Don't Get Bogged Down by Benchmarking Assessments

Benchmark assessments are an important tool for measuring student progress and evaluating the effectiveness of instructional practices, but they can also be a source of stress and anxiety for both teachers and students. Our school is in the thick of our mid-year benchmarking period and I find as a teacher I am craving our regular routine.  

In any classroom, it's important to find a balance between the benefits of benchmark assessments and the impact they can have on the learning environment. We really need to know how students are progressing and this is invaluable to our teaching. It is how we can adapt instruction to support and challenge students. It is also mandated by most schools, so it isn't going to be going away. How can teachers set our students and ourselves up for success?

1. Set realistic goals: It's essential to set achievable goals for students and communicate these goals clearly to both students and parents. By setting realistic expectations, you can reduce the stress associated with benchmark assessments. As we approached the benchmarking period, our team sent out a letter to parents letting them know we were assessing students and also we set a reward activity to celebrate the efforts, growth and acknowledge that it can be hard for students to go through benchmarking. Last Friday, we took the whole grade level outside for a sledding party to celebrate that benchmarking assessments are complete.

2. Limit the number of assessments: Try to limit the number of benchmark assessments given throughout the year and focus on the assessments that provide the most meaningful data for measuring student progress.This can be a building or district decision, so at times as teachers we feel like it is out of our hands. I think it is important as teachers to speak up if there is something that we find valuable or may be too much. I also try to limit the impact of the assessments and keep the schedule as consistent as possible during this time period. I have found my students do best within routine. 

3. Emphasize the process, not just the results: While benchmark assessments are an important measure of student progress, it's important to emphasize the process of learning and growth rather than just the results. Encourage students to focus on their effort and progress, rather than the results of the assessments. 

4. Provide support: Offer support to students who may struggle with benchmark assessments by providing additional practice opportunities, differentiated instruction, and personalized support. As we move past the benchmarks, I am using them to see where I need to provide students extra support or even clarification on skills and strategies. For example, a Math Number Sense benchmark revealed that several of my students struggle with counting across hundred with larger numbers. That is a pretty quick mini-lesson I can provide to students who need it that will fill in some gaps of understanding. If we don't use the benchmarks to provide support, I honestly feel like it is a waste of time.

5. Celebrate progress: Celebrate students' progress, both big and small, and provide opportunities for students to share their achievements with others. This helps to maintain a positive learning environment and build student confidence. Our sledding party was a big was to do this. Little celebrations along the way, like giving students feedback that they have grown as learners and giving specifics, are important. For example, after having a student complete a reading assessment with me, I may comment at how their reading rate and fluency has improved and share a few things I've noticed they have grow in. 

6. Keep it in perspective: Remember that benchmark assessments are just one measure of student progress, and that there are many other ways to evaluate student learning and growth. By keeping this perspective, you can reduce the stress and anxiety associated with benchmark assessments for students and teachers. 

Benchmark assessments are an important tool for measuring student progress and evaluating the effectiveness of instructional practices, but it's essential to find a balance between their benefits and the impact they can have on the learning environment. By setting realistic goals, limiting the number of assessments, emphasizing the process of learning, providing support, celebrating progress, and keeping things in perspective, you can help reduce stress and anxiety and maintain a positive learning environment in a classroom. I for one am excited to be back into our regular routine this week. I'm working on some new lessons based on what I've noticed my students need based on the benchmarks and I will be share more soon!

Working on a Team

Working with a team as a teacher can be both challenging and rewarding. I have been so fortunate to work on a strong team for many years. As a team, teachers can share ideas, collaborate on lesson plans, and provide support for one another. However, it's important to remember that every team member may have different teaching styles, personalities, and strengths. Learning about those differences and celebrating them can help build relationships and can enhance our own teaching style.

One key to success when working with a team is effective communication. It's important to establish clear lines of communication and to make sure that everyone is on the same page regarding goals, expectations, and responsibilities. Regular team meetings can be a great way to stay informed and to provide updates on progress. During these meetings, our team communicates what is going on, looks ahead, talks about curriculum and supports one another with things that come up in our classroom. Also, consistent communication via email and texting help to keep everyone on the same page.

One thing we started to do this school year is to eat lunch as a team. For many years, I worked through my lunch. There is always more to do with teaching. Yet, taking the time to actually eat during lunch is good for me personally and has been great for our team. We are able to talk about things more casually and have been able to get to know one another. This has been good to build trust and our relationships.

It's also important to recognize and value the unique strengths of each team member. By focusing on individual strengths, team members can be utilized in a way that best suits their skillset. This can lead to a more efficient and effective team, where everyone feels valued and appreciated for their contributions. As we build trust in one another, different team members are able to step up and take on different roles. 

Working with a team as a teacher can be a great way to improve instruction and learning, to provide support and encouragement, and to create a positive and productive learning environment for students. It really helps for me to like and trust the people I work with. With changes in the team over the past few years, we have had to shift and develop new relationships. Relationships are so important in education, not just with students, but also colleagues. Working as a team is a great way to develop those relationships.

Using both Structured Literacy and Close Reading within my Classroom

As a 2nd grade teacher, one of my main goals is to help all of my students become proficient readers. This can feel overwhelming when I look at the wide-range of skills and needs. To achieve this goal, I have been incorporating structured literacy and close reading strategies into my daily instruction.

Structured literacy is an approach to teaching reading that emphasizes the structure of language and the connections between letters, sounds, and words. By breaking down words into their individual sounds and building them back up, students are able to gain a deeper understanding of how words are formed and are better equipped to decode new words. Close reading is a method where students read a text multiple times, each time focusing on a different aspect of the text such as vocabulary, comprehension, and analysis.One of the biggest benefits of using these strategies is that they meet the diverse needs of my students. Struggling readers are able to receive the explicit, systematic instruction they need to improve their decoding skills, while more advanced readers are able to engage in deeper levels of comprehension and analysis.

I have seen firsthand the positive impact that these strategies have had on my students. They are able to read with greater fluency and comprehension, and they are more confident in their abilities as readers. In addition, by using close reading, I am able to differentiate instruction and meet the unique needs of each student in my class. It has been exciting to support my higher level readers to approach a text with the goal of higher levels of understanding. Using close reads, I am seeing more independence and comprehension. I am able to support my students to build critical thinking skills and take risks in reading. 

Incorporating structured literacy and close reading into my instruction has been a game changer for my 2nd grade students and I recommend giving these strategies a try in your classroom! 

If you want some resources to get started with close reading for younger students, such as grade 2 or 3, check out this resource I have on TPT.

Introduction to Genres

 Genre can be a hard concept for students, yet I find when we explicitly teach students how to look for certain aspects, such as genre and text structure, they do very well. I designed an intro to genres for some of my reading groups and used it last week. 

I kept it pretty basic and introduced what genre means and then talked about Fiction and Non-Fiction. We discussed Realistic Fiction and Fantasy. This can be tricky for students as they often will think Realistic Fiction is Non-Fiction because of the term real. We also talked a little about Poetry and Informational Text. I wanted to give my students these terms so as we really get into close reads, they understand how genre can impact how we read a text. 

After our discussion, we looked at 4 different text examples to identify the genre. Here is a video of one of my groups exploring the text. It was so fun to let them really look at each text and make some comparisons. The conversation was great.

I used this with 2 of my groups. One group, we discussed and they read on their own. The other group we discussed and I read aloud. If you are interested in using this with your students, check out the lesson on TPT.