IA1

This week was our first round of Interim Assessments (IAs). I appreciate the value of a standardized way to collect data across the North Star campuses, but the logistics are challenging. Instead of teaching 3 hours a day and another 1-2 hours of duties, I teach 3 hours a day with 1-2 hours of duties and an additional 2 hours of proctoring 20-26 lovely children in a fairly high-stress environment. It's busy and crazy and the kids are always a little...funky...after a few hours of testing, but now I can walk away with a useful set of data.

I haven't scanned in my data to get the real computer analysis, but I've started observing some trends already. Students are really comfortable with density and finding density through experimental data. It's amazing how much hands-on activities stick with the students, and also help them retain related content.

Students do not know what thermal energy is. Students do not know why condensation occurs on the outside of a glass of cold water. They know how to use the vocabulary terms in an explanation, but can't define them and haven't really internalized the concepts. I guess we're going back there.

Today, lunch detention was NOT good. I took a ton of dollars from students, and sent two to the dean's office. I even asked a colleague to step in and assist with the transition (...brb, sending thank you email...). Fortunately, situations like that are quick and seem to be forgotten by students almost immediately, so I don't think they'll remember my brief lapse in effective classroom management. I think next time I need to adjust a few assigned seats that concerned me at the start, but I didn't think it would escalate.

One of my struggling kiddos at lunch detention was my buddy B. He has been having difficulty in the last 2 weeks. After his month of awesome, he has been pushing back. I think he is testing to see how much he can get away with, now that he is a "good" kid. He has not been successful. I'm hoping that he will get over this phase of pushing and get back into the strong habits he had been developing in September.

Also, I ran 3 miles today! Okay, jogged. Okay, jogged with some walking in between. But, my hip isn't sore any more, and I've had 3 solid workouts this week. I'm slowly getting back on the workout routine wagon.