This week brought with it our regular standardized testing through the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). This is the second of three rounds of this testing for fourth grade, with the final coming in the spring.  NWEA helps us gauge how students are improving in order to prepare us for the state test which also comes in the spring.  It also predicts how they will do on that test.

Unfortunately, our scores at the beginning of the school year painted a pretty dismal picture.  Some students were as far as 40 points behind where we would like to be by the end of the year.  To make a 40-point leap in one year is a horrendously noble goal, so we usually try to make up for as much of it in fourth grade and let the fifth grade year try attempt to make up the rest.  I wish I could say it always works.

Reading
In reading, students in our class collectively improved by 205 points.  Some students scored around 20 points higher than their previous ranking.  That's an average of nearly nine points per student. Only five students went down or stayed the same, but all of these remained within five points of their previous scores.
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Math
On the second day, the class racked up 259 points over their previous scores, and one young lady improved by 40 points all by herself!  That averages out to over eleven points per student!    Out of the whole class, there is only one who did not show progress, but even that student did not decline.

Language
Our biggest hurdle on this battery of assessments is language; it is the subject in we lack the most, and to be honest, it is my most difficult to teach.  At the end of the day, Hoggatteers gained 170 points collectively.  That's  about 7.5 points each on average, with some gaining more than others.

For the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) assessment, reading and language are combined on one test (with multiple sessions), but we look forward to showing our state how much we know and can do.

Our afterschool group really likes to unwind at the end of the day.  Last week, we took at look at the Hamildolph video (below left) in which an acapella group effectively puts Christmas into the Hamilton soundtrack.  Afterward, I challenged the group to put history into a Christmas tune.  The results weren't all full of substance, but we had fun working on it.

The third and fourth grade classes from Cecil Floyd attended the high school children's play, last Thursday.  I've always known Lewis Carroll's Alice and Wonderland to be a strange concoction of obnoxious and annoying characters and a strange, sometimes disturbing storyline, but every time I see a version of it, it just becomes more so.

Students from multiple elementary schools filled the high school auditorium to the brim, and every time the lights were doused for a scene change, the building erupted in screaming and yelling.  Mostly, the students in our class behaved and did not participate in the mayhem (even though I know some were tempted).  I was proud to see their self-restraint as they strained to hear the dialogue from the stage.  After that, with a trip through the hallways of the high school to get to our bus, a quick reminder - that we were in a school and hallway procedures should still be in effect - was all it took to get everybody to respect the students still in classes at the school.  It's one more reason to believe we are making progress in Room 404!

Here is a holiday advertisement that could have had a different ending.  What does this ad have to say to you.

​Take a moment to watch this video:

Last Sunday, between my preaching engagements in Washburn, Missouri, I took the 45-minute drive to Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  I figured I had time to look around in the historic district, but instead of paying for parking, I drove through town to the Passion Play property.  There, I discovered a plethora of interesting trails to explore in the future.  I took a while to explore one or two of them, but I didn't complete either, since I had not seen a map to tell where I was headed or how long it would take me to find my way back.

I did find some beauty in those trees that were mostly shed of their leaves at this time of the year - even in the wind that suddenly picked up and shook those trees before ending as quickly as it came.

We go through some transformations in the classroom.  This December, we kept things simple with just a few baubles hanging from the limbs that are always on our ceiling.  We also illuminated the west side of the room with our version of the Liberty Tree, where Boston's Sons of Liberty often met to raise awareness of the rebellion against British oppression.

Yesterday, we commemorated the 80th anniversary of the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.  These are the two videos we viewed to familiarize ourselves with this Day of Infamy​.

Incidentally, If you want to make a connection with our regular studies, here is what George Washington's Mount Vernon posted yesterday on social media:

This is probably the last picture from this year's partnership with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.  It is our response to the giant We the People installation at the museum.  Each fourth grader selected his/her own shoestring and decorated it to represent himself or herself as a citizen of the United States of America.

Originally posted on 5/7/2018

​Here we go again.

Yet another week of school-wide special dress-down days.

These days, it seems we "commemorate" events by dressing down:  Sweats Day, Jersey Day, Hat Day, Mascot Day, etc.

We wear crazy socks for reading:  Go Crazy for Reading!  Then we turn around and wear crazy socks for drug awareness:  Sock It to Drugs.  For one, we show support; for the other, we tout our opposition.  Confusing.

Schoolwide dress-up days really do a couple of things:  they disrupt learning, and they give teachers (and students) the opportunity to dress down.

We can't say that they support school unity (a common defense), because everyone in the class doesn't participate.  Every student, and every teacher for that matter, does not own a sports jersey or shirt.  If everyone does it, I could see the unity defense coming into play, but they don't.  When only a handful of students participate, it is, instead, distracting to the class.  Crazy Hair Day becomes Look-At-Me-My-Mom-Tried-To-Outdo-Your-Mom-In-The-Crazy-Department Day.  Unity?  Methinks not.

Not only that, but I happen to believe educators should dress professionally.  There are occasions for wearing jeans, such as a field trip to the local cave, and there may even be reason to wear shorts, like during the end-of-year field day, but on most days, if teachers wish to be considered professionals, we must dress professionally. These dress-down days are excuses for teachers to "be comfortable" by wearing pajamas, sweats, and other unprofessional gear.  Never do we seem to dress up to promote our so-called unity.

And that brings us to Pajama Day, which seems to happen more and more as years go by.  I hear people making fun of people who go to WalMart in their PJs, but then I see the same people promoting public pajama wearing in the school hallways.  There's a mixed message here.  Besides, we have no reason to wear night clothes to school - or in public.  The flies and buttons are not as secure as day-wear clothing, and the whole set-up is generally less supportive.  In other words, adults tend to jiggle more in their pajamas than they do when they dress for success. Let's just leave it at that.  And then they complain that their students are less attentive to lessons.

The same goes for Hat Day.  As I continue to teach students to follow rules and use manners, I must realize that we have a dress code for a reason.  It states that no hats are allowed, as well as no sleepwear, and no house shoes. It's harder to consistently expect kids to dress appropriately when we also encourage exceptions to the rule. In addition, it is always bad manners to wear your hat when you are inside a building.  People like to see your eyes when you are talking to them - not the shadow from your hat.

Don't take this the wrong way.  I do believe there is a time to dress "special".  That time for me is when it is appropriate to the lesson at hand.  I've never done dress-up days for my lessons, knowing that not everyone will or can participate, but I concur that they could be used effectively to enhance the mood and setting of the class.

Early in the year, last year, I supported our kindergarten students by encouraging  my students to dress in particular colors on specified days.  Most students were able and willing to dress in shirts to help teach our youngest Eagles. Also, I could still dress professionally in the designated colors without dressing down.

See if you can draw the mansion at George Washington's Mount Vernon.  We used measurement, rulers, and some precise instructions to recreate the mansion on card stock.  After adding some color for the roof and the shutters, we tried our hands at rustication.  Rustication is the process George Washington used to make the wooden siding appear to be stone.  Our process was similar, using glue with sand to coat the siding.