This week has gone by pretty quickly. 3rd and 4th graders have finished the semi-annual Acquity testing that is meant to track progress through the year. This is a huge relief because all ESL students taking the text must have an ESL staff member in the computer lab, in case they have trouble reading a word. This essentially means that we have to cancel normal sessions to sit in the room while students are testing to meet the state mandated modifications. We are not allowed to help them or tell them what the words mean, simply read the word out loud to them. When the test first started we used to read the entire thing to students, but the test doesn't go in order and it becomes a problem when trying to keep up with every student in a group larger than 2.
The classes that really have missed out because of this have been my 2nd grade groups that meet back-to-back at the end of the day. Due to the fact that I am the only one available after 1 p.m., if I am otherwise occupied the groups are automatically cancelled and not rearranged or covered by the supervising teacher. These 2nd grade groups only meet 4 times a week and not 5 because of the early dismissal that happens every Thursday. This combined with testing has caused for an additional 5 missed sessions. Also, the 2nd grade has started their round of planetarium trips..one group of mine goes in the afternoon and thus will miss there time 3 weeks in a row. Luckily, this is the stronger of the 2 groups.
I'm looking forward to the schedule going back to normal relatively soon. To my knowledge we won't have any schedule interruptions ::crosses fingers:: until January.
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