The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[FutureCEO]

Ok @dryerlintfan and @MySmallWorldof4 , I found the original email..


View attachment 282727

March 2nd notification.

Here’s what it said..so I guess it’s not the driving determination overall.

Testing will continue through March 16th and all make-ups must be completed no later than March 22nd. Every student in grades 2-7 will be administered the Iowa Test of Basic Skills as well as the Cognitive Abilities Test during those two weeks. Information gleaned from these tests is so important and helpful for sustaining strong academic programs as a school and also measuring the academic growth of our individual students.

While it is never intended as such, this testing time can be a source of anxiety for some students. In addition to being in a testing environment, their regular class schedule is interrupted and the school day as they know it changes a bit. At school we will be lightening the homework load to help reduce stress. We, as parents, can also help at home to alleviate some of this anxiety by doing the following:

Talk to your child/ren about testing week and reassure them in a positive way.
Remain calm, and discuss the confidence that you have in your child(ren).
Give your student a nutritious breakfast each day of the test.
Try to keep morning routines the same at home and avoid upsetting conversations the mornings of testing whenever possible.
Make sure your child(ren) get a good night’s sleep each night.
Celebrate the end of testing time with your child(ren).
Students at (**edited out**) typically perform very well on these tests. As teachers, we also recognize that these tests are a snapshot of our students’ learning and overall progress. For that reason, we utilize the results of the Iowa and CogAT tests in conjunction with other assessments and observations before making any final decisions about individual academic progress.

If you should ever have questions about the Iowa and CogAT tests, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher or me. We are happy to assist in any way we can.

Schools should focus on learning instead of focusing on testing

 

[21stamps]

Schools should focus on learning instead of focusing on testing

I do think all kids need assessments beyond regular classroom work, I’m onboard with that, because I think it’s important, but not the only importance.

What I don’t think schools should do is to focus on preparing for standardized tests.. I don’t know about Ohio public schools, but in Florida it was a huge problem. The public schools would focus so much on preparing for tests so they could receive a good rating and more state funding.. it caused a lot of parents to complain that the preparation was taking over what the kids should actually be learning. I don’t think state/federal funding should be based on standardized testing, but I don’t know if there’s a better way to do it. That’s an entirely different issue though, and I don’t have enough experience to even pretend like I have a way or even the slightest idea of how to fix it.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

I know it must be horrible for the people involved but also amazing to watch.

My heart goes out to those people, but I have thoughts on what I saw on Wheel of Fortune last night.

One of the Contestants won a trip to that island.

The announcer for Wheel of Fortune gave details on that trip including able to see a volcano. Hopefully that Contestant took that trip before the volcano erupted since these episodes were already taped.

All is known for sure is Wheel of Fortune wouldn't be having that prize for their prize round for a while.

 

[Disney Lover Addie]

I’m very sad to hear about the volcanic eruption in Hawai’i. Thoughts and prayers to everyone there!

On a lighter note, I got Black Panther on my tablet. Hopefully I will pick up so more copies on Blue Ray.

Wakanda Forever!

 

[MinnieM123]

Is cortisone the same thing as cortisol? I had 2 shots in my hip a couple of years ago because of bursitis, and I was so scared leading up to the first one because I hate needles and I thought it was going to hurt so bad, but I wished I had done it way earlier because it helped so much and it really didn't hurt at all. So much easier than I thought it was going to be. But I don't know if that was a cortisone shot. I thought he called it Cortisol, but I don't really know now.

There are some similarities, but that's only how far I'll go. No matter how much I read about it, I still don't quite understand all the differences, etc. You can glance at Google, but again, it wasn't that clear to a non-scientific person like me. All I can say for sure was that the doctor definitely gave me a cortisone shot to my shoulder.

 

[MinnieM123]

FTFY

Yes, much better! I should have said that--thank you Figgy!!

 

[MinnieM123]

Seriously, what is the attention span of a 7 year old? You're lucky if you can get 5 minutes. 10 is an achievement!

This confirms what I've thought for years--I'm in my second childhood and can't get beyond 7!

 

[MinnieM123]

View attachment 282736

So funny! I remember when I took Jack to dog training (he was about 9 months at the time), I was petting the dog of another woman in the group class. That lasted about 2 seconds--Jack literally pushed my hand aside and stood between the other dog and me. (Drama much?!) He was having NONE of that!! (Yup, even dogs get jealous.)

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

@ajrwdwgirl Do you do IOWA Assessments and CogAT tests at your school?

Any parents here have kids who take them? The results look like Greek to me.
T scored in the 99th percentile in Computation, but 85th percentile in Mathmatics. I’m not even sure how that works??

His reading and language arts were only on the high 70-low 80s percentiles. (Which is surprising to me I thought it would be higher based on his grades and reading level)

For the CogAT
Quantitive and Nonverbal were in the 88th and 82nd percentile, but Verbal was 70th percentile. (Listening problem?)

Do schools place more focus on the cognitive portion of these tests, or the subjects themselves? I’m thrilled with the 99th percentile in math computation especially, but I requested a meeting with his principal and teacher to discuss the cognitive. I’m not really sure how any of this impacts class selection or what I need to work on with him.

I’m going to be spending a lot of time searching the Internet today.

No, I don't deal with those tests at all. Our elementary teachers might, but we main focus on our state test which is more knowledge/application based. From what I remember from when we talked about it in college your son's scores don't seem problematic but it is probably best that you get an explanation from the teacher. I'm surprised there wasn't a sheet sent with them that explained how to understand the scores. We send one out with the state test scores and that is pretty straightforward types of results.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I just googled it. Looks like Ohio public schools must be grade 3 as well, I think, if I’m reading correctly. So who are the students that he’s being measured against?

Here’s what the test measures..
View attachment 282712

What do you guys do with the results? Or do you just ignore them?

For our state test scores, we do analyze the results. There is a data team, which I am a part of, and we meet in the summer to look at results and identify problem areas. We use the results to tweak curriculum and make district goals for the next school year.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

So funny! I remember when I took Jack to dog training (he was about 9 months at the time), I was petting the dog of another woman in the group class. That lasted about 2 seconds--Jack literally pushed my hand aside and stood between the other dog and me. (Drama much?!) He was having NONE of that!! (Yup, even dogs get jealous.)

When Kapono was younger hubs and I would tease her by pretending one of her stuffed chew toys was a puppy and give it lots of praise and love (weird I know). But she would get so jealous and try to get in between it and us and then we would put it on the ground and she would go and attack the beejeezus out of it. It was funny at how jealous she got. Then she caught on and realized it wasn't really a puppy to be jealous of.

 

[MinnieM123]

When Kapono was younger hubs and I would tease her by pretending one of her stuffed chew toys was a puppy and give it lots of praise and love (weird I know). But she would get so jealous and try to get in between it and us and then we would put it on the ground and she would go and attack the beejeezus out of it. It was funny at how jealous she got. Then she caught on and realized it wasn't really a puppy to be jealous of.

Ha! This is hilarious!!

 

[donaldtoo]

Good luck! You may need to buy some winter clothing now though. @MinnieM123 can help you shop.

He's gonna' be wearin' nothin' but heavy, frilly, red and pink clothing with bows, and polka dots all over it...!!!!!!!

Not that there's anything wrong with that.....

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

I do think all kids need assessments beyond regular classroom work, I’m onboard with that, because I think it’s important, but not the only importance.

What I don’t think schools should do is to focus on preparing for standardized tests.. I don’t know about Ohio public schools, but in Florida it was a huge problem. The public schools would focus so much on preparing for tests so they could receive a good rating and more state funding.. it caused a lot of parents to complain that the preparation was taking over what the kids should actually be learning. I don’t think state/federal funding should be based on standardized testing, but I don’t know if there’s a better way to do it. That’s an entirely different issue though, and I don’t have enough experience to even pretend like I have a way or even the slightest idea of how to fix it.

I agree with testing, but the reason I pulled my kids from public school was that it seemed that all they were focusing on was the state exams. It seemed that dd in 2nd and 3rd grade had tests every week that were in preparation for those tests. They seemed to be teaching with the focus on those tests instead of learning. Now my kids take the tests as required without the prep. They go in blind and get tested on what they know. That is a true test of knowledge and learning.

 

[donaldtoo]

I had a set of three cortisone shots in my hip area last fall. Didn't help at all.

Sympathy like.

 

[MinnieM123]

While it is never intended as such, this testing time can be a source of anxiety for some students. In addition to being in a testing environment, their regular class schedule is interrupted and the school day as they know it changes a bit. At school we will be lightening the homework load to help reduce stress. We, as parents, can also help at home to alleviate some of this anxiety by doing the following:

Talk to your child/ren about testing week and reassure them in a positive way.
Remain calm, and discuss the confidence that you have in your child(ren).
Give your student a nutritious breakfast each day of the test.
Try to keep morning routines the same at home and avoid upsetting conversations the mornings of testing whenever possible.
Make sure your child(ren) get a good night’s sleep each night.
Celebrate the end of testing time with your child(ren).

Just my opinion (about your school system--not about you, or perhaps most of the parents), but I think if they just let the kids takes the tests without all this build-up, the kids would be fine.

When I was in grade school, I don't ever recall having conversations like this with my parents about any tests, including final exams. My mother made no extra effort to make sure my breakfast was brain food that day (actually, I loved baloney sandwiches on white bread back then . . . even for breakfast sometimes --which may explain a lot about me . . . ).

If there was a test, I'd go to school and take the test. Some I passed with high marks, and others I failed. But I figured it out all by myself at the time--good grades on tests meant that I was doing something right. Bad grades on a test meant that I had to study harder next time. Not rocket science.

And I wasn't consoled by parents the night before, nor did I have a celebration after the tests were done. I came home from school and went out to play with my little pals. (Never cared that I didn't make it into Mensa either! )

 

[21stamps]

No, I don't deal with those tests at all. Our elementary teachers might, but we main focus on our state test which is more knowledge/application based. From what I remember from when we talked about it in college your son's scores don't seem problematic but it is probably best that you get an explanation from the teacher. I'm surprised there wasn't a sheet sent with them that explained how to understand the scores. We send one out with the state test scores and that is pretty straightforward types of results.

There was a paper, it basically said what the tests was measuring, to realoze that it’s percentiles, an explanation of why they do the cognitive, and that we should contact the principal or teacher with any questions. I heard back from both and have a meeting tomorrow after school with both of them.

For our state test scores, we do analyze the results. There is a data team, which I am a part of, and we meet in the summer to look at results and identify problem areas. We use the results to tweak curriculum and make district goals for the next school year.

This is good to hear!

I agree with testing, but the reason I pulled my kids from public school was that it seemed that all they were focusing on was the state exams. It seemed that dd in 2nd and 3rd grade had tests every week that were in preparation for those tests. They seemed to be teaching with the focus on those tests instead of learning. Now my kids take the tests as required without the prep. They go in blind and get tested on what they know. That is a true test of knowledge and learning.

I’ve heard this complaint from so many friends and coworkers who had kids in Florida public schools.

 

[21stamps]

Just my opinion (about your school system--not about you, or perhaps most of the parents), but I think if they just let the kids takes the tests without all this build-up, the kids would be fine.

When I was in grade school, I don't ever recall having conversations like this with my parents about any tests, including final exams. My mother made no extra effort to make sure my breakfast was brain food that day (actually, I loved baloney sandwiches on white bread back then . . . even for breakfast sometimes --which may explain a lot about me . . . ).

If there was a test, I'd go to school and take the test. Some I passed with high marks, and others I failed. But I figured it out all by myself at the time--good grades on tests meant that I was doing something right. Bad grades on a test meant that I had to study harder next time. Not rocket science.

And I wasn't consoled by parents the night before, nor did I have a celebration after the tests were done. I came home from school and went out to play with my little pals. (Never cared that I didn't make it into Mensa either! )

We definitely didn’t do a celebration when the testing was over, but I like I said earlier, T rarely talks about school, so he didn’t act any differently during the testing weeks. Maybe he didn’t even know to be nervous because it was the first year.lol...if he did have anxiety he didn’t express it to me at all. Our mornings are fairly uneventful and routine, plus T always wants to get to school early to see his friends, so not too much stress there. I think I tried to get him to bed a little earlier that week though.

Actually, Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure they had report presentations that week too. I kept asking him if he had done his report, because I do know he was nervous about that, and I emailed the teacher when I didn’t believe his answer of “no”.. their presentations were pushed back because of the testing...only 1 or 2 kids per day.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

So funny! I remember when I took Jack to dog training (he was about 9 months at the time), I was petting the dog of another woman in the group class. That lasted about 2 seconds--Jack literally pushed my hand aside and stood between the other dog and me. (Drama much?!) He was having NONE of that!! (Yup, even dogs get jealous.)

Our dog Hershey gets so jealous if my husband or I hug, or if we pet one of the other pets. He will bump us with his nose and for a 25 pound dog, the nudge really hurts.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

When Kapono was younger hubs and I would tease her by pretending one of her stuffed chew toys was a puppy and give it lots of praise and love (weird I know). But she would get so jealous and try to get in between it and us and then we would put it on the ground and she would go and attack the beejeezus out of it. It was funny at how jealous she got. Then she caught on and realized it wasn't really a puppy to be jealous of.