Testing Time and my first Bloggie Award!

Testing week began at our school last Monday, but 4th grade only has 2 SOLs to take (yay for us!), so we begin and end this week. I'm a little nervous because they added TEIs (Technology Enhanced Items) to our tests, and apparently that means they are WAY harder. So hard that the math guy from DOE told all the administrators to expect a 50% passing rate. Yikes!

Nevertheless, my kids are excited about them because they can actually play on the computer (create a graph, click on answers, etc.) as opposed to just choosing a multiple choice response. I think in the end it will be better, but this first year is scary without knowing what to expect. Tomorrow is reading, so I'm heading to the store to stock up on Starbursts and peppermints to get my kids through their tests! I made a reading brain plop for my kids to study and practice using so they can hopefully recreate at least parts of it tomorrow morning for the SOL. It's on my school computer, so I'll have to share it this week when I get a chance.

I'm SO excited to have been given my first bloggie award from Jessica at Mrs. Stanford's Class! I just started following her blog after her linky party (see last post), and it's so cute! If you haven't already been there, check it out!
Anyway, here's the award:

And here are the rules that come with it:

1. Follow the person who gave you the award
2. Link back to the person who gave you the award.
3. Pass the award on to 15 bloggers (and don't forget to tell them)

There are so many amazing blogs out there, and I'm sure that I'm doubling up on some of you, but here is my list:

Grace at Watch Me Grow

Kelly at The Teach and Cook Mama

Beth at A Wedding Story

Laura in Haiti

Dana at 3rd Grade Gridiron

Katie at Adventures of a 6th Grade Teacher

Amy at Step into Second Grade

Kristen at A Teeny Tiny Teacher

Kimberly at The Learning Tree

5th Grade Rocks, 5th Grade Rules

Fabulous in Fourth

Buzzing with Ms. B

Runde's Room

Pencils, Glue and Tying Shoes

Melanie at Frog Spot

Okay, now you should go check out their blogs. They are all amazing women, and I love following them!