Standardized Testing is Over...Now What?
Standardized testing season can definitely be a crazy time for teachers, but what happens when it is over? As a teacher you have spent all this time preparing, reviewing, and assessing, now what?
The following are 5 ideas to help you navigate through those days, weeks, and months after standardized testing.
1. Celebrate Student Accomplishments
Before the end of testing, decide with students how you will celebrate their success after the test. This may be in the form of a field trip, movie day, or other class party. Allow students to come up with ideas and vote in order to ensure investment.
One idea is to have a theme for testing. The reward that your class chooses could fit in with the class testing theme. One of my students' favorite ways to celebrate after the test was by creating crowns to go along with the theme of standardized testing kings and queens.
After taking some time to celebrate student success and effort on the test, one suggestion is to go back and reteach some of the standards that students haven't quite mastered...YET! With the limited amount of teaching time before standardized testing, there are always some standards that students could use some extra practice with. After all, even though the standardized test is over the goal is for students to master the content. Choose a few standards to work on and create a reteaching plan.
For those students that have already mastered the grade level content, push them on by having them work towards standards in the next grade. You may want to reach out to your colleagues in the grade level above you for suggestions of standards to work on.
4. Work on a Cross-Curricular Project
The end of the year is the perfect time to incorporate hands-on group projects. With most of your core content out of the way you can feel free to let your students explore content that interests them.
One project example would be to have students create their own board game. With Earth Day right around the end of the testing season students can build their board game out of recyclables. Games can focus on a topic of student choice or be used to help reinforce a concept that needs reteaching. For more hands-on Earth Day project ideas see our Earth Day Activities Bundle.
5. Do a STEM Activity
STEM activities have always been a big hit with my students, and their most favorite STEM activity has got to be water bottle flipping. This activity fits well in a force and motion unit as students test different variables such as bottle size, bottle shape, and water level to see which bottle it best for water bottle flipping.
Another fun and engaging STEM activity is the longest paper chain. The best part about this activity is that the only materials required are paper, scissors and tape. It is also FREE in our Teachers Pay Teacher Store! For more end of the year STEM activity ideas see our End of the Year STEM Activity Bundle.