July 10
What have I gotten myself into?




Today started the week of correcting the MCAS tests. Those are the statewide assessments given to the 4th, 8th and 10th graders in Massachusetts. They are highly controversial and not looked on fondly by anyone in education.

I may be in for a week from hell.

I can’t even find a word to describe what this task is going to be like.

Oy.

I arrived at the correcting center today and there were at least three hundred teachers there, we were divided into groups according to the grade we’d been assigned to. We’re all there to correct the long compositions, and I’m doing the 4th grade.


We have two days of training before we even see an actual copy of the test that we will be responsible for. Today we just learned how to correct for topic development. There is a rubric that has the standards on it, then the trainer went through additional annotation of the rubric.

After that we were given what are called anchor packets, that have examples of essays scored at each of the categories on the rubric. They gave us plus and minus examples as well, even though we won’t give anything other than whole numbers when we do the real correction.

I guess the point of this was just to give us a feeling for what the span might be for each number.

After lunch (which was quite decent) we then did practice scoring. For three hours. We had to score three packets of fifteen essays, then they were corrected for accuracy (these have already been scored by the experts) and we had to find out how we did and then discuss why we had discrepancies.

This is a HUGE amount of work. My head hurt by the end of the day!


Actually I was flat out exhausted by the time I got home and was barely able to keep my head up at all.

And I have a whole week of this to look forward to. From what I can gather we’ll spend tomorrow learning how to correct conventions (grammar, spelling, punctuation etc.) then we have to take qualifying tests to be sure that they can let us do the real thing on Wednesday.

I have no idea what the criteria will be, but I’m sure it’s not going to be at all easy.

I have to say that we’ll really be earning our pay this week!


It was also FREEZING in the room we were in. I was so glad that I’d worn pants and a blazer. I hadn’t really wanted to as it had gotten hot and muggy out, but I was so glad that I did.

I felt so bad for the people who were dressed in sleeveless shirts and shorts.

I’ll dress for warmth tomorrow too.

What an odd thing to be saying in July! I guess this must be what people who work in air-conditioned offices must experience all the time.

And now I’m ready to collapse.





Listening to: Aida- Elton John version

Reading: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Weather: 90, muggy, overcast

Trivia:What kind of spider spits poisonous silk at its prey?

The spitting spiders (several species in the genus Scytodes) are the only true spiders that have silk glands in their heads. A spitting spider hunts at night and moves very slowly. When it sees a prey insect (which is resting for the night) it measures the distance with its legs and then quickly spits out two zigzag threads of poisonous silk, covering the prey. The spitting action happens in 1/600 second, before the prey has a chance to escape. There are several species of spitting spiders around the world. In the Philippines there is a species that can spit its silk up to 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) and specializes in capturing jumping spiders, among the fastest and smartest spiders of all.

Cool word: imprimatur (im-pru-MAH-ter) - Approval granted, usually by the Roman Catholic Church, to publish a book. "Mel found it to be extremely difficult to get permission for his new study, and felt it would be easier to get an imprimatur from the church than permission from the FDA."
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Horoscope

ARIES

A few good ideas from a friend who has been keeping an eye on your home based business, may be just what you have been looking for. When this person starts to tell you about it be sure to listen as you will only get the one chance. Watch out very carefully on the home front for potential losses. You need to check that your insurance's are up to date and that you are covered for all that you believe you are. Check out the small print, do not take anyone's word for anything until you see the proof. If it is all so obvious, then why can't people show you? You cannot con an honest person, do not go along with people's little short cuts, they could lead to disaster. The Sun in Cancer highlights your Solar fourth house of the home today indicating you are interested in all that concerns the home. Perhaps you are planning to redecorate, look for a new home, or make improvements on an existing one. This is a good time to find financial assistance for a project especially if it involves real estate.