Assessments, measurements, and setting big goals

The last few weeks have seemed like such a blur. Not only am I at school for seven hours a day, but work has been following me home five or six days each week. On average, I'd say I'm working upwards of 15 hours per day. Sheesh, I feel like a financial investor (but who wants to be one of those these days?).

The first weeks have school are supposed to be a little chaotic -- at least that's what the seasoned teachers tell me. Aside from learning 115 names, organizing massive amounts of papers, and setting up a classroom, things are going fairly well for me. Plus, on a positive note, all of my literacy students are on grade level for reading comprehension according to the McLeod reading assessment I gave them. The McLeod asks students to read a series of paragraphs with miscellaneous words missing. The students are to fill in the missing words by using context clues to figure out the words that fit. My students, being the pros I know they are, passed the test with flying colors, and because of their success on the assessment, we're working towards having a high school reading level by the end of the year (that's for both my seventh and eighth graders).

Here is a shot of my classroom library. Don't worry, the bulletin board is now covered with summer reading projects. Go Gators!?