I Can't Drive 55

..but they sure can average a 55 on the test!

Ug. First big test of my career: Social Studies, 2 review sessions before the test, test questions taken from quiz and tests they had already taken, open book with students sharing page numbers as they found answers...

*sigh* I had such high hopes.  What can I learn from this? What do I take away from it? (Besides taking away the trash can I dumped the tests in, pee-yew it stinks!)

Do I get Extra Credit for all the Blogs I Read?

I probably spend too much time cruising through various blogs and websites, or linking them to my iGoogle and multitude of blogs, but to be fair most of them do relate to education. I have found a wealth of practical knowledge and advice as well as lesson plans and classroom management tools, and although I may never be in the same half of the U.S., let alone the same school district, as some of the people I read, there is a sense of communication and community that many feel is integral to becoming a complete educator.

But sometimes I realize an hour has gone by and because I haven't completed a chapter in a text book or written a full page of an assignment, I feel as if I've wasted time (yet again)-- are blogs merely empty calories? Is online information the same as grabbing US magazine instead of a literacy assessment guide? Is it all attractive colors and fonts, and the ease of reading without truly digesting (as well as the convenience of being able to click back and forth between Facebook and LibraryThing) that lends itself to going online rather than cracking the spine on a textbook?

Anyway, saw this excellent post on The Cornerstone Blog regarding testing and how to help students (and teachers) survive with wits intact...