Assessing Elementary Readers Digitally: Thoughts & Questions

It's been awhile, friends.  I hope that this blog post finds you well!  Or at least persevering through the challenges.  Because there are plenty of them.

I could make lots of excuses of why I haven't been writing on this blog.  Eventually I'll write a blog post about some of my personal challenges, taking a deep dive into the importance of healing.  (I would love it if you followed me on Instagram...my *favorite* social media platform.)  Nonetheless, I'm here now, and I've got some deep thoughts about assessing children's reading via purely digital methods.

Holiday Greetings & New Year's Wishes...with a freebie!

I hope everybody is enjoying his/her winter break!  What a blessing it is to be able to take some time off to relax, eat, spend time with family, sleep, and then eat some more.  Eating is my favorite. ♥

But I also know that so many teachers are already thinking about lesson planning for the New Year.  I know I'm already thinking about how to create resolutions with my little friends with the support of a good read aloud.  Last year I had used Extra Yarn, which is an incredible book with an awesome  female lead character.  And the book exemplifies how a person can have such a huge impact with a simple act of kindness.  But I didn't feel like the students developed strong personal goals after hearing that story.

This year I would like to incorporate more of a growth mindset with creating the resolution.  I've already read The Dot, so I'm thinking of reading What Do You Do With An Idea? or The Most Magnificent Thing.  I'm not sure which book to use...but it will eventually come to me...and I'll post it here on the blog and on my Facebook page.

Explaining our profession

Imagine this:   you go to a dinner party, you're hanging out, meeting new people, talking about what you do for a living.


Me:  Yeah, I'm a teacher, I teach third and fourth grade academic support.
People who don't know anything about teaching:  Oh, wow, that's so nice.  They're so cute!

Later on in the conversation...

Me:  It's been a long week, I've had to stay after school because of meetings and all this paperwork I have to do...
People who don't know anything about teaching:  Really?  Aren't you done at like 3 o'clock?  What do you mean you have do work on the weekends??  Why do you need to spend so much time?

Um, can we say frustrating?

Mrs. Mimi has an awesomely hilarious chapter in her book about societal perceptions of teachers.  And until people teach themselves or live with a teacher (those lovely, supportive, patient husbands/wives), they probably will have a very difficult time sympathizing/empathizing/getting it.  That's why I was intrigued by this book Support Your School Teacher.  It provides a glimpse into the life a school teacher, but more importantly how to support the teacher at various times during the school year (ie report cards....ahhhhhhh).  I am definitely going to order it to see if I can use it to enlighten others about our profession.  Check out their website and let me know what you think!