Dreaded Benchmark Tests

My email had decided to play this mean little trick on me. Every time I log in, I get greeted with a countdown (much similar for the doomsday countdowns in action movies) ticking down the days until the next.... be prepared!... Math Benchmark!  (enter dun dun dun background noise)  My email is indicating to me that this blessed event will occur next week so the time has come to prepare.

Our district's math benchmark rolls around every few months and it always seems like it is such a source of stress. For the kids, you may ask? Oh no, please, the teachers! I know this is no new information to you all as none of us are able to escape progress monitoring.

I decided to create this goal setting sheet for my students to complete to get them a little more involved and help hold themselves more accountable.  With this, the students will average their past few previous test scores (the units that will be mainly tested on the benchmark) and then create a realistic goal for themselves based off of it.

I hope some of you all can use this in your classrooms and I will let you all know if I feel like it made a difference in my student's testing attitudes.  Happy testing!