Quick One-before the week!

Sunday November 14th (basking in the glow of a job well done!!)

Previous to this four day weekend, I had already prepared the Term 1 report template with the learning outcomes and information to parents that is included on every report. I just had to 'tweak' the learning outcomes and copy the template to the students' versions of the report.

• Nov 11th. Remembrance Day. After the 11am moment of silence which I always find makes me an emotional wreck, I worked most of the day on the individual comments for my 27 students.
• Nov 12th. I took a quick run into school to sort out the new seating plan the students requested and to prepare a desk and set of books and necessities for a new student from the Phillipines (Monday 15th will be his first day). I also cleared the RECYCLING mess from the class- can't seem to find a workable solution to the class recycling (other colleagues have asked if my class can help with their recycling but we can't even help ourselves yet!!) The rest of the day I managed to complete the individual student comments. Average word count per student 300 words.
• Nov 13th. Started entering the Learning Outcome levels 1,2,3 or 4 for the eight curricular areas and grade achievements for each student. For a break, I used the student ideas we generated in class to create a couple of rubrics for Oral and Written Language that we are experimenting with this first term.
• Nov 14th. Continued with the achievement reporting for all curricular areas - completed- spell checked every report (thank goodness for spellchecker as I found some curiosities of mangled language!!) and PRINTED 27 reports of three pages each (81 pieces of precious paper with the best assessment I can deliver for two months of classes). I have also completed the rubrics, a letter to parents and a reflection sheet for my students.

You see, I haven't been idle and, just so you know, I worked a day in early September during my summer holiday to get Friday Nov. 12th off as a day in lieu.
I kept my mouth shut in Starbucks on Friday when the general chat turned to teacher bashing for the long weekend!!! I am grateful that the Ladies' Curling Bonspiel was cancelled this weekend- everything happens for a reason- but mostly I am grateful that I have been able to complete one of the biggest and most controversial tasks of the teaching year- the first report card.

Assessment is such a pivotal part of teaching and learning. I sometimes feel that the structures we use to report and assess are so inadequate. Learning is a work in progress...assessment needs to be the same...a journey.
Time to sign off and prepare my school bag for tomorrow. Thanks for reading- I feel better now but despite the four days off...let's just say I am not exactly as rested as I might be had I decided to do something else for a living. :) I'll sleep well tonight :) and be less ornery tomorrow. :)
Mrs J.