Assessments, Families, and Observations

I spoke briefly with Shaunna about assessments but we haven't had much time to get into a good discussion on them.  Next week we are doing grades on in service and I will be there all day so we are going to go over all the assessments and how the grades are determined.  I do know that  literacy is determined a lot by the dibels and DRA's.  The students all do a reading test every week to determine comprehension.  They are also assessed at the end of a unit in math.  This tests their knowledge of material covered and introduces upcoming material (kind of like a pre-test).  Spelling is tested at the beginning of the week as a pretest and then on Friday as their actual test.  We are now putting them together so we can see the correlation between the two of them.  In first grade observation still plays a big part in our assessments.

We do have some parents who want to come and help in the classroom however this is just beginning and I haven't been there when they have come.  Trying to set up times for interviewing families turned out to be a little challenging.  It seems as if some parents are not sure of my role in the classroom or how the research and/or activities concern their child.  I am really looking forward to conferences when we get to see how the students are doing at home and I get to meet all the parents and they can meet me.  I am hoping this will help them feel more comfortable with me.

Last week I taught my first lesson and had Karen observing me.  My students were having a rough day.  To have this be my first lesson and a whole group lesson was real challenging, but I know every teacher has days like that.  I just hope that I can improve and look back and see how much I have grown.  Shaunna makes teaching look easy and I just have to remember that I have only taught 3 lessons now (2 being small groups and 1 whole group) and I have a ways to go before I get to her level and that is ok.  Everyone has to start somewhere.  We are able to discuss how things go and she gives me great tips for next time.  I'm sure it will get easier with time and I am starting to do more and be consistent so that should help.