Falcons, it is the time of the school year you’ve been working hard in all of your classes for- Florida Standard Assessments (FSA) and EOC testing. Here at Falcon Cove, one test has already been knocked out of the park- FSA Writing. 

Although it has been chaotic and stressful for some, thanks to all of the amazing students and faculty at our school, all grades were able to successfully complete their writing assignments- even virtual learners. 

“My teacher really helped us prepare for the FSA because she would give us writing prompts to practice on and tips on how to write it on the amount of time that we had,” says Mrs. Zuri’s 6th grade student, Roxan Rodriguez Rojas. “I felt confident going into the test, and I think I did well because my teacher prepared me for it, so when I was doing the FSA it wasn’t as hard as I expected.”

Language arts teachers have been preparing their students for this assessment for months, and it was finally time for students to show off their new writing skills. After practicing how to properly write different types of essays, including argumentative and informative, students were as prepared as ever to shine. 

“I quietly motivate students for test prep. Everything we do all year is to build the skills they need to be strong readers and writers,”  says 8th grade gifted language arts teacher, Gina Powers. “When faced with the test, I hope my students realize they have all the tools they need for success!”

One of the biggest struggles about the FSA was getting E-learners to safely come to school. However, Falcon Cove was ready to take on the challenge. Online students arrived at school on their designated day, which was decided based off of their last name. E-learners with the last names A-L came on the first day of their grade, and M-Z took theirs on the second day for their grade.

“Coming into school to take my writing FSA was a very smooth process,” states 8th grader Nathaly Baumgartner. “I arrived in the morning, took the test, and was able to get picked up right after.”

Another issue with online learners returning for their Writing FSA was still providing for the students that were not testing. With a modified schedule, which included a three hour long study hall and shortened classes, this was made possible. 

“I was in Mrs. Harvey’s class [for the study hall], and I did my homework,” says 7th grader Izabella Carrasco. “I liked the schedule because it allowed me to go to all of my classes.”

Some teachers, especially ones that taught classes for high school credit, would assign work for students to complete during their three hours. Science teacher Chantae Mitchell gave her 8th grade Biology Honors students assignments that took a small portion of the study hall to keep their minds stimulated, and make sure they were productively using their time. With shortened classes, this also helped make sure students would finish the biology curriculum on schedule.

“I assigned work during the previous study hall for my high school level classes because that was one of the expectations- you’re in a high level class, you made that choice, and that is something that had to be done to get all the stuff we needed to learn done,” states Mrs. Mitchell. “I never assigned anything that would take longer than thirty to forty minutes to complete, so it would never take two hours of the study hall but also makes sure that you are using at least a little of that time appropriately.”

As you can tell, the Writing FSA may have had a few kinks to work out, but in the end everything nicely went into effect. Thank you to all of the FCMS staff for working hard to make sure students were able to fulfill all their needs for their FSA. Next up, reading, math, and high school credit EOCs!

“I feel confident that I did well on the Writing FSA because it wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be,” says 7th grader Miranda Vivas Batija, who is also taking the Algebra EOC later this year. “[To prepare for the Algebra 1 EOC], we do assignments on USA Test Prep to review all of the subjects we’ve learned over the year.”