Posted by Desperate and frustrated on 3/20/09

I have always been a HUGE 4-blocks and Building Blocks user
and advocate. However, I moved to a new school in November
of this year due to circumstances beyond my control. At
first, they left me alone, and my kids (who had been
leveled at the beginning of the year...UGH!...and I had the
LOWEST group) were showing amazing gains. But, that very
quickly changed. Unfortunately, I am at one of those horrid
schools that 100% teaches testing strategies rather than
the actual content. Despite the gains my kids were making
in reading and writing (which WAS evidence by their test
scores), my admin was pretty quick to force my hand in
doing things "their way." I am ONLY allowed to teach
strategies in math, reading, AND writing. And, of course,
since I have had to stop teaching and have had to become
a "drill" sergeant, their test scores have not been
improving and their gains have all but stopped. (But, I'm
sure that comes as no surprise whatsoever to you!) My kids
are, on average, two full grade levels behind where they
should be in ALL subjects. (I teach 4th.) I now have about
5 weeks until our BIG state tests in math and reading, and
I have no idea how to even attempt to do something
meaningful and useful for my poor strugglers, when the only
teaching materials I can use are test-prep workbooks and
the testing strategies. Not to mention the fact that my
admin has told me that I don't need to worry about the
content because the kids are too far behind, and the only
thing that will pull them through at this point is the
strategies. They absolutely do not care if the kids can
read, write, problem solce, or even think. All they care
about is if they can get around their lack of skills and
knowledge to find the right answers on the test so the
school can maintain its precious rating. I am REALLY hoping
you can help me out on this one! What do I do? Do I
continue to go through the motions of what they are telling
me to do, or is there some way I can sneak in some my good,
4-blocks teaching to try and get some semblance of learning
going on? Please help!!!

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