Do your kiddos have the testing blues?
I often find myself feeling guilty after our first graders sit for 45 minutes on their test. I find myself finding creative ways to make the day more active to compensate for all that sitting during testing. My test scores and motivation to do well has been much better this year. One new idea I implemented is to make sure our morning is very active. We did lots of exercises and review games that involve our body. This year I also did a much better job of expressing why we take these MAP tests. What I explained to them is I know that they are smart but this test it a way for them to show their family and second grade teacher how smart they are. They seemed a lot more motivated to take the test. I also explained that I want them to ask questions when taking the test because sometimes the question is confusing or they heard it wrong. We discussed how great test takers check their answers twice. All these things really helped. We also did a lot of slow breathing in through our nose and out our mouth on the way to the test which got them focused and ready to go.
What a great set of strategies, Emily! I really like your explanation of why we take the tests. As these tests become more and more high-stakes for teachers and schools, that's a really neat way to help the students focus on why this matters for them.
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