Another song title as my title here…
We just completed the MAP on thursday, and I have to say that overall, I am pretty excited with how my students did. The vast majority seemed excited to see what they could do, worked hard, checked their answers, and overall did their best. I had maybe two students who may have been rushing, and one who was just being himself (out of control).
Of course, now that the testing is done, we need to keep the learning up. I’ve been told that students expect to be able to relax when they finish the test, but that will not occur in my room. However, I was given my first evidence of said issue literally two hours after the map ended. One of my tougher students, who is generally very nice, has something of a short fuse, and did not take kindly to being teased by a new student in the other sixth grade class. This new student arrived about a half an hour after the MAP had ended, and a few minutes into art (his first full class), he ended up in what was described to me as “the most merciless beating I have ever witnessed.” I just wish I had been in the room, because with this particular student, I think I could have prevented it, as his mom and I have had several good talks, and he knows that she gave me permission to request she prevent him from ANY and ALL afterschool activities, and he knows she’ll follow through on it, and that is enough to get him to take a deep breath.
To counteract the fighting instinct, which by now has been improved to a fine edge, I am starting a charity fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House. Maybe by getting students to care about someone else, I can stop some of these other behaviors.
