I have shared pictures of our classroom before, so I figure many of you know what our environment normally looks like. But now that we’ve officially started our MAP testing, our “normal” is a little different now. Well at least until the end of next week.
So here’s what our room looks like now:
Remember how we used to have science posters hanging there?
I know you remember the map that is under there.
No calendars allowed here. Although I’m not entirely sure how that’d help you on these tests…
Ok, so obviously you can’t leave the decimal timeline out for everyone to use. I get that.
We also had to cover up our little S.H.A.D.O.s that are taped to our tables. Forgot to take a picture of that. But you get the idea. Imagine lots of 4 X 6 inch black rectangles.
It’s a little weird, but part of the process. We started today and are totally rocking it already! We are Motivated And Prepared to show what we know!
20somethingkids and 1kookyteacher 
Hmmm…I’ve never thought about covering up the calendar before. I had an observer from DESE visit my classroom a couple of years ago and she didn’t say anything about it. I think it was a CA session though.
My classroom is looking much the same. We start testing tomorrow, so I just went through my classroom after school today to take down or cover up everything. It’s a strange ritual, isn’t it?
I think the whole calendar thing was one of those “just in case” situations. We started doing it and it’s just part of what we do.
And yes–the whole thing is really weird. There’s alot about how the MAP goes, though, that’s strange. I just wish there was a way to make the assessment situation (including what we can say/do as the teacher) more like what happens in our every day classroom. It’s so hard for so many kids when you completely change things on them. I know the whole goal is finding out what they know, but I wonder if some kids have a hard time showing us that. Things to ponder…