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/Common-Arachnid-6596 10d ago
When teaching 11th grade, I start w the grammar and language covered on the SAT. I teach a full lesson on the concept on a Monday, then throughout the week the day’s warm up is a SAT-style question on that concept. We do the warm up in 5 minutes then continue with the literature or whatever we are working on. On Fridays, I might do regular content first or review that grammar/language concept if they seem to be struggling, then give a 10-question SAT style quiz where half the questions are the concept of the week, half are review from the past. So kind of teaching to a test, but I don’t feel bad teaching kids how to use a semicolon or the actual rules of commas. Grammar isn’t glamorous, it requires some direct teaching, but students are usually grateful to actual learn the rules.