Shownotes
It's testing time, and you need support!
Host Beth Vaucher delivers essential solutions for teachers facing the challenge of preparing themselves, their ELLs, parents, and homeroom teachers for the WIDA Access test. Dive into this episode brimming with expert guidance and actionable strategies, providing invaluable support in navigating this assessment. Discover a wealth of practical tips, from familiarizing students with the test format to empowering educators and homeroom teachers, and even engaging parents with specialized communication templates. Join us as we unpack the keys to smoother testing experiences!
Don't forget to grab your FREE Access Testing Guide from Equipping ELLs, which includes editable templates to make your life easier, and stay tuned for next week's episode as we continue on the topic of Access testing!
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Transcripts
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Hey there, and welcome to another episode of the Equipping Ells
podcast. Today I want to make this episode super practical and
helpful for you to make testing as stress free and smooth as
possible. For many of you, this is we to access testing time. It's
usually a window between January to March. If you are not doing to
access. If you're not in a widow state, then you can still use
these when you do your state standardized language test, or even
just state testing in general. I really just want to give you some
breakdowns of how to prepare your students, yourselves, your
homeroom teachers, the families, and stay tuned to the end because
I'm going to share something that you do not want to miss out on.
So next week I will be talking more in depth about just the whole
craziness around the access testing. I'm having a guest on who
wrote a really incredible article about her experience as a
teacher that I know you can relate to. So we'll get into more of
the reasons why I don't think you should stress at all about this
test because it is a pretty ridiculous test to do right in the
middle of the year and for that to be the one component of how we
assess if our students are proficient or not. So anyways, I'm not
going to go down that path, even though that is definitely an area
that I love to talk about and love to advocate for. Today, though,
what I really want to do is just help you get prepared. You think
through some of the ways that you can get set up so that things
run smoother. If this is your first time testing, I know it can be
really overwhelming. I know the manual and administrating the test
takes a long time to figure out what to do and how to do it, how
to get it set up. It can be a lot. So we are here to help. And
like I said, stay tuned to the end because we have something
that's going to make all of this much, much easier. So let's dive
right in and talk about how can we prepare your students. Okay, so
the thing is, I see that sometimes when it comes to test prep,
people think that if you spend weeks beforehand doing test prep,
that's when you're going to really see the results. And I want to
say that's not true. Your students do not need to spend weeks of
doing boring practice test prep. It's not going to engage their
brain. It's not going to help them really just grow in their
language so that they are more prepared for the test. So what I
would say when it comes to test. Prep. The two things you focus on
is you do want to give them an opportunity to understand how the
format of the testing will be. So if you are going to be doing
digital ones, then make sure that they beforehand learn how to log
in, how it will run, when they have to stop, when they pause, how
do they respond, all of that. You want to make sure it's more
about the format of the test, that they feel comfortable than
actually practicing what's going to be on the test. So that's
where you want to make sure that you do spend a week or two
beforehand making sure your students feel comfortable. The worst
thing that happens is when we know a student is really advancing
and just because of technicalities or because this is different to
record into a computer and they're not used to that, they really
don't do their best. So think of ways that you can do the online
practice test. We have some test prep materials inside equipping
Ells or in the teachers pay teacher store of inspiring young
learners that you can do where it helps them to work on
practicing, recording into computer and talking about a picture
and things like that. And then we also have some printable test
prep. And the reason why this test prep, I feel like is very
different than the test prep you're going to find online or in
other teachers pay teacher stores as well, is because it's meant
to be very interactive and engaging. This test prep, it can be
done in centers, so students will rotate. There's QR codes that
they can do it all independently. And again, what we're wanting to
do is really help our students have a good understanding of how
this test is formatted, how do they listen in carefully? How do
they respond to what's being asked to them? How do they use the
pictures that are provided and then answer the questions that go
with it? So this is really set up to help the students understand
the expectation of the test, and that helps to take away that
anxiety when testing day comes. This can be done a week or two
before. This should not be spending all your time six weeks
beforehand trying to get them ready for this test. If you've been
working on all four domains, if you've been finding ways to really
incorporate speaking and writing activities, they're going to be
prepared. And again, listen to next week's episode because we're
going to talk about why it really doesn't matter. So that's the
first thing. If you're going to do practice tests, I would just
work on the formatting of a digital test and a printed test. The
next thing is, before that test day comes, I want you to really
make space in your lessons and in your time with your students to
focus on their strengths. Do activities where they are being
encouraged and exhorted about their incredible strengths that they
bring into the classroom. You could do something like have them
work on a self portrait where they put all these amazing things
about them, and you display this in the hallway, or you just. Lay
this in your classroom. Anything that's going to help them
remember and to know and believe that they are more than just a
test score. And sometimes that's really the sentiment when it
comes to testing time. So anything you can do to reverse that, to
really encourage the incredible students that they are, the growth
that they've already made, how proud you are of them, spend your
time before testing, doing that. The next thing is you want to
give them a visual of what testing will look like. Okay. This is
going to help them know they're going to be going in a small
group. It's going to be outside of the classroom. It might be with
a different teacher. Maybe it will be with you just really walking
them through. Here's the expectation. Here's what you need to
bring with you, or you don't bring anything, but you want to make
sure that you eat a good breakfast or it will be from this time to
this time. So students fears of if they're going to miss lunch or
miss recess or just they're unknown of what the days are going to
look like when they're very different than the normal days.
Anything you can do to give them a visual support of outlining
what this looks like will really help them to feel more
comfortable when they come to testing day. And then the last thing
is, if possible, if you have the time and capacity, just giving
them some encouraging notes again, showing them how much you
believe in them, how incredible they are, how proud you are of
them before they even get to the test, because that's what we want
to build up, just how incredible our students are that we get to
work with. And then if your school has budget or if they are able
to provide some sort of treat or something that just helps them to
be encouraged in completing this very long test. So those are some
things you can do to prepare your students for upcoming testing.
The next thing is preparing the homeroom teachers and other
teachers in the school. And so what's really important here is to
over communicate and really set aside some time before testing
begins to create a schedule, to put it in a Google sheets or
something where the teachers have access to it. They can see
what's going on. They can see when kids are going to be pulled.
And really, again, just walking through here is what testing will
look like. Ideally, this was when it will start. This is when it
will end. But we know that during these months, a lot of sickness
happens. So there's going to be a lot of absent students. So just
really encouraging and exhorting the homeroom teachers to be
flexible with you, to be really helpful with you, and over
communicating that from the start of how much it's a collaborative
effort, how much you need their support with the students in the
classroom, how you will try your best to not interrupt the
students and pull them when it's not the best time, but sometimes
it's just part of it to get the testing done. So really giving
them an idea of what testing looks like and then how they can help
support you. I would recommend to create some email templates that
you can then just send off in the morning so you might. If you
have an absent student, if you already have a template created,
just copy and paste it. Put it in an email to the teacher, put
that student's name and say the student was absent the other day.
I'm going to be pulling them today for the speaking test. At this
time, don't constantly be rewriting those emails. Just have them
ready to go so you can communicate clearly which students you're
going to be pulling. That will help the homeroom teachers have an
understanding and idea of what to expect. You can also share with
them some ways, a list of maybe four to five ways that they can
support the students in the classroom. And that's really, we
really want to communicate with them the importance of this
collaboration piece and how, because you are being pulled for the
next four weeks or so, you do not want your students to fall
behind and they shouldn't either. And so how can they incorporate
this strategy or do this activity with them to continue giving
them those scaffolds and supports that they need in the classroom.
And this is a great opportunity to really put that responsibility
on them and help them to dive into the world of scaffolding and
supporting the needs of their ells. And like I said, stay tuned to
the end because we have something to share with you that will help
with this. So communication is really key with the homeroom
teachers, even the specialist teachers, if you're pulling them
during specials or they're not sure where the students are at, so
they know as well, like, this is what's happening in the school
right now, so please be really sensitive when you're walking by
the classroom. This is where we'll be testing. So please don't let
your students walk in the hallway really loudly there. Just have
it giving them over. Communicating what's going to happen will
help people have no excuse of them not knowing and not helping and
support during this time. The next thing is how to prepare the
parents. And so this one, the easiest way, and we're going to put
a link in the show notes, is to go on the Weida site. And they
have a variety of home letters that are already translated into
multiple different languages. And so I would go and check out the
languages that the students, your students families speak and send
those home probably a week or two before. Write down the dates,
maybe even add in like a visual piece of making sure they get good
sleep, having a good breakfast, things like that, just to keep
them in the loop of what's going to be happening and how it's
changing a little bit from the normal schedule that they're
usually used to. But Wida has a great resource of letters already
written up in a variety of languages. So we will put that link in
the show notes. And now how do you prepare yourself? So this? I
have a bunch of different tips and I asked inside are equipping
Ell's community and just know share what tips, especially for
those who are new to this, because it can be very overwhelming. So
the first thing really is to know that it will not go as planned.
There will be absences and sickness. You might even get sick
yourself. And there's just going to be many other hiccups along
the way. So if you have that mindset to expect that, then it's
going to go a lot smoother. Um, so just give your space. Give
yourself that space to have days where everything seems to not be
working or where you're hunting down students because they've been
absent and you're trying to finish all those assessments, but you
still have a student who's been gone for a while. So you just have
to make yourself be flexible and know that it's not going to go as
planned. Also, talk with your admin administration and see how
they can help with the schedule and the expectations with the
homeroom teachers. And this can get really tricky when you're
pulling small groups and you're not working with your students
anymore for this time. And so sometimes having that administration
support there to come in and help to make sure that the schedule
is the best that it can be and getting this done as fast as
possible to get you back into the classroom with your students,
but to also really have the support of the homeroom teachers. And
that can really help when you have your administrative support.
The next tip is to be clear about the expectations that you place
on yourself. You cannot do it all. You will feel bad that your
students are not getting the support from you. You're going to
feel bad that you're not able to pull your groups and do the
activities that you would want to do with them. But again,
remember that this is not on you. This is all the crazy testing
and all of this that they're making everybody do. It's just, you
have to get it done because that's what's required of access
testing. So don't make yourself feel even more guilty that your
students aren't getting the best that they can get during this
time. It's going to eat at you more and make you feel worse, or
it's going to make you try to do it all and you're going to really
burn yourself out and get sick. So just have clear expectations
about what you are able to do. Also, think about your schedule. So
maybe if you can spread out the testing. I know usually people
want to get the testing done as soon as they get those booklets
and send them off as soon as they're done. But look at your
schedule. There is a window of time that you can get them done. So
maybe you do set aside two days a week for the next six weeks
where you are doing the testing, and then you still will keep up
with your groups on the other three days. Those are conversations
that you want to have with your administration, with the homeroom
teachers, and really come to a conclusion of what's best for
everybody. Is it best to just get this all done as fast as
possible and then move back into your normal schedule? Or is it
better to have a hybrid and do a little bit of testing some days
and a little bit of teaching some days? So again, conversations
around that topic is really crucial. The next thing is, like I
mentioned, you want to create some email templates so that you
have them ready when you need to remind a teacher about a student
that you need to pull or an absence that you're going to follow up
with. Just to really have that said quickly, just copy paste and
send it, and then it keeps the teacher in the loop. And it helps
you be able to communicate that the next thing that you want to be
able to do or you want to do is to have a good spreadsheet for
your schedule and then for just tracking your students, making
sure that they have finished all the different tests that you know
what tier they're in, what grade level, all of those things,
especially of big caseloads. This spreadsheet will be absolutely
critical and you'll want to color code those things. So really,
how can you make a system that's going to be easy for you to use?
Someone inside equipping ell's membership gave the tip of give
each grade level a specific color paper. When you're printing your
strips, your testing strips, or use a highlighter that's specific
to each grade level. And then that will help you stay organized.
So you always know when you see blue, that's your fifth graders.
And keeping it very organized so you could do that in the
spreadsheet and then as well on the strips of paper that you have
to cut out. The next tip is to have extra chargers around and
extra chromebooks because we know technology always throws
everything in for a loop. So make sure you just have some prepared
and ready to go. And along with technology, before testing begins,
you will want to test out your headphones and microphones with the
computers to make sure that they are compatible. Sometimes when
you connect things, all of a sudden they're not able to be found
or a software needs to be updated. There's so many things with
technology that can go wrong, so that's a big one. To help you
feel more for this to go smoother is to really test the tech and
make sure that that's set up and ready to go. If you are new to
this, see if you are able to observe someone first and how they
administer it, because it will help make a lot more sense. So see
if that's if you have a veteran teacher that you are working with,
maybe the first day or two you can sit and observe. Even just one
session that you observe, you'll really start to pick up of how
the test is run, how you administer. When you stop all of those
types of things, even just the organization and the materials
would be really helpful. So see if that's a possibility. The next
tip is to test in small groups, so don't overwhelm yourself with
trying to do the same groups that you usually work with, but
really test in small groups, especially for speaking. A lot of
times the students with speaking will feel really uncomfortable
with a large group that they're working with even four or five
students, they might feel uncomfortable. So for speaking
specifically, if you can pull one or two, that would be ideal to
really get a better result from them. And then for your younger
students, especially your kindergarten students or first grade
students, prep the materials before you go to get them so that
when they come in, they're all ready to go. They're not having to
get up booklets and pencils and turn to a page and all these
things, or if it's on the computer, say type of thing. Get
everything set up before you go and grab your students. It. All
right. So I hope that you have come away with some good tips on
how to get ready for access testing, how to make it as smooth as
possible. And again, this still goes back to our word that I
challenged you with at the beginning of the year, advocate. So
this is a great opportunity to advocate for your students, to
advocate for yourself where you're having the homeroom teachers
really support and help you and really giving your students what
they need during this time to do their best to show off all that
they've learned from you this year. Now, we at equipping ells are
passionate and driven by doing everything we can to help make
things easier for you. And so we have put together a quick access
guide that includes a lot of these things. So email templates you
can already use and the ones that we've written up for you, a note
home that you can send and you can even translate it. It's going
to all be in canvas so that you can edit it, you can translate it,
you can do what you want so that it makes your life so much easier
and this testing season to be so much smoother for you. So you can
grab that in the show notes. It's our gift to you to help make
things smooth and easy and help support you as best as we can go
and check that out in the show notes below. And I've also included
the Wida home connection letters in multiple languages, a link to
that. Hey, and just remember, your students are more than a test.
Make sure that they know how incredible they are. And you are
incredible as well. You've done some amazing work and you still
have so many more months of this school year. So get through this
and then get back to doing what you love to do, which is to teach.
All right, I'll see you next week. You do not want to miss this
episode on just going deeper into all that access testing is. And
I think it's going to help you really feel connecting to, and I
think it's going to really help you connect to this teacher who
wrote this article, and it's going to help you feel seen and heard
of the struggles that you, I'm sure, have had with your students
and with access testing. All right, until then, have a great week.