1. http://youtu.be/BBP lTa64Aeg

2. FCAT With LOL CATS
That’s “Laugh Out Loud” for all of you old-timers out there! Funny cat pictures are an Internet phenomenon….and they play SO well with fCAT!

3. Does the thought of the fcat make you feel like this?

4. We want you to feel like this when the scores come back!

5. You will get a schedule soon!
When is FCAT?
April 16th –
April 20th
You will get a schedule soon!

6. What can STUDENTS expect?
All multiple choice
9th- on paper
10th- computer based
50-55 questions
70% informational
30% literary
words in each passage with words on average per passage
What can STUDENTS expect?

7. YOUR RESPONSE IF STUDENTS SAY, “It doesn’t count in 9th grade!”
It absolutely counts!!! It determines your schedule for next year- you will not be able to take those electives that you signed up for if you don’t do your best on this test!

8. YOUR RESPONSE IF STUDENTS SAY, “I did fine last year, so I should be fine this year, right?”
Do you wear the same clothes that you wore last year? Listen to the same music? Do the same things? No- you have GROWN since then!
Your skill level needs to grow each year too!
Each year the test expects you to have a higher level of reading comprehension, so it is harder.

9. Your Response to, “But I had a 5 last year- even if I drop I will still pass!”
Not necessarily- are you willing to take that chance? We had over 100 students drop from a level 4 or 5 last year. Some of them did NOT pass and have to retake the test this year! Those dropped scores impact things like their ELECTIVE classes (art, P.E., computers, music, etc.)
150 students losing an elective period because they have to take intensive classes = 1 lost “fun” elective class for the school!

10. What is EVERY STUDENTS’ goal?
Everyone’s first goal is to show growth. They do this by:
Maintaining a 3,4, or 5 (NOT dropping from a 5 to a 4 or a 4 to a 3!)
Increasing an achievement level (moving from a 2 to a 3, etc.)
Making more than one year’s growth within a level 1 or 2!
Their goal is to stare that test into submission!

11. What About Test anxiety?
Encourage them to remember that some anxiety is a GOOD thing because it means that they care about the outcome of the test and are motivated to do their best! Express your confidence in them! If they express anxiety, it is not the time to tell them that they should have been working harder in your class!
As far as TEACHER test anxiety goes…..maybe you can find a better use for a lime than as a helmet for a cat……

12. Test Expectations To defeat the fcat! Do your personal best
Be an active reader who underlines key ideas and reads the passages twice
Check your answers
Work for at least 45 of the 70 minutes of the allotted time
To defeat the fcat!

13. TV Productions has made some awesome videos for you to share with your students. We want to show you one from students in south florida that you haven’t seen: