jean, we discussed worries that we CAN control versus worries that we CANNOT control. Lastly, I encouraged students to write down their worries on a sticky note. I told them no one would see what they wrote - not even me....

It's almost that time! *sigh* I've learned a lot about standardized testing throughout the years - unfortunately. Here are 4 of my favorite ways to help reduce my students' testing anxiety: 1. Put a Positive Spin On It Your language is important and will absolutely impact your students' attitude towards the test and therefore their performance. Start saying things like, "This is your opportunity to show how much you've learned this year," and "Your parents and I cannot wait to see how much you have grown!" Do you test in your classroom? Me too. That means I have to use butcher paper to cover up basically everything in my room, which is U-G-L-Y. One idea to make it better: Write inspirational quotes on top of that butcher paper. 2. Read All The Books There are many books about testing, but it's also a great time to talk about reducing anxiety and having strong work ethic. Here are some of my favorites: Testing: Testi...