April 25, 2017
PARCC testing is the WORST! The schedule stinks and it goes on for a very long time. I had a hard time trying to figure out how to teach a lesson when some days classes were only 20 minutes long! The thing I’ve learned is that you always have to be ready for whatever is thrown at you during the year.
For example, I was planning on having the students do a practice PARCC test last Friday before the math section. However, our entire school lost internet as the server was down… for the WHOLE DAY. I wasn’t 100% prepared for Monday’s lesson (since I was going to review it over the weekend). My co-op told me I had to teach Monday’s lesson today since we had no internet.
This was a HUGE lesson learned. It’s never a bad idea to be two steps ahead of the game. Always have your planning done at least for two days in advance. This includes making keys to assignments, making copies of notes/tests, and doing the homework you assign. You may ask why I do the homework that’s assigned to my students… and it’s because although I’ve done this math, it’s still something that needs to be reviewed. I do the homework so that when students have a question on their homework, I not only have the answers, but I solved it so that I can provide a better explanation. It is crucial for you to be able to explain and understand a concept in order to help your students.