STAAR STRESS

I will be so HAPPY to see April go bye bye for one major reason and that is the STAAR!

I am a teacher and I love what I do! Seeing all of my students every day, hearing their stories, and watching their everyday dramas unfold is better than any t.v. show because I get to help them sort out the real life issues. I help them relate what they learn to every day life, I get to point them in the right direction when they make a wrong turn, and I get to try and help mold a child into a better person to have a positive impact on our community : ) I help them become problem solvers and so much more.

Yet, with all that I do, no matter how hard I try, or what I try to instill in my students each year, the focus becomes all about the STAAR. When it is over I have to take the rest of the month and convince the students that the school year is not over, that there is more work yet to be done.

I see the stress this one test puts on the students and teachers. I honestly could not tell you who was more stressed out. What I can tell you is that I was doing wonderful in my personal fitness program until the week of the STAAR (blah)!

With this being the last day of April and my students being 6th graders, testing is now done and I say goodbye April and so long STAAR until next year...

I will say that to help my fellow teachers cope with their stress my campus was wonderful and ordered food for us on each day for the STAAR testing. Along with that, I provided a snack each day for my colleagues including, popcorn, key lime cupcakes, pink lemonade cupcake, dreamsicle cookies, and peanut butter fudge. The only thing I ate out of all of that was the fudge!