I am now starting to familiarize myself with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills guidelines, also known as the TEKS (teeks). These are the skills that children in Texas are supposed to learn and be able to do on the TAKS, which is the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. (aside: The TAKS is given every year starting in 3rd grade and "satisfactory performance" is required to graduate from high school. It also seems to change names every 5-10 years; when I was in high school it was called the TASP test.)
Anyway, to create a lesson plan, it's necessary to know the TEKS so I'm working with them on a homework assignment for my ACP (Alternative Certification Program) module. All I keep thinking though is that I hope I'm not supposed to memorize these things - there's pages and pages of the stuff!
It's crazy - this list of required knowledge and skills feels almost never-ending. I know kids should have mastered all these abilities by the time they graduate from high school but it doesn't really make much impact until you see it all written down and realize you're going to have to teach and/or reinforce these skills as necessary. How daunting! And this is how I feel before I'm confronted with actual children to actually teach. Wow.
So far there's nothing to report on the actual teaching front - training begins July 31 and I'm looking forward to it. I have high hopes of learning some useful tips/tricks for the classroom.
About Me
- Rosalyn K. Mack
- Rosalyn K. Mack has over twelve years of experience teaching both secondary and post-secondary English and Literature. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English, and two Master’s degrees in Literature and Humanities, specializing in modern American literature, women writers, and African American history. She currently lives in Mesquite, TX and teaches composition and rhetoric locally. She loves reading, travel, history podcasts, and very large dogs.