Good by testing! Hello poetry!

April 20, 2015

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),

Your students have worked hard since spring break to complete the Smarter Balanced tests for English/Language Arts. I have been so impressed by their level of focus and dedication. Testing is over during my class time -- hooray! -- however, students who have not yet finished will be pulled out of 1st period to complete their tests.

April is National Poetry Month and we will be starting our poetry unit tomorrow. Between the summer weather and post-testing burnout, the 8th graders could use a little fun and inspiration. I would like to show them the film Dead Poets Society with Robin Williams. Instead of using it as a culminating activity, I would like to use it as a starting point for inspiration and for discussion.

Although the film is rated PG, it has a couple of scenes with more serious, adult content. The first is a scene at a high school party where one of the characters gets drunk. The other involves the suicide of one of the main characters. The scene is not graphic, but it is evident that he has taken his life.

Dead Poets Society is a film with many deep and powerful messages, especially for teens. It addresses not only the power of words and poetry, but also themes such as, conformity, creativity, daring vs. caution, following vs. leading, and of course, "seizing the day."

I believe the film has a lot to offer this age group and that viewing it, discussing it, and writing about it will be a valuable experience for your child. It can also serve as a great starting place for discussions that you can have at home on a variety of subjects, including peer pressure, teen suicide, and academic/social stress. Ms. Kobs has been addressing these topics throughout the year in health class.

If you would prefer that your child not view and discuss Dead Poets Society, please contact me as soon as possible so that I can make alternative arrangements. It will not impact your child's grade in any way.

I'm looking forward to keeping your 8th graders interested and challenged this last quarter of the year!

Carpe Diem!

Leah Hermes

More testing this week -- April 13 - 17th..

Today we had almost 100% attendance for the performance task classroom lesson. Thank you!  We will start the performance task portion of the Smarter Balanced test tomorrow, April 14th. With any luck, we will finish it up by Monday.

Quite a few students did not finish the computer-adaptive test from last week. Starting next week, those students will be pulled out of their first period class in order to complete it. We do not want them to test more than once in the school day.

I am looking forward to wrapping up testing and returning to Language Arts. We will be starting a poetry unit next -- both studying it and writing our own.  I love teaching poetry and seeing their creativity come to life.

Have a great week.

Testing coming up!

Dear 8th grade families,

Next week we will begin our English/Language Arts (ELA) testing using the Smarter Balanced test (SBAC).  The first test is a computer-adaptive test (CAT) that is similar to past OAKS tests only now students will also be typing answers to questions in addition to the more traditional multiple choice questions. 

We will be testing from Monday, April 6th through Thursday, April 9th.  April 10th is the end of the quarter and there is no school that Friday.

The second test is a Performance Task.  I will be teaching a scripted classroom activity on Tuesday, April 14th, and then students will complete a performance task based on that activity on April 15, 16,  and 17.

It is especially important for students to be present in class on Tuesday the 14th because they need to be a part of the classroom activity in order to complete the performance task.  Please get them to bed early starting Sunday, April 5th and try to convince them to eat some breakfast and to actually eat lunch so they have some stamina in the afternoon.  Students are encouraged to bring their own ear buds/headphones for comfort, but we have plenty of extras for those who do not bring their own.

I do not want students to feel anxious regarding this testing. They have done years of OAKS testing and, while this is a different test, I am confidant that they will do just fine.  

Please let me know if you have any questions. -- Leah Hermes