Yesterday’s MAP tests

Time dedicated to MAP yesterday ran 160 minutes or 2 hours and 40 minutes. A few students were also pulled out for AIMSWEB. Students were taking the fluency section of the AIMSWEB from helpful parapros, social workers and others. I kept passing the little student desk where one woman was testing all day in the hallway near my room. The fluency testers are completing the grading for students so I think I may be entirely off the hook for this piece of AIMSWEB grading anyway.

Meeting time ran only 1 hour and 10 minutes. Testing was only peripherally involved as we discussed what had happened during testing, our challenges and triumphs. The newest version of the MAP test scared me at times. The software’s hardly friendly and quirky things happened. Students disappeared from lists. Worried students then stared at me as I tried to find someone to get them back into the student queue. In a year or two, I would be able to troubleshoot all this weirdness myself, but for now, I had to wave my arms at the Assistant Principal down the hall. At the end of testing, when students finished, the button that I was supposed to push was named “delete session.” I stared at that button, unwilling to push anything that said “delete” even though my instructions told me to push that button. But I have tested new and revamped software too often to trust instructions. Finally, the guy across the hall rescued me and pushed the delete button as I sat frozen in front of the finished test session. He grinned and told me that now it was his fault if all the tests somehow went away. I love the guy across the hall.

I have needed more time to teach basic skills — a great deal more time — and I resent the proofs that I see when the MAP results pop up at the end. A number of students showed notable improvement, but not everyone did. Once again, stronger students climbed the ladder, but the Weakest students never managed to grab a rung.

Eduhonesty: I have the SLO details for this week-end along with other thoughts. I’ll be busy this week-end. In addition to all this other testing, I have to grade science and math quizzes along with daily work and more AIMSWEB. I’m buried. They’re tested out.

C’est la vie, c’est la guerre. A quest may be in order. I think there may be a chocotini waiting out there with my name on it.