Can test be too easy?

can you make test so easy that everyone bombs it...my kids don’t get issued books so they [books] have to stay in the classroom..i feel this is hardship on them so I give them a chapter handout of my powerpoint..then I review with them the day before the test (basically telling them every question on the test), then as a group I gave them 90 minutes to take the online practice test for a grade then study as a group..come test day about 90% bombed the test..do you think there is a point where they don’t think they have to prepare because I have "spoon fed" them the material? Should I make them work a little more on their own? My 3rd period class only had 4 kids that made an 80 or higher

Mid Terms

Whew! Glad that over with. I went from having to turn in a copy of my mid term test to my department head last year into turning it in to 4 different parties this year. Seriously, is there any valid excuse for this? Can they not just share? I always thought it would be easier having 3 on the ball administrators but when they don't all think alike, its really tough because they all come to you with 3 different things to do at once. The test are nothing more than a tiny portion of what I have to sometimes deal with. Also, I went from having 3 observations and 3 snapshots last year to now having 2 observations, 6 snapshots, the board of education doing random walk throughs, and the department of education is coming to check for knowledge (not simply posting) of standards. But they say "Oh, dont worry, this is not a GOTCHA". The politics never seem to amaze me. I guess this is where I simply play the game and flatter them with bullshit. After all, this is indeed what they seem to want. If they really cared about quality education, they would stop taking away instructional time for thier satisfaction of mind or whatever it is they are after.

Mid Term

Well , our mid-term exams will be administered on tomorrow. On Tuesday , we will have observers in the classrooms from the downtown office. I understand their observations will determine whether we will become a small school or continue working towards small learning communities. I had my first observation by the department's academy leader on this past Thursday. I have not received any feedback as of yet but I am looking forward to seeing the comments. I saw Esther and Tracey in Jekyll. We returned after 4:00 p.m. I guess I will unpack and prepare for tomorrow. Take care.

Testing

I have 4 out of 21 students here today for 2nd block. We are having 10th grade writing test and senior leadership day. Since I have a blend of 9-12 graders in my classes, any disruption like this interferes with my plans for the day. What do you do with 4 students? If I assign work then 17 students will have to make that up. If I don't assign work then nothing productive occurs and we get behind. Is there a solution for this? This type of disruption seems to happen often for my classes because of the blend of students.
Jamie

TGIF

I am glad it is Friday. The classes are settling down slightly. Progress reports were given out on Tuesday and quite a few of the students are failing. They are failing and wondering why. I showed them what they had failed to turn in or complete. They then wanted make-up work. Many of these students come to class to socialize. I found out the failing students are failing in all of their classes.

Just when you think they get it

We had a chapter test Tuesday. I thought the kids had grasped the concept. For the most part we done our work, listened in class, and even studied in small groups. Out text book has an online website where the students can take a online quiz. We used out study group to take the quiz. The grades with these groups were significantly higher than when we take them with a 2 person group. I though they had mastered the material. Then the test came. Some of the lowest scores I have seen in two years of teaching. What to do what to do? My good students all aced the test, most with a 100. However my middle of the pack and lower royally bombed it. I'm seriously thinking about teaching the chapter over again. What's the opinions out there about teaching the whole unit over again? Where do we draw the line on lazy students? To make matters worse, I read all my classes EVERY question on the test the day before.......

Failed Test

After all the instruction we have received on writing tests, I should be doing a wonderful job of writing them, but I'm not. I gave a test this week and to my utter horror, half of my students failed. When my "A" students fail a test, I know there is a major problem. I believe that the problem this time was primarily me. The test looked flawless. All the directions were precisely written. The multiple choice and matching answers were all in alphabetical order. I used capital letters where there were supposed to be capitals. The multiple choice included one extra answer, to be sure students knew the material. All the columns were properly labeled. That test looked like a piece of art.

So where did I go wrong? For one thing, I didn't have time to write the test before teaching the material. I perfected the form of the test but not the content. Also, in teaching this particular unit, I used very little lecture. I thought it would be best not to bore them with listening to me teach a subject that they had previously covered in middle school, in biology, and etc. Students wrote vocabulary words with definitions to study. They did some wonderful activities to solidify the material in their brains, or so I thought. When I graded the tests I found that my students did not know what I believed they knew. I learned that I needed to spend more time in lecture and review of the material. Thankfully, this test was only given to my two smaller classes; students I have had all year. I love them and they know it and love me back, shortcomings and all.

What should one do after messing up so badly? Here's what I did. First, I apologized to my students and told them I felt I was largely at fault for the poor grades. I thanked them for being such good sports over breaking in a first year teacher who was learning many things the hard way at their expense, including the writing of tests. I told them that starting Monday, after I have the weekend to write a new and appropriate test, we will take a few days to cover the material be certain they understand know what is expectedof them. They will all take the new test and I will take the better score of the two tests. Being the great bunch of students that they are, they were very happy with this plan. More than that, they were happy that tomorrow is Friday and we are going to go ahead with our plans to do the "Autopsy of a Pickle" project to the body planes and directions. (I wish I could take credit for the pickle idea but it is not a Joyce original.) Anyway, the students aren't the only ones happy that tomorrow is Friday!