Sandy has Arrived!

Well, Sandy has arrived. The storm moved west as it got nearer to New York, so Maine is not getting the brunt of the storm. We are getting wild winds, but we're talking under 60mph compared to like 100 or something. And we have had spurts of pouring rain. School got out an hour early today as they were predicting the late afternoon as the star of high winds, and we wanted to make sure all kiddos got home safely. As of right now, I am grateful because we have electricity. They were expecting huge outages, and there are some nearby, but as of now, my neighborhood is okay. Hoping it stays that way.

At school we are finishing up the NECAPS. How frustrated do you feel when you watch the kids take a test and you know they would get it if you could just explain what they were being asked. It drives me crazy....I mean if I could as one question the kids would get what was expected. It just seems how accurate is a test that kids don't understand. I think as teachers we need to make sure our kids have the test taking skills necessary. We NEED to do some activities that resemble test questions..maybe mini math meets in the classroom and kids do an individual test and a team test. It could be made fun, but I think they need to understand the way tests work and the expectations of writing out their answers. ANd then I have the kiddos who say they're done with a 45-90 minute test in 10 minutes. Not a single answer even making sense to the question...ahhhhhh. frustration. I am not the classroom teacher and many of these kiddos I don't work with at all. And I don't do any math this year. But wow! I just wish we could better prepare them. I mean, I know it can be done. But many folks at my school think that is teaching to the test. I think it is getting kids aware and comfortable with the way questions are posed...so what do you think? I would love to get some folks to weigh in on this.

Off to find the candles, just in case.
Cindi

Oh my, a tree came down two houses down...gotta go see how bad it is.