March 16th Class

I enjoyed the activities we did on Monday with congruent and similar triangles. I've done the tree height activity in another class and I really like it. I think it's an activity that students would really enjoy and see a relevance for because it's rather difficult to measure the height of a tree with a yardstick. My group worked on the burning tent problem and I think the geometry of it was worthwhile, but the situation was kind of silly. If I were to teach this concept of incoming and outgoing angles needing to be equal, I would probably change the situation to something else like a race for a prize or a miniature golf hole, like we talked about in class.

Chapter Six

I read the Chapter Six article on first and second graders understanding of linear measurement. First of all, thanks Dr. Shafer for giving us an article related to lower elementary. Although I can usually relate the middle/high school articles to my own teaching in some way, it's nice to be able to read something more directly related to the things that I teach. I really liked the article and I think it made some great points. I liked the way that the teacher was continually prodding her students to find out what they were really thinking and she was making mental notes of what to cover in the next lesson. I really liked the way she tied the concept of "half" to birthdays. Having worked with 1st grade in the past, I know how important that "half" mark is to them and they really get what that means. I think it really helped her students to have that concept to relate to. Many students struggle with partioning and fractions in general, and I think it's good that she made her students understand it instead of just brushing it aside and letting the next teacher deal with it. Measurement is such a life skill that students need and I like how she used real world examples like buying wood at Home Depot to help students see the importance for accurate measurements.

Master's Project

I will be creating 1 lesson plan for each grade level (K-5) using Sketchpad. Each lesson will be mainly a demonstration lesson to be used with the projector and possibly SmartBoard because we do not have Sketchpad at our school. Each lesson will include a "Teacher's Guide" for teachers to refer to during the lesson.

ISTEP Concerns

This is an email going around about what we can do with our ISTEP frustrations. If enough teachers voice their opinions, maybe something really can change.

What you can do about I-STEP concerns:

Share your I-STEP concerns (being as specific as possible without violating test security and please do NOT use school computers) with

* State Superintendent Tony Bennett who chairs the State Board of Education tbennett@doe.in.gov ;

* the At Large Member of the State Board of Education David Shane Dshane@LDILTD.com ;

* the State Board of Ed. Member in your Congressional district (You may locate your congressional district at http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/pdf/congdist/pagecgd109_in2.pdf )

(Your State Board member's contact information is at the BOTTOM of the page at this link: http://www.doe.in.gov/stateboard/)

* and your legislator. (Locate and e-mail your legislator at http://capwiz.com/nea/in/state/main/?state=IN.)

I-STEP Statewide Meltdown Reported

The term most frequently used to describe student and staff reaction to the new I-STEP tests is "meltdown". The reports
are coming from every corner of the state, from all grades tested, and from students and schools of all descriptions.

The difficulty and apparent non-alignment of the tests with appropriate grades, texts, and student developmental levels has alarmed
teachers, students, parents and administrators. Reports are pouring in of students crying, literally pulling out their hair, refusing to eat,
suffering stomach aches and worse. ISTA has received reports of an unprecedented number of calls to parents to take their children
home because they are physically unable to remain at school.

While more concerns are coming from 4th grade teachers and parents than from any other single grade, complaints are also coming from
those in grades 3 into high school. Among them reportedly -

* even the most advanced students cannot complete the math tests on time;

* tests are covering content not found in some textbooks and not yet taught at this point in the school year (a problem experienced
when I-STEP tests were first conducted in the spring years ago);

* some content, terminology, language, and examples are beyond the grade and developmental level of the students tested. For instance,
the language on some math tests was beyond the grade level of the students, putting accurate assessment of their math skills in question;

* questions are confusing, ambiguous, and sometimes cumulative so that missing any calculation in the a previous question virtually
guarantees the student will miss the follow-up, unnecessarily lowering scores;

* some questions appear to try to trick the students, putting accurate assessment of student knowledge in question;

* multiple standards are included within one question, making it difficult to determine which standard the student didn't understand and
negating diagnostic use of the test results.

Fourth grade teachers have compared last fall's 5th grade test (which tested 4th grade content) to this spring's 4th grade test (which is also
supposed to test 4th grade content), and report that the tests are very dissimilar.

State Board of Ed. members cannot take corrective action unless they know what to correct. If you feel question 1 on day 1 of the 5th grade
math test is flawed, indicate that and describe the flaw as specifically as possible without violating test security rules. Please do not use
school computers or school time to report your concerns.

ISTA will establish a collection site for suggested I-STEP changes and will report that site in future hotlines.