With STAAR testing coming right around the corner, teachers are working hard to prepare their students the best they can so they excel during testing. But the work isn’t just for the teachers; students are also preparing their brains for the challenging tests they have to take this spring.
“Every lesson, we have a warm-up, which covers what we’re doing right now, past lessons, so we’re kind of circling back to a lot of things, and everything is teks based, so we try to hit everything as we go,” Algebra I teacher Chad Gohlke said.
With all of the units students have to learn and teachers have to teach, it can be quite hard to keep students motivated to keep learning and try their best on their tests.
“It’s hard to keep students motivated to do math. Sometimes I just try to be encouraging and supportive,” Gohlke said.
Many teachers like to leave days at the end of school to review so that way there is plenty of time to cover each of their subjects at a good pace.
“We’re rolling into our star review so we’ve got 10 days worth of review but I think we have 13 or 12 days to fit all of that in because some of them are complex, topics will take more days instead of one,” Biology teacher Callie Kresta said.
With testing comes a lot of stress about trying to get everything done. But Coach Kresta has a simple fix for being stressed out during STAAR season.
“I don’t try to be stressed either, because if I’m stressed, then it will go off onto them as well. I try to stay cool, calm, and collected, and we just roll with it,” Kresta said.
The end of the year is a time for fun but the important things need to be taken care of first before the end of year activities can all begin
“I think they know that it’s the end of the year, and as soon as STAAR is over, then we can do more things that don’t always perfectly align with the teks, we can have a little more fun and do a little more hands-on activities,” Honors biology teacher Kristen Jasek said.
English teacher Megan Bruton has a great way of keeping her students engaged during STAAR prep.
“Every year, I’ve tried something different, and this year, you are taking it genre by genre so for the past few weeks, we’ve been taking a different genre every week and looking at writing skills involved with that, reading skills, and multiple-choice skills within that type of passage,” Bruton said
There are also things students can do at home to prepare themselves for the long testing days.
“Just a simple things like drinking enough water getting enough sleep at night before the test especially all of those things help kind of easy your mind a little bit and put you in a better headspace to test,” Bruton said.
With all of these big tests, the real thing students and teachers can do is have a positive can do attitude. Lifting their peers up and encouraging them all the way until the end.
“I try to be as happy as I can, and then I just tell them to do their best. You cannot stress what it is, don’t try to make too big a deal out of it,” Kresta said.
This year, STARR testing takes place from April 8 through May 2. Teachers and students work their hardest, preparing for their STAAR tests.
