Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Day 127: PSSA Day 1

This is PSSA week.  "What is PSSA week?" ask those of you who are not from Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment is the state-mandated standardized test for public schools in Pennsylvania.  It may also be required at private and independent schools, but I'm not sure.

I have a very long rant in me about standardized tests in a public education system that puts increased pressure on teachers to provide differentiated instruction and assessments, and another about how the mathematics questions test calculation and not interpretation, critical thinking or problem solving, but those are for another time.  The only thing I WILL point out is that the PSSA is not an assessment of the students, but an assessment of the school.

So, over the next 4 days, our students will be taking the equivalent of 1.5 SATs and then going back to class to learn.

There is a reason why we do SATs on Saturdays and I don't think it's about scheduling around school.  After any test, students need time to decompress and unwind.  The SATs are SO major that we give them the rest of the weekend.

Due to this need to decompress, my classes this entire week are going to be low-stress, low-intensity.  That doesn't mean we'll be watching movies all week **cough cough social studies cough** but the assignments and activities are designed to be more of a mental cooldown after their mental sprints in the morning.

My geometry class was split between the beginning and end of the day, so we just talked about the PSSA during the first part and worked on their new guided note packets for the second part.  Content-related, but low entry, low engagement.

I gave my pre-algebra kids the Jack Problem.  Their letters, while perhaps not as eloquent or fluid as those written by the geometry students, were just as thorough and correct.  The discussion we had afterwards was VERY similar to the one I had with my geometry kids yesterday.  They agreed that the number line method was valid, but thought it was stupid.

"That's a dumb way to do the problem!" called out a student from the back of the room.
"So? The question asked us to find the error, not do the problem for him" came the reply from the other side.

Another group of 8th graders who are, apparently, more capable of doing math and reading and interpreting directions than an electronics engineer.

Here's a letter written by one of my geometry students.

Then, at the start of period 8, the doorknob came off in my hand.
Doorknob Selfie!! #LOL
All in all, a good day!


  1. Why are the acronyms for this stuff so consistently nasty sounding? In Virginia we had -- in the 80's, pre-NCLB-- "Standards Of Learning", or S O Ls.

    The dad posted the context to the Jack letter... good to get an honest parent perspective...

    1. The longer I stay in education, the more I think that if something needs an acronym at all, it's probably a fad.

  2. Funny, my doorknob comes off in my hand once a year. I have 4 doors in my classroom, and the same knob breaks off every year. What's up with that?

    1. I have 1 door and this is the 4th time the knob has come off this year. Twice last year and twice the year before.

  3. Justin, just discovered your blog, and I love it! Wonderful to turn around and use the controversial "Jack problem" with your older kids, and wonderful responses from them. I used to re-teach basic math to my remedial 8th graders by having them get ready to tutor the younger kids at the school (it was K-8). We would review basic material that they were struggling with, by learning how to help younger kids and what kinds of mistakes younger kids tended to make....then they got to go in and help those kids as the experts. Look forward to reading more.

    1. Thank you! I really appreciate it!

      That is a fantastic approach to help solidify skills! I've been asking my 8th grade geometry students to write a solution guide as their assessment rather than just giving answers.

      I've also been spending a ton of time asking them to explain their methods and thought processes.


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