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Monday, March 7, 2016

Another Use for a 100 Chart

Some solutions arrive at a moment of desperation.

I have been giving the online ELL test this month.  One of the first graders became so stressed he started sobbing and I couldn't convince him to finish.  As anyone who has given the mandated state tests knows, this is not a valid excuse for not completing it.  I wish it were.

We decided to test him alone in the counselor's office, and I brought a chart like the one pictured above.  I put a star on each of the questions he had already answered and the counselor drew lines where he could stop to take a break.  I crossed off the numbers at the bottom, because the test had 95 questions. Each time he answered a question, we checked off the remaining boxes.  He had a visual of how he was progressing and so he finished.

No, I don't think that a 95 question test is developmentally appropriate for first graders.  I wonder what we are doing to our students.  Some days I advocate for my students by trying to change the system.  Other days I advocate for my students, by getting them through it.

If you need a chart like this one, click here.



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