SAGE Testing

Today I've seen and heard several ads about a report KSL is doing tonight on whether or not parents should opt their children out of taking the SAGE test (standardized test). I feel that as a teacher I should share some of my thoughts about this, so here it goes:

First of all, the SAGE test does not accurately show children's knowledge of the the core standards. I reviewed the grades my students received on assessments and compared them to their SAGE score and they don't match or even look similar except in the case of my VERY high level kids.

I think the main reason for that is because the SAGE test questions are difficult to figure out. It's not a typical ABCD answer choice like tests used to be. You have to manipulate things within the questions in a certain way to get the answer. Yeah, that sounds like fun, but in reality it's not. Basically what I'm trying to say is that the questions themselves prevent the kids from doing well on the tests. They have training tests teachers can do with the kids to help them know how to manipulate things to answer the questions, but most of the question types, especially for math, are complicated and not even on the training tests. As a teacher it's frustrating to see these kids basically give up on the tests because it is hard to figure out how to answer the questions. Besides that, correct me if I'm wrong, but the tests they will have the take in the future to go to college are still ABCD tests. If we want our kids to go to college, shouldn't we be giving them tests that are similar to the ACT and SAT? They don't have questions you have to manipulate stuff for do they? I really wonder if they do now.

The other problem with the SAGE test is that the questions get harder or easier based on how the student answers the questions. That seems great, but the problem is that when questions get harder and harder, it is discouraging and makes the kids feel dumb even though it wasn't because they didn't know the material.

Now, before you think I'm saying parents should opt their children out of taking the tests, hear me out. I would much rather them change the test than for parents to opt out. No school is doing very well on these tests, which ought to tell us something. Most people would probably think it's because the education system is failing and teachers are terrible, but that's not entirely true (although it probably is partly true). If you're going to test everyone, don't make it impossible to do well on it!!

Part of the problem with parents opting their kids out is that the parents who do that are the ones with the kids who actually would do well on the tests, which messes with the whole average score and the and such. There are some parents who I wish would opt their kids out because their kids have special needs and these tests are not designed for them. 

Another thing about testing is that there are people trying to pass laws that would require teachers' pay, evaluations, and other things to be based on the SAGE test results. I pray they don't ever do that. Seriously. We don't get paid enough as it is. Anything being based on the SAGE scores would be WRONG. 

Lastly, SAGE testing is all over for this year, so it's kind of pointless to be doing a debate about it now. I guess it could affect parents next year though.

The only thing I'd also want to change is when testing is done. We're done with testing and we still have 3 weeks left of school. We rushed through our curriculum for testing so now what do we do?? We are literally killing time until school ends. The kids are done and so are teachers. Only 13 more days.

Snow Snow Good

I love four day weekends! It's been pretty stressful lately, so this break was definitely needed. Work at my new job teaching 3rd grade is going well. I had my final observation by the principal and she gave me a yes for next year! I also took the dreaded PRAXIS test that all teachers have to take to get certified. I passed all four sections! I barely got a passing score on the math, which is a miracle considering I was running out of time and had to guess on a lot of the problems.

As far as dating goes, my ward has about a 4-1 ratio of girls to guys, so I've resorted to online dating again. I've decided to give it an honest chance this time and so far it's going better than in the past. Fortunately, this time I haven't had all the creepers wanting to chat with me and I've had an easier time talking to guys on there. I've talked to many guys and have gone on a few dates, so I'm not complaining. :)

This weekend I went snowshoeing a couple of times and just relaxed and it felt amazing.

3rd Grade

Well, I've survived my first few weeks of teaching third grade! I have been so blessed. I received a fire-hose of information and had to get right into teaching. My co-workers are very supportive and so many people have come in to help me with whatever I need.

This past week was my first week of really teaching on my own. I literally spent all day the previous Saturday preparing and still didn't have it all done. Overall, it all went well. It was nice to not have so many people coming in asking if I needed help. I had my first observation this week and it was good. The principal is understanding that I won't get it all right now and is just glad that I'm there.

It's been nice this week to go home and have a life outside of work. I don't have nearly as much I have to prepare to teach and the school closes around 6 pm, so I can't stay late even if I needed to. My classroom is still not the way I want it to be, but it's not as important as teaching and doing the other things I need to. It will come, though.

I'm basically teaching out of only two books- a language arts book and a math book. The language arts book took me a long time to really figure out how to use it, but I'm getting more comfortable with it. Math, on the other hand, is harder for me. It always has been. It's actually a really simple and straightforward book, but I find it difficult to know how to teach it because I struggle understanding it myself. Fortunately, the other nice part about this job is that I can figure out how to teach things the way that works for me. They call it the "art of teaching." I've seen so many different styles of teachers that actually comforts me as I try to figure out what my style is. It's nice that there is no "wrong way" to teach here.

The kids are really good. I do have a few kids that drive me nuts some days, but there are always those kids. The difference between 5th graders and 3rd graders is that 5th graders are much more self-conscious and like to question rules a little. Third graders still want to please the teacher and want friends, but they don't care so much about how they are seen by them. With 3rd graders I also have to give everything literally step by step- breaking everything down for them to understand and do. I learn very quickly when I haven't simplified instructions enough.

The greatest challenge I have is teaching the kids how to read and write. A lot of these kids struggle with both of those and it shows on the scores. They want to learn though and they have so much to share, so it's exciting to think I can help them learn how to do those things.

Unexpected Detour

**This is incredibly long, so if you scan through it, I won't be offended, haha**

It's about time I update this blog with my latest adventure, if you want to call it that. Part of why I haven't updated here is because I was crazy busy with my new job teaching fifth grade at a charter school here in Salt Lake. The week long training on the method of teaching called Direct Instruction was overwhelming, to say the least. Only part of it was actually training on Direct Instruction, the rest was training on other subjects. It was intense and even after all the training I had no idea what I was doing. I had some great co-workers who helped me put together my classroom and my schedule so that I could be ready for the first day of school. The other 5th grade teacher was very helpful in showing me what I needed so that I could teach the first units of all the subjects and she also set up my gradebook for me.

I remember being nervous for the first day of school and I felt like the kids knew more about how things should go than I did and they really did! Those first couple of weeks the kids were like angels and I am so grateful for that. Then after about a month or so, things started getting a little more difficult class management wise, so I asked questions and tried different things.

Coaches came in to observe me and help me with classroom management and teaching. I learned a lot from them. They gave me very good feedback and I did my best to apply what they told me to do. It took me a little while to change my attitude when it came to submitting to the fact that I would not have a life outside of work. That was hard for me. I realized that if I was to be the kind of teacher that was expected of me, I needed to work really hard to learn all the material for each of the subjects so that I would be prepared to teach every day. If that meant staying at school until almost 10 pm, then I'd do it, and I did. I learned that it takes me time, a lot of time, to figure out the best way to do things and make those adaptations. I had to figure out how to use my limited preparation time during the school day so that I could get prepared for subjects and not have to always take home ALL of the books.

In this school I had my homeroom class with various subjects and then I had a spelling class (teaching phonograms and spelling rules), math class (teaching 6th grade math), and a reading class. I had to learn how to prepare for each of those classes and figure out how to actually teach the lessons in those classes. That was probably the most difficult thing to do. All classes at APA teach using Direct Instruction which is a very fast pace choral response type of instruction. I actually really like DI. I love how I can get instant feedback and help the kids study the material as I have them repeat the information. It's supposed to be very fast, but I had a hard time with that. I learned the DI cues, which are words and phrases to elicit the children's choral responses. In Spelling and Reading, I just couldn't keep the pace up and manage the class at the same time. Spelling was my most difficult subject to teach because it was all new to me and there was a certain way I was supposed to teach it and it had to be fast. Reading was my next hardest subject, but once I figured out somethings, I was able to make it through the lessons. I felt like I was progressing there, even though I was still a little behind in it.

My favorite subject to teach was history. I may not have been perfect at DI, but the kids were engaged and they did awesome on the test! I loved telling the story and the kids asking questions that told me they were learning. We also had fun jingles that we sang to help them remember the people we were talking about. I didn't make them up, someone else did, but I loved them.

I mentioned the coaches. I was observed by coaches a lot and they gave me feedback which I tried to apply. Everyone who knows me knows that I get defensive at first when I'm corrected, but I am getting better at that, too!! Anyway, sometime at the beginning of September I met with the director to make the goals of being prepared to teach and having 100% participation. I did everything in my power and ability to meet those goals and I was told by coaches I was improving. Coaches came and gave me more feedback, even more positive than before. At the end of September, they switched the instructor in my classroom and things got a little crazy, but I still did what I thought I was supposed to do. I was having to learn the curriculum as I taught it, so I was going through it a little slower than veteran teachers, but I was still teaching everything that was required. I think I was about a week behind in a of couple subjects.

The week after the switched my instructor, they told me that they were going to be video taping me teaching for "demo" purposes. I knew better than that, though, so it really made me nervous and definitely affected my teaching. After the initial day of recording, one of the IT guys asked if I'd deleted the recording, which shocked me because I absolutely did not even go near the computer that was recording me. He said that they'd have to record me again that day. In retrospect,  I wonder if it didn't actually get deleted and if they just wanted to see my reaction or something. I felt that I did much better teaching on the second day, but after being recorded, the main school director came to observe me in one of my classes. It of course wasn't my best class for her to observe and she did make me nervous, although I at the time really didn't think it was really that big of a deal that she was there. I had no idea they were thinking of firing me.

I spent time Conference weekend to get myself ready for the coming week and I felt like I was prepared and make a lot of progress on the goals I'd set with them. However, they thought differently. I had no idea that they were going to fire me until right after school on Friday the director asked me to come to her office and I walked in to see the HR director, then I knew. They said that they expected me to be at a certain place by the end of the term and I wasn't there. They said that they understood going from preschool to fifth grade is a learning curve, but that maybe teaching at that school the curve was too steep for me. They said that I don't have an authoritative presence in the classroom. That point was kind of unfair in my opinion mainly because the day before me and the other 5th grade teacher and the director had talked about how all the 5th graders this year were very difficult to manage and we came up with strategies of how we can manage the classes. I immediately started to implement those things on Friday, but then I was fired. She also said that it was concerning that I was having to learn the curriculum and thus not really teaching the kids to mastery because I didn't know the material myself. I talked briefly with a co-worker in the parking lot before I left and she said that she thinks they probably had a certain negative opinion of me and my abilities to teach from the beginning and it stuck and I couldn't change it no matter how hard I worked.

I just felt blindsided and like I was not being given a fair chance or enough time to really learn the ways of teaching there. It was the worst feeling to have thought of many ways I could adapt my teaching to help the kids and just have it stop suddenly. I felt like I was leaving something unfinished. It was humiliating to have to be escorted to my classroom by one of my directors and have him stand there watching me as I cried and packed up my things. All I wanted was time alone to process it and kind of say "goodbye" to my classroom, but with him there I couldn't do that. He then escorted me to my car. By looking at the dates on the pay stub of my last pay check I learned that they'd already decided to fire me before we had discussed the day before about things we could do as a team to manage the 5th graders better. Little did I know that they thought firing me was part of that solution. It really stinks.

Needless to say, that weekend stunk. Despite how I was feeling, I still went out on a date that I'd planned earlier that week. It was good because it was a fun activity and the guy is a good friend. That night I immediately started looking online for jobs via different sites I used during the summer to find a job. I also texted some friends and posted on facebook about looking for a job. I even emailed schools that had called me for interviews during the summer after I'd already accepted the new job. The hardest part was figuring how to explain why I was fired from my last job in a honest, but positive way.

A week ago (last Sunday), I got a facebook message from the parent of one of my preschoolers from about 4 years ago or so. The message had a screen shot of a conversation with one of her friends who is a teacher. He said that his school was actually looking for a 3rd grade teacher! He explained that the 3rd grade teacher had died suddenly the week or so before. He gave the contact information of the principal and then said to not mention that he is the one who told about the open position because he was sure that the position wasn't even posted yet because it had just barely happened.

I jumped on it and emailed the principal that day. On Monday I went to observe at a charter school in Draper that one of my friends works at. I took along my resume since they had an opening for a 5th grade teacher there. The principal allowed me to observe some classes, which was awesome. It was interesting to see how similar they were to APA, but they were not nearly as strict or uniform in regards to how teachers handled classroom management. That afternoon, I decided to stop by the school that had the 3rd grade teaching position open. I hoped to observe some classes there because it was a public school, which I knew would likely be very different than the charter schools I'd been in and seen. The principal wasn't there, so I couldn't observe, but I did leave my resume and a note expressing my desire to observe and apply for any open positions. I then stopped by another charter school that's by my house, but once again, the principal wasn't there, so I couldn't observe any classes.

On Tuesday I woke up to a phone call from the Granite School District HR department saying that the principal from the elementary school with the 3rd grade position wanted to interview me!! Whoohoo! She said to expect an email, which came right after I got off the phone. She wanted to interview me on the coming Monday. I replied asking if I could come in that day or on Monday to observe some classes because I knew it would help me. She replied saying to come at 3 pm and so as to not waste my time, she'd interview me at 3:30 PM. Sweet nectar!

When I got there, we talked in her office for a little bit. She explained about the teacher dying and how my email and my coming in the day before with my resume really served as a kind of wake up call, and without saying it, a kind of answer to prayer, for her to know that she needed to move on and fill the position. She was baffled at my timing, but I laughed inwardly knowing that I couldn't tell her that one of her teachers had told me about the opening and that's why I was there.

She then told me about how the previous week she'd talked to the kids about how they would have to get a new teacher. They wanted to be a part of the hiring process, so they made a list of the qualities they wanted in their new teacher. I wish I could remember what was on the list, but it was really cute. I looked at it and felt I qualified. :) Then the principal took me to the 3rd graders (the kids I would be teaching if I were to be hired) and they were given time to interview me. The first question was "Are you helpful?" Satisfied with my answer, the child then said that he would hire me. I was also asked if I was fun and if I would decorate the classroom for Halloween. For the last one, I looked at the principal and said I didn't know, I'd have to ask if I could do that. The principal was impressed with that one. They also asked if I'd taught 3rd grade before. At one point a child shouted out, "Our teacher DIED!!" We completely ignored it and afterwards the principal thanked me for not responding to it. I figure it wasn't the time to really talk about that.

I then was interviewed like normal by the principal and some of the other 3rd grade teachers. I was able to honestly talk about why I was fired and able to spin it in a positive way by focusing on how I didn't teach as quickly because I was more concerned about teaching the kids to mastery. The answers to the other questions came quickly and I am so grateful for that. The principal said I'd know by the next afternoon since they'd be going on fall break after that.

Well, I went on a hike the next morning thinking that if they called, it wouldn't be until the afternoon. But while I was on the hike, I thought I heard my cell phone. I don't normally have my sound on or answer it for that matter on hikes, but somehow I had turned it on and somehow I'd heard it while hiking. I'd missed the call and when I tried calling back, I had no signal. I decided to walk down a few feet to where I knew I'd heard it ring and try again. It worked! I called back and it was the principal asking if I'd like to teach at Taylorsville Elementary. Absolutely!! I couldn't believe it! She said I seemed like I would be a good fit with the other teachers on the team. I was in shock the rest of the hike and didn't want to tell anyone about it until I knew it was for real. Later that day, the HR person called and said I could come in to sign the paperwork. So, 24 hours after my interview, I already had a name badge and signed a contract. I accepted the position before I even knew the salary or benefits. When I saw the salary, I realized it was almost $5,000 more than what my salary was at APA. That means I will be making almost $12,000 more than what I was making when I worked at Head Start. It's so amazing how that works. This has been an incredibly rough road, but I know that the Lord has guided me and miraculously helped me each step of the way.

Now tomorrow is my first day teaching in a public school as a 3rd grade teacher and I am terrified!!! I'm sure I can do it, but considering all that's happened, my confidence is a little shaken. I feel like it's a miracle that I got a job so quickly, especially since it's the middle of October. God has a plan and I need to trust Him and have the faith that He has in me.

My Next Adventure

Today I hiked to my most favorite waterfall, Bells Canyon. I was with 11 others that I didn't know at all, but it was still fun. We hiked to the upper falls, which I'd never been to before, so that was cool. The best part of it all, besides the waterfall, was using my new hiking sticks. I got some cheap ones from Seagull Books and they were amazing! This is a steep hike with lots of rocks, so it was really nice to have them. I can feel the difference it's made on my joints, especially my knees. I felt like a cheater or an old person using them, but I don't regret it for a second.



My next adventure starts on Monday. I will be training on "direct instruction," which is a method or style of teaching that many schools use. My school uses it a ton. I've been watching some videos they gave to me to watch and it is overwhelming to think about what will be expected of me. I know as a student I'd be really annoyed with direct instruction methods, but I can see how it works and why they do it. I know next week, I'll be on the student side of things, so I pray for humility and patience as I try to take in everything they are trying to teach me despite how annoyed or overwhelmed I might feel. I'm excited, nervous, and overwhelmed all at the same time. The one sure thing I know, though, is that this is the right school for me. Fortunately, I have experience teaching, even if it was preschool. Even so, the first year is always the hardest. I think the thing I am most worried about is not being a good teacher for these fifth graders who deserve a good teacher, one who knows the stuff and is experienced. I don't want to do them a disservice on account of my lack of experience. I am scared out of my mind of the first day of school when those 10 year olds (not 3-5 year olds) come into my classroom knowing a whole lot more about how things work there than I do. I have so much to learn. I have a feeling I will be doing a whole lot of overtime this month and for the coming months as I figure things out.



On a brighter note, yesterday I was set apart to work in the Salt Lake Temple!! I'll be working on Saturday nights. I am so excited to serve there every week. It's a beautiful temple with so much history, I love it!

Blessings Unmeasured

I feel so incredibly blessed. This week I got to sing in the Salt Lake Tabernacle as well as the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. A new friend in the ward told me about the Salt Lake Institute choir and I decided to join it this week. Turned out that this was their last week of rehearsal before the concerts this weekend. I miraculously learned 11 songs. Three or four of them I'd already sung before or was familiar with, but the rest, not so much. I absolutely love the songs we sang. I knew after that first and only rehearsal that I needed to sing even if I didn't know all the songs. I've been in quite a few choirs and usually there is at least one song that really hits home and encourages me to keep coming to choir even if I don't feel like it. Well, this time there were several songs that really impressed me. The first is O God, Beneath Thy Guiding Hand. I'd sung this when I did the Semester at Nauvoo Program, so it has a special place in my heart. The second piece is called Hark! Listen to the Trumpeters. Oh. My. Goodness. I LOVE this song. It is an arrangement of the song the men in Zion's Camp sang. The music and the words move my soul, I don't know how else to explain it. It's beautiful. The last of my favorites is called Take Time to Be Holy. This one has such a simple, but powerful, open, vulnerable feeling about it and nearly brought me to tears every time I sang it. After singing in the concert tonight, I felt like I'd just experienced a roller coaster of emotions and it felt amazing and overwhelming at the same time. I am so grateful I could be in the choir this weekend.



What added to the roller coaster ride today was being so excited to hike and explore around a waterfall again. It was an awesome camping trip. Although guys were invited, none came so it was just 6 girls and it was great. When we left last night we had no idea where we'd be camping, but we found a nice place really quickly up in the Unitas off of Mirror Lake Highway.



When I got home, I discovered that a letter I'd been waiting for came into the mail. Good news!! I received my eligibility letter for participating in the Alternative Route to Licensure Program from the Utah State of Education. It means I didn't have to take the US history class that I'm currently enrolled in, but it's okay. I can't express how much this means for me. I have a job and now I have the letter that says I can move forward to begin the process of getting my teaching license. It's just one more thing that has amazingly fallen into place. I feel so blessed and grateful.

Ain't It Grand?

Ever since I moved to my new place in Millcreek, I've been looking at those mountains longingly to hike them. Today was the day and it felt amazing! I went with one of my best friends and it couldn't have been better. I can't wait to get back up that canyon to explore some more.