Month: March 2017

Existentially STAAR-Crossed

/ Mrs. Waneta Hebert / Leave a comment

Welcome to STAAR Season 2017! For those of us teaching courses with EOCs (end-of-course exams administered by the state), this is the most stress-filled, anxiety-ridden, headache-inducing time of year, and that’s not just my allergies speaking (hello, Spring!).

A little background for any readers not in or from Texas: STAAR stands for State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. High schoolers take English I, English II, Biology, Algebra I, and US History. They must pass all five tests in order to graduate, and they can retest every time it’s offered (December, March, and in the summer) until they pass it. Every state has their own version of the STAAR test, and as with everything else in education, those tests are constantly changing. Even the STAAR made a significant change this year, removing the short answer response (SAR) questions from the test (which is a whole debate in itself!). Continue reading →

I’m Still Here!

/ Mrs. Waneta Hebert / Leave a comment

Hello loyal followers and passersby! It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve last posted. Spring Break was amazing, even the getting stuck a couple extra days in Ohio when that lovely winter storm got our flights canceled, and I’ve been working hard to get myself caught back up on work and life – graduate classes, STAAR prep (T-minus 3 school days until the test!), a suddenly non-functioning washing machine, etc etc etc…

I promise to post something wonderfully entertaining, informative, and hilarious before the week is over, but for now, in case anyone is interested, I’ve updated my About Me page to include some information about my personal life, in additional to my educational life (including pictures!).

Gamify Me, Captain!

/ Mrs. Waneta Hebert / Leave a comment

Badge earned in Instructional Design

As a part of my Masters program, I am taking a class in Instructional Design that is gamified. About two weeks into the class, I realized that I am 100% the target audience for gamification. I’m a very competitive person, and this Masters program has made me realize how much of a perfectionist I am as well. When I saw my avatar in first place on the leaderboard, I grinned for days. I texted my mom, my friends, even my department head to tell them that I was in first place.

Gamification is one of those edtech buzzwords that has been floating around in the peripheral of my educational experience. I’ve heard of it, but I hadn’t really seen it done.

Now that I’m experiencing it, I’m in love. Continue reading →

Pop Quiz!

/ Mrs. Waneta Hebert / 5 Comments

Schoology Quiz Question

Ok, ok, maybe that’s a little delusional. Let’s be real, Miss Frizzle is way cooler than me. I’m certainly not the best teacher ever, but goshdarnit, I try!

And trying includes coming up with better ways to quiz and test students. They get enough paper and pencil with the state testing. We’ve got to get a little bit more interesting for the day-to-day quizzing.

Today, I’d like to discuss my three new favorite ways of tormenting… ahem… I mean quizzing my students: Quizlet, Quizizz, and Schoology (I told you I’d be coming back to Schoology). Continue reading →