Another day with little work done. My students took the PAM test today. A diagnostic test on math. The test is for me to see how much my fifth graders know. here are some glimpses I took while my students wrote: 1/2 + 1/3 = 2/5 (fractions) thankfully, we haven’t covered fractions yet and when we do, I will cry if I still see this. One of my students upon reading about a question that talked about a parking meter, decided to draw a car and a parking meter. He spent 7 minutes of the 45-minute test drawing. We had ten teachers absent today. First snow day in New York City. I wonder if that means this will be a cold winter. I still haven’t figured out what to do with my students talking in line. They are too close to each other. It’s too enticing to talk, to push each other around; there are too few incentives to behave. Still overwhelmed and wondering what I was thinking when I decided to do this for a living.
Hello, I somehow happened by your site and wanted to say……you are doing a very admirable thing, teaching 5th graders. Please don’t lose hope, anyone with your dedication is bound to succeed!
ps. One, and sometimes two of my brothers live in Istanbul, on the Asian side. I hope to visit there someday…