Testing Blues

I’m going to spare you the list of reasons why this blog has been left to sit alone, forgotten, for the past months. I’ll simply sum it up as this: I’m a new teacher. Now, however, I’m feeling re-inspired to try to keep track of my experiences, growth, and musings as I wrap up this year and head into the future.

Our final state test has moved past its creeping stage and is now flying up from me. A week from today my kids will have one chance to prove how much they have learned and grown over this past semester. They are stressed, I’m stressed. It’s not making for a pretty or fun classroom environment these days. I’ve got to shake things up and find some fun new ways to review. Everyone has reached their fill of Jeopardy and, to be honest, that is my go-to study game.

So, I did what any tierd but earnest teacher would do: hit up Teachers Pay Teachers. This website is the Mecca of teaching resources. I spend so much- probably too much- time browsing the great ideas that other teachers put out there. Today I came across a great resource, “Concentric Circles.” This is a creative, original way to have students review their material. Best of all- IT’S FREE! You can download this resource here on Literary Sherri's TPT site: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Review-Game-Concentric-Circles-Common-Core-Aligned-433495

I’m really excited to try this out with my kids tomorrow. I’m hoping this will be the refresher we need to be motivated about this test!

Tell me- what do you do to keep your students motivated and excited as you near testing time?