kindergarten bits

Hours and hours of mandated trimester testing of the little guys finally finished.   (yay!)

In case you're wondering how a teacher manages to keep the 19 other kids busy and quiet in order to sit with one and listen to ABCs, numbers, letter sounds, words, rhymes, counting plastic bears, telling me what a clock is for and a calendar, if a cat can drive a car, where the author's name on a book is, etc etc --- well, I don't know either and would love to hear how if you know.

The little darlin's playing school during play time.

Every Friday the kids have play-in-the-room time and that's when I get a bulk of the testing done.  I get one or two bits done each day.  It's really sad -- just think if I could be only teaching for all those hours.  Think how much more they'd know and be able to do.

But no, we must test them and test them.  Thank you NCLB, thank you GWB.  (I have a good friend who walks around muttering, "You don't raise a prize pig by weighing it every day & you don't teach children well by testing them every day.") (but ... no one in power cares what teachers think)



The good news is the trimester ended and the 24 week testing is done.  Bubbled onto scantrons and fed into the computer.  whoosh.  Report cards are started and will go home in a week.  That's all done on the computer now, too.  I've plugged in most of the 3s, 2s, and not too many 1s (that's how they are graded)  (so there's no stigma of As Bs and Cs.)  (no one sees the irony) 
I'm thinking that as soon as I'm finished typing here I'll go spend about an hour writing comments.

 I'll point; you read. We'll ace this test!

Comments on the report cards wipe me out.  It feels a tremendous burden and responsibility to sum up 24 weeks in a small child's life in a 3X2 inch space.   I want to be positive & tell the families how wonderful their children are -- how much they've learned and how independent they are becoming.  
I want to tell Bella's mom to start saving college money for her caring sensitive child who should become a nurse someday (not about how Bella is so eager to get to the swings at recess that a few of her classmates are knocked out of the way daily.)

I want to tell Sam's mom that he reads at the top of the class and is already able to spell words that follow the rules we have learned (not that I have never seen him play with another child or join in a game and I think there might be something quite wrong with him)

I want to tell Alyce's mom that her child who never said a single word for months is now speaking in full sentences (not that I always give her papers for writing, art or projects last because if I give it to her before the class is settled, she's cut it up, colored it, or lost it)


It goes on and on.  I'm one of those zillions of teachers who is going to write a book someday.


It's 2pm -- going to work on report cards now.  Have a local art opening to go to this evening and dinner out with friends.  Should be a lovely evening & even better if I get a lot of this paperwork done.