Friday, December 19, 2008

Happy Holidays From All of us at Skills Iowa

We would like to take a moment to wish you all the best of the season. All of us with Skills Iowa appreciate all that you do to make a difference for kids, and we know that high achievement for every student is much more than a slogan. We know that you are the biggest influence outside the home that your students are likely to have this year. We are honored to be one of the strategies you use.

Enjoy your time away from school, and know that when you come back from break, we will be available to help you help your kids.

Happy Holidays from the Skills Iowa Staff!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Winter Break Activities

Since  kids will have lots of time on their hands, winter break is a great time to have your students do some extra review in Skills Tutor. In  all subject categories except Reading Comprehension LL, A, B and C and Reading Vocabulary A, B and C the pretests are prescriptive. In other words, if you give the pretest, the program will determine where your students need extra work and will assign lessons to address the gaps in mastery. If your kids are going to have semester tests when they get back from break, this could be a great way for them to sharpen their skills.

You might also want to point out to them that they can take practice quizzes in Assessment Center. These quizzes can give them an idea of how they are doing in their quest to master these skills.

Don't forget Skills Iowa over the holidays. Your students can learn a lot on their break.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Is your semester ending soon?

Since almost everyone is going to be ending the semester on one side of the other of Winter Break, it's a great time to use Skills Iowa to determine which of your benchmarks your students have already mastered, and which they need more work on. 

Giving a review assessment in Assessment Center which  covers the skills that will be covered on your semester test can give you a good idea about which skills have been mastered and which skills your entire class has not retained. It will also give you a pretty good idea about which individuals in your class might be lacking in the mastery of some skills.

Once you know, you can send your students to Skills Tutor to hone those skills, work with the students in small groups or individually, or reteach the skill to the entire class.

Skills Iowa is a great way to identify and address skills that your students may not have mastered and which ones they have. Knowing which is which gives you the opportunity to make a difference in your students' achievement.