The weather on Tuesday was not good to say the least. The sky all day just had that eery look to it like something bad was happening. It would be pouring rain one minute and bright and sunny the next. The sky would get orange and then black and then bright blue. It was just strange. We were warned on the announcements to be prepared for a tornado drill/warning at some point in the day. Well, as the rain fell the heaviest and the lightning was the brightest and the thunder was the loudest in 5th period, that warning/alarm came. I had closed the blinds in my room because my students were more occupied with what was going on outside than what I was teaching. So, when the alarm went off, I had a pretty good feeling it was for real, but wasn't sure. To prevent any major panic attacks from students, I told them all it was a drill. We made it half way down the hallway (I'm on the second floor) when we were told to stop and wait a minute. So, we had the majority of the 7th graders standing in the upstairs. I think they were trying to get everyone downstairs settled before crowding the hall with more people. We stood there for about 10 minutes and then they came over the walkies and said to send us back to class. So, it ended up being pretty uneventful. However, it was a little nerve racking there for a little bit.
Just for the record: In the past 2 weeks, I have survived an earthquake, a hurricane, and a tornado. Go me! Now onto some nicer, cooler weather with pretty leaves...I hope.
Earlier in the day, I was telling each class what the procedure was if/when we had a tornado drill. Students always have a million questions to ask about something like that. Most of them were legit, valid questions. However, these "what if this..." questions usually turn into ridiculous what if scenarios. So, I may have told some of my students that if the situation they were asking about happened, then we would all just die. That ended that conversation real quick.
Then, I had this conversation with a student...
Him: "I'm going to get really rich one day when I invent a way to stop a tornado."
Me: "Oh really...how are you going to do that"
Him: "All you have to do is shoot a missile into the tornado the opposite way it is spinning to stop the spinning!"
Duh...come on mad scientists, why haven't you figured that out yet?? Clearly my 7th graders are way smarter than you.
Friday we gave our first SGA, small goal assessment. we're doing this whole assessment for learning this year. So, students take formative assessments every couple of weeks that are standardized. Yea...not quite sure how I feel about this yet. This first one was 15 multiple choice questions only on the material we've covered so far. So, it will be a good way for me to see if they're learning what I'm teaching, which is the whole point.At the same time, I am a teacher and I do have a degree so I think I can do that on my own without a district mandated assessment. However, it is good practice for my students and it is good feedback for me. So, my opinion is still being determined. The first of anything always tends to take forever. So, it took my students about 55 minutes to take this 15 multiple choice question. After a warm-up and intro to class stuff, that's the whole period. AKA...my classes were so quiet today! I'm thinking as they get used to these SGAs, they'll get much faster with them, which is another goal of them (improve their test endurance for EOGs). So, I'll have to be prepared next time with something to do afterwards. But, until then...I'll stretch this SGA allllll day long...especially on a Friday! :)
Happy Weekend!
PS I chopped all my hair of this week...
hahah i didn't think about that. We have survived a lot these last two weeks.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Erin, it's hair. It WILL grow back! But it's cute!! ;)
ReplyDelete