How do you make testing modifications in your classroom?

This year there have been big changes to the STAAR test for students who qualify for modifications. There is no longer a star modified test. This makes the staar modifications that much more important for student success. I myself have had to be an oral administrator for the STAAR test and I have always wondered how the accommodation affects students. Basicly you have a group of students who qualify for the test to be read out loud to them. A teacher then has to read the question one at a time to the whole group. Students have to work as a group to complete the test. Students often finish at different paces, and fast students have to put their head down until the slower students finish. How can you get into the grove of test taking? How can you focus? If I was in school today I would qualify for this kind of testing modification. Which makes me cringe,  I would HATE having to wait for others , or have others wait on me !! So I was very relieved when I found out that the new STAAR with modifications would be completed on the computer.

Which makes me question, how can we simulate this in the classroom? Well at the time I'm not talented enough to recreate the exact testing environment. BOO! But I can make oral modified test for students on my campus. Recently I've been experimenting with different  chrome extensions and apps to make this happen. The chrome extensions had to much of a learning curve for my liking. Not close enough to the real deal to be worth the time to teach kids or teachers. 

I'm looking for a balance  between what teachers can create themselves and a recreation of the testing experience.  In the past students would be read to as a group by the teacher or teacher aid.  

My solution is a video created with wevideo or imovie. I took a photo of the question, added audio of the question being read out loud and then added a black image to add a buffer in between questions. This allows students to pause, rewind and fast forward test questions. . Students also can access the video via laptop or iPad. They also can stay in the classroom and complete the quiz at their own pace!  

Here is an example of a oral modification created for a unit test. The page is created on a google site, with a google shortener, qr code and google dive link to download.  Since creating this modification I have created some support materials for our teachers.

URL Shortners




QR Codes

I'll keep you updated with how testing is going using this  strategy. I'll be creating a video soon how to create your own quizzes and google site pages using my strategy. So come back soon to check it out!