Informing teaching

As I was reading I really liked the idea of an Intrest Inventory for the students. This inventory can come in handy for numerous reasons. I could use them in my class for writing prompts, reading books, or even science and social studies. I also like how the students can create their own topics. Right now in my class my kids are obsessed with Captain Under Pants. I thought what is the big deal from these books, so I read the book to the class 20 minutes a day. I discovered the reason why they like them is because they are gross. It's about poop, pee, mischief, and fighting. WOW very intresting for them. I get the giggles and the smerks. Another assessement that stood out to me is the teacher assessment. It was untill I read the sentences for me to complete that I took a step back and really asked myself these things. In my class I realized I need to show more enthusiaim about reading. Kids can read your emotions and when you are excited, they are excited. While I read the part about grouping based on assessment, this is all new to me. Our school is really different! We don't base our groups on TPRI or IRI testing. We use the SFA program, which suck and diffets the whole purpose for assessing. We don't even use that data. It is sad to say, I guess the teachers personally see their student's growth. Hello obviously it makes sense to arrange groups or teach based on your students scores but not us.