‘You’ve got this,’ Lincoln staff reminds elementary students

Test-takers receive notes of encouragement during Iowa Assessments week

By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

Test days can put pressure on students. Staff members at Lincoln Elementary School don’t want that pressure to slow kids down.

Third and fourth graders at Lincoln Elementary arrived at school Tuesday morning to see handwritten messages of support taped to the front of their lockers from TLC Instructional Coach Sheila Etherington. On Wednesday morning, students got another positive note from Principal Marcia DeVore.

The notes offered a jolt of support and positivity for the 226 Lincoln students taking the Iowa Assessments (previously the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, ITBS). Each section of the tests run for about 30 minutes, and classes in grades 3-11 take tests this week.

“It was pretty fun to watch them in the hall yesterday,” Etherington said. “They were very excited.”

Etherington and her fellow teachers used to put encouraging notes on student desks when she was a first-grade classroom teacher, she said. When those first-graders grew into third-graders and started taking the ITBS, Etherington would leave encouraging notes for them again. It was part of a broad effort of teachers to encourage their former students, and it stuck with her, Etherington said.

“When the brain is in a positive mode, it functions better then when it’s feeling defeated or frustrated,” Etherington said. “I love these kids, so then I went ahead and did it at the middle school.”

Positive, handwritten notes from Etherington went up on student lockers at the Charles City Middle School for grades 5-8 this week. Meanwhile, Principal DeVore at Lincoln Elementary School thought the notes were a perfect reminder to first-time Assessment test-takers.

“For our third-graders, it’s the first time they’ve ever taken a test like this that’s over several days, that covers multiple content,” DeVore said. “We really want to focus on making sure that students are in the right mindset. It can easily be intimidating.”

“Sheila did a great job of making sure that each student started the day with a really positive message about themselves and about their ability to achieve,” DeVore added.

DeVore decided to leave another note for the school’s test-takers, and students found their second piece of encouragement on Wednesday morning.

“Very similar in terms of really just wanting to encourage them to do their best, let them know that we’re proud of everything that they’ve done so far,” DeVore said. “It’s my hope that maybe we can continue the notes as a way of inspiration throughout the testing.”

The notes are just a small way to remind students of what they can achieve, Etherington said.

“Words mean a lot to some people,” she said. “I just wanted to encourage the kids.”