Coffee with Karen
A few teacher friends- Mandy N., Tricia F., and Martha S.- and myself had the pleasure of meeting with Instructechs consultant, Karen Loman, for coffee last night. What a good time we had! We were all getting to share with each other and gain Karen's insight on guided reading and spelling. It is rare that teachers get time to get together to share with one another and we enjoyed this so much. It was decided by the classroom teachers with Karen's help to take the step to not do weekly spelling tests any more. Rather, they will be checking to see if the words have transferred to the students' actual writing pieces. What about at your school: do you give weekly spelling tests or has your school done away with this?
I totally agree with your decision to change. I don't do weekly spelling tests either. The "test" is whether they spell those words correct in their daily writing. If not, the words go back on their lists. Oh, and I do individual lists for each child. The words come from their own writing. I think you'll be happy with the change. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI agree Tammy, I think they (the classroom teachers) will like it. We always need to teach for transfer. Many students only learn the words for the test. I love how you are differentiating the lists for the students! :)
ReplyDeleteI gave the Liebster Blog Award... go to my blog and check out the rules!
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http://sharingkindergarten.blogspot.com/
I hate spelling test and don't do them BUT..... I can see the value in them these days. Kids rely so much on spell check they are terrible spellers!!!!
ReplyDelete❤ Mor Zrihen ❤
A Teacher's Treasure
Thank you Mary, that was so nice of you to include me! I really appreciate that! How much fun!
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