Any of you have some good ideas for kicking off some fun (yet not too silly) ways of getting grades 3-5 "up" for the MAP testing? Our school is looking for ideas to help students realize the importance of MAP testing & how to feel prepared, yet not toooooo stressed over it. Anything that your school does that has appeared to work in the past?
We have a district-wide MAP theme each year. This year our elem has a "NASCAR" theme (Everyone's a winner with good character) and the district MAP theme is building from that..."It's time." All of our district students from K-8 are involved in the MAP motivation.
We will have a kickoff assembly featuring some local performers (we are next to Branson) that act as superheroes. Batman, Superman, Flash, etc are back from last year's assembly. (Last year the superheroes defeated an evil archenemy that was trying to ruin the MAP test.) This year they have to save the day at a car race. We are also doing some sort of a skit based on "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" But, it will involve every MAP grade. I think the "panel" for each grade will be selected by completing a released item. The students selected will have previously gotten the answer right. They will compete against teachers (and win).
We also have a theme song each year. This year it is "It's my time" by Raven-Symone. We involve all our kids, even the younger ones. My building, K-3 will learn the song and perform it (with some moves) as a school to kick off the MAP assembly. Last year it was "Push-it to the Limit" by Corbin Bleu.
We offer a point based incentive for attendance, positive attitude, proofreading, no distractions and answering every question. The 3rd and 4th graders earn a trip to Silver Dollar City and the 5th-8th graders earn a trip to a Springfield Cardinals baseball game.
We provide food every morning for all students taking the MAP. We get some of it donated from local restaurants. We also provide waterbottles for the students during testing.
All year long, in the elementary, we have have been constructing the "Road to MAP" with a MAP vocabulary word per week. We alternate CA words and MA words by the month. A group of 3rd graders presents a short skit/object lesson to teach the term to the entire school at our Wednesday morning assembly. We call it "MAP attack." Then the artifacts or examples from the assembly are displayed on a special wall outside our gym. The teachers from all grades are supposed to integrate the word into their instruction in an appropriate way at least once during the week. The Road to MAP is a weekly feature in our school newsletter to help educate parents and families about our vocabulary.
In more practical terms, we try to make all tests MAP-like, so that students have practice with SRs, CRs, PEs and WPs throughout the year. We analyze our MAP results and find the areas of weakness that we need to focus upon. We started the process of creating common assessments and common process assessments, so we could analyze student progress early enough to do something about it. We also use Test Ready and Study Island beginning in 2nd grade.
I received the MAP blueprint from DESE the other day as a PowerPoint and sent that out to the entire district. If you haven't seen this, someone in your district must have received it (an administrator or test coordinator). It tells the percentage breakdown of the emphasis on the different strands in each subject for each grade and the breakdown in number of SRs, CRs, PEs and WPs. If you don't have access to this, go to my website that I linked and email me from there. I can send it to you.
Our district has received Distinction in Performance from DESE for 5 of the past 7 years.
I hope more people weigh on this thread. I would love to get some additional ideas.
Here are some of the things we do in our district:
We usually test for 3 weeks (we break it up - one week per subject). On the first test day of each week, the students receive a note of encourage. First week - a letter from their parent (staff writes notes to students whose parents don't participate); second week - note from a staff member; third week - note from a secret buddy in K-2. The kids really look forward to these notes and I've received some really sweet thank you's from kids I've written to.
We provide snacks each day of testing - fruit, crackers, whatever their teacher wants them to have. We also provide gum and mints. I give the special ed teacher a basket of goodies at the beginning of testing so she can use them as she needs to, because her schedule is different from the regular classroom teachers.
When students have finished testing each day they receive a little treat with a note of encouragement and test taking tips on it. The teachers review the tips with their children.
In the past we've had a pep rally with each grade making up a cheer and the staff did a skit on what NOT to do on the MAP. This year the kids did an obstacle course with different MAP tips - rereading, checking your work, etc.
At the end of testing we have a celebration with a snack and activities.
At the beginning of the school year, we recognize our MAP Masters. Students who have done well are recognized as well as students who have make progress from the previous year.
We had a tremendous one -- absolutely marvelous! But she had a baby in November. When she came back to work in late January, she had a wonderful caregiver lined up. That lasted about 3 weeks and the caregiver's availability fell through. Our teacher found out the hard way that it is nigh onto impossible to locate a caregiver who will care for an infant.
After much rush budget reworking, she asked to be released from her contract and resigned. The superintendent agreed to release without any negative feedback in her file.
Right now we have the same lady who implemented during the maternity leave. BUT the problem with that is -- she's a retired teacher and is about to run out of available days.
I just discovered Riverview Gardens message boards. I began reading the messages and thier replies. First, I was excited to have discovered the homepage. I was eager to hear/read what I expected; great progress in the schools. Immediately, I became saddened and very confused. I can't stop asking myself, "What in the world happened and why?" I really don't understand the obvious decline throughout the school district. I graduated in 1975. My grades wouldn't reflect the pride and gratitude for providing me a fantastic place to become enriched and for providing me the best opportunity to mature. Respect appeared to be throughout and the surroundings were safe, friendly and enjoyable to be a part of. As a student, being challanged by the faculty was expected and was met with accepting the challanges; not being defiant and abusive.
I am thankful to everyone that shared in my education, growth (emotional, psychological, physical, etc.). Everyone that shared moments in life with me offered me wonderful bits and pieces that assisted in shaping what I have achieved in my life. I took what was offered and I sincerely accepted practically everything.
I'm proud what I've done with my life. If I were a teenager today, I'd admire the man I am. Thank you!
I'm very sorry for the trash you have to endure. I understand the deep need/feeling that keeps you going. I, too, work with teens. I'm a Licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselor (New Mexico). I only work with high risk youths where most are wards of the State.
What keeps me going is that I continue reminding myself (every time a youth shares his/her horrible life experiences) not to take the anger, outbursts, disrespect, etc. personally. I know it's not me they're attempting to get into a power trip with.
Good luck. Do what you need to do to stay healthy, safe and productive. Changing careers doesn't conclude you've lost the battle/war. It simply means you've given all you can and you've taken all you can take. You'll always know if you've done the best you could and believe me...that's worth any pay check.
I am looking for a contract for next year. Does anyone know of any openings in the St. Francois, Jefferson, and Washington counties in grades K-3 or elementary art??? I did not have a contract this year and I NEED one next year.
I have been checking these also, but I was hoping if someone knew they were not returning next year, they could help out a poor, unemployed, ambitious teacher. Anyone??
I am a missouri teacher in dire financial straits and need money fast. I have been told that I have no access to the money that I pay into the retirement system. Rather than trying to borrow money(which at this point with my credit this is moot anyway) I would simply like to withdraw the needed funds from my retirement account. I realize that this will add another year to my service that I will have to work, but that sounds so much better than being homeless. If anyone knows an endrun around the MO law that prevents me from accessing my money could you please respond.
Eric, You have been lied to. It is true that you cannot borrow against it, or partially withdraw it. However, if you retire/resign from your current school district, you can in fact cash it out. There is a waiting period (30-60 days) to apply. Be careful, though. It is a very expensive prospect. They take 10% off the top for taxes and then you get killed on your income tax the next year. I owed 4000 dollars the following April. To check your balance, you can go to the PSRS web site. You have to retire/resign from your current school district, have your resignation go through the board of ed, then get your HR to get PSRS some paperwork. The process is lengthy and can take up to 90 days or more. The school districts pay out to PSRS matching funds, quarterly, I think. So they wait for confirmation of the funds. So PSRS won't send you a regular check until they get that confirmation. (be careful, when it is mailed US mail...not in certified mail). If I had it to do again, I wouldn't. Can you borrow money from a family member? Can you earn some extra money by tutoring, writing curricula, coaching, teaching summer school? If I had it to do again, I would have sold the house and rented. I would have kept the position that I loved, rather than work in two different districts since then. Oh, and by the way. After you retire/resign, you can in fact get another teaching job in a PSRS contributing school district. They just have to reenter you into PSRS. Good luck to you. I hope everything works out. PSRS was very evasive when I tried to get info, and it took me two phone calls before I got a straight answer.
As I read this board, it seems that teaching jobs are more than difficult to come by in MO. My husband has had a good job offer in the St. Louis area, but it seems likely that my not finding a job might prevent this option for us. My question is - where are the vacancies? I teach middle school and am highly qualified/certified in LA,SS and SC. I will also have an Adminstrative degree by the end of the summer. Thanks for any insight.
Are you familiar with the link I listed? You can search the state by region and type of position on this site. Also, you might try district websites that you are interested in. Some of the bigger districts especially may only advertise their positions on their own sites.
Hello, does your school district or districts you are familiar with pay all or part of the tuition expenses incurred by teachers attending college and working toward a masters degree or a PhD or in some way reimburse for such tuition expenses? Thanks for taking the time to respond.
I have seen this lunatic Missing MI on some other states boards and she is one, big, psychotic troll! She spouts hateful, idiotic, rhetoric about dozens of things she know nothing about. I am pretty sure she has been asked to leave several states boards due to her offensive demeanor. I hope for the sake of the kids in whatever state she is in, that she doesn't have contact with students!! She would be ridiculously funny with her crazy rantings if she wasn't so scary!!
Missing MI, there are professionals who can help you.
Laura
On 3/30/08, Missing MI wrote: > Ha!!! You crack me up!
We can use our portion of professional development funds to help pay for tuition, but that doesn't cover very much. If you work in a low income district and meet certain criteria, teachers can get up to $5000 of their loan forgiven. If you teach MATH or SCIENCE in a high school, or Special Education, you can have up to $17,500 forgiven.
I hope that everyone is having a great day today. I am currently working in the corporate world and have for a number of years. I would like to get my teaching certificate and have a couple questions. I am considering Western Governor's University (accredited by NCATE) so I could continue to work while completing classes online. They also require student teaching as well. I have e- mailed a couple school districts around the area, but haven't heard back yet. What are your personal thoughts on this?
I haven't heard of the university that you mentioned. Just to be sure that it can be used for Missouri certification, I would check the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education web site to be sure. There are some online programs from Mizzou, also... the web site is MU direct. Good luck to you.
The ABCTE certification route is currently in legislation and is also working its way through the state board of education. ABCTE's program is geared towards career changes and the preparation program is home-based. We are hoping to see the certification accepted in Missouri in the next couple of months. Check out our website at: [link removed]
Hope this helps,
Eileen ABCTE
On 4/01/08, Jennie wrote: > Hello all - > > I hope that everyone is having a great day today. I am > currently working in the corporate world and have for a > number of years. I would like to get my teaching > certificate and have a couple questions. I am considering > Western Governor's University (accredited by NCATE) so I > could continue to work while completing classes online. > They also require student teaching as well. I have e- > mailed a couple school districts around the area, but > haven't heard back yet. What are your personal thoughts on > this? > > Thanks so much, > Jennnie
On 2/19/08, Roy Whisler wrote
> Searching for Mildred Ballsrud, was teaching in Columbia