Friend #1- Ridiculous isn’t it?
Friend #2- They talk about this thing the ENTIRE year.
Friend #3- They spend the whole year preparing for this week. They talk about it all
year. I actually think the focus on this test is a negative when it comes to
education. Teachers no longer have the ability to be creative when teaching
because everything is about these tests. Sad really. It doesn't get easier
either. My son is in 8th grade and all year they have threatened the 8th
graders with how the tests can ruin high school if they do bad. Crazy.
Original Poster- Such pressure! Get plenty of sleep...eat a wonderfully rounded and
nutritious breakfast....DON'T get sick that week......NO interruptions during
school hours.....a serious snack schedule that week....cancelling softball
games the night before....etc. Man, I'm so scared, AND IT'S NOT EVEN ME TAKING
THEM!! LOL
Friend #4- Max is just excited that we cook him bacon and eggs that week! Sad isn't
it? Good luck!
Friend #3- Yea, I am doing sausage, eggs and toast this week. My kids think they hut
the lottery lol of course the 14 year old is mad he is going to bed at 8
instead of 9:30 lol the 9 year old already goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 and
jumps out of bed early with no problems lol
Friend #1- Haha, our TCAP starts friday and since savannah had surgery i looked at
the absence policy for TCAP and its insane!! Has to go to the county for
approval, etc.. So crazy that im trying to hurry her recovery just for the
test!!
Friend #5- Well in KY, we have GMADE testing. Last Friday the school sent home a
letter saying the kids would be testing, get sleep, eat a good breakfast , no
drs appts etc for the week of April 16-20th Really??? You send a letter home
after the tests are done!!
Original Poster- We start on Friday too....ugh...Will be a
LONG next week! :/
Solution: collectively
put our efforts together in order to re-shape what we value in terms of
teaching and learning and make our voices known. A great way to do this is
through local technology mediums such as social networking. I have dedicated
this blog to sharing these educational reform ideas. Specifically, twitter is a
great way to share ideas. I have founded the following hashtag as a way to put
minds and hearts together: #edudream. If you have a dream for how to improve education for the better, tweet your idea and tag it with #edudream
I see why we test. After all, you can't manage what you can't measure. But we're creating an education culture that measures not how well we prepare our children for critical thinking, comprehension, and ultimately life. Instead, we are measuring how well we prepare our children for a single test.
ReplyDeleteThis can't be the dream.
I doubt that abandoning all forms of assessment is the answer, since we can only reward the things we want repeated, but is there not a way for us to assess our students' and teachers' PROGRESS, as opposed to measuring their readiness for a cookie-cutter one-size-fits-all bubble sheet?
Brian... some good points there. I love the idea that you cannot manage what you cannot measure. Isn't the struggle finding ways/metrics that measure dreaming, creativity, and many of the attributes you listed above such as critical thinking? Good stuff man!
Delete