Home Stretch

Here we are in the middle-ish of May. The home stretch of the school year is in sight. The countdown has begun. May is such a busy month at school. LAS Links results are returned this week on the 15th. I can't help but feel a little nervous and excited to see how my students have done this year. We are looking for improvement and growth. Later this month I will meet with teachers to discuss LAS Links results and who will need additional targeted intervention for next year. The best part is sharing the results with students. They have been asking me about it since we created our Lego characters to go with the island or ship levels. **I am sure that made no sense whatsoever. Check out the picture below :D.** They are eager to see how they did as well. I am planning a little pirate themed reveal party for them at the end of the month. Much treasure to be had by all! 

Another great semester at MSU

Today is the due date for my final project for CEP 815: Technology & Leadership. This has been my favorite class so far in the MAET program at MSU, although I have learned so much throughout the entire program. I have one semester to go before finishing my Master of Arts in Educational Technology. CEP 815 focused on the practical aspects of how to lead change in an organization, particularly surrounding technology. The assignments and projects I have created will be useful for helping to make change a reality at my school and corporation. In all reality, I tend to be somewhat reserved when it comes to leading...I am fine if you put me in front of 100 elementary students, but talking in front of other adults makes me very nervous. I learned in CEP 815 that there is much more to leading than just public speaking and a charismatic personality. The concepts presented in the unit readings have helped to increase my confidence when sharing my ideas. For this final project, I brought together many concepts from throughout the course to create a proposed technology learning initiative. I am proud of the work I have created and want to present my ideas to the school board in the future. This project can be implemented for next school year.

Check out my project below. It is all about using MobyMax to increase standardized test scores.

Final Project Galbreath

ISTEP Round #2

Today we started round two of ISTEP: Multiple Choice. Everything on the computers went well this morning. Thankfully we did not have a repeat of last year. That was a nightmare! I am happy that things went smoothly and we got Session 1 Math done without any problems. I hope that the internet does not have any hiccups the rest of the testing window and that headphones and mice work properly.

The weeks and months before testing have been busy getting ready to take this test. We practiced reading fiction and nonfiction. Students reviewed strategies and had to explain what strategy to use when. We asked and answered questions, and had some very interesting discussions. We looked at vocabulary and context clues, as well as reviewed some basic math. When it is all said and done, student achievement comes down to how they do on those few tests. It is out of the teacher's hands at this point and we can just trust that we have prepared our students as best we can.

In two short weeks, we will receive our LAS Links test scores. I am excited to see how my kiddos did! I am planning a reveal and celebration party for them. It is going to be ... pirate themed! Lots of fun :)

What do you do to prepare your students for test time? Do you have a celebration after the testing is over?