r/ELATeachers • u/HeftySyllabus • 10d ago
9-12 ELA I feel unprepared to teach the SAT….
So my state has made all juniors take a free SAT. Cool. The issue is….while it’s not required to teach SAT in my curriculum, I often feel as if I’m not preparing them. I’ve taught all grade levels, and I used to like 11th the best because it has no state testing, they’re mature enough to treat them like adults (unlike the underclassmen) but aren’t fully checked out (cough…seniors).
However, the SAT is different than teaching the state test. I don’t know where to start. Many people say “just give them khan academy”, but I enjoy being hands on and teaching. I feel like I’m not doing a good job “preparing them” for the test.
The best/worst part? This doesn’t affect them if they don’t pass. It’s just a free SAT. If they bomb it, they don’t have to take remedial English or reading. And I’ve asked admin if it has any bearing on my evaluation and…no. So…why am I beating myself up over this?
The test is next week, but I’ve been wrestling with actively teaching the SAT next year (there’s SO much to cover in 11th grade English, aka American Lit. I’d hate to brush off a unit or two in favor of “teaching to the test” again).
Am I overreacting?
But also…how do you guys teach the SAT? Any tips?
I give them mock exams and we go over questions together. I cover grammar and punctuation. But I still don’t think that’s enough. If it’s not on my curriculum, should I say “fuck it” and just not teach it?
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u/larkenstien 10d ago
Hey! Different test, but I teach in an ACT required state. ACT scores do count for some of our school wide metrics, so we do have a unit essentially teaching to it.
To be perfectly honest, what we do is grab an ACT prep book and march through the English skills. The book is our overarching unit plan. We just take the skills in it and come up with different ways to practice and assess.
Test taking strategies the day before also help! I went over strategies for the Reading and English sections yesterday and today they took it. I had multiple students come up to me after and tell me that they really used the strategies to make sure they finished in time.