I've been teaching for seven years. You'll never catch me saying that I'm an expert in my profession, by any means. I'm doing the very best I can to learn all the time and bring the best instruction to my students. I attended college and graduate school, in addition to countless hours spent in professional development courses and seminars.
This past week, my students took the ELA State Assessment, and I felt defeated. As any good teacher would, I prepared my students to the very best of my ability from September to April. We read authentic fiction, nonfiction and poetry. My students learned how to close read a challenging text, and understood how to provide evidence for their answers. I did everything I could to make my students engaged in their learning, from having them play games learning how to answer multiple choice questions, to having them pretend their fingers were like ET to follow along as we read a passage aloud...to even speaking in accents and funny voices to keep them involved in my lessons. If I could have stood on my head to have them pay closer attention, I would have.
We spent time in class, discussing their worries and fears about "THE TEST" weeks prior to the test, and I calmed their nerves. I told them that all I wanted them to do was their very best. I told them not to worry about me losing my job, because I do my job each day. My job should not be weight on the shoulders of 8 and 9 year olds. That's just unfair. I also told them that they would be promoted to fourth grade. If they haven't heard of being retained yet, they won't be. I wanted the students to be as relaxed as possible.
The day of the tests, I made sure to keep the mood light, and we talked about how to relax. We all said together, "I know everything." As the days went on, my students were losing steam, and fast. By the third day, my students lost their endurance. Each day was 70 minutes of exhausting testing, and my students were burnt out. I know that my students did the best they could. Does this test measure what they really are capable of? Absolutely not. I have work samples to prove it! I went home and took a nap each day after work, I could only imagine how tired the kids were.
The one thing that frustrates me the most, is that my students and I will be defined on their performance on these tests. The tests that we have no ability to discuss or really prepare for. Tests that don't measure the student's true strengths and weaknesses, but rather tests their stamina and ability to bubble in an answer sheet, and understand how paragraphs in passages relate to one another.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't test our students, because I understand the concept of accountability and the need to see student growth. The pressure that is put on students and teachers to perform to "make the grade" is unnecessary.
I want to have the ability to teach my students true skills that will make a difference in their lives. I don't want to teach them how to write a paragraph so each student's essay sounds exactly the same as the student next to them. I hate teaching my kids to write like robots. I want my students to have the ability to discuss books and learn to write stories, without having to worry about if what they are learning is going to be "on the test."
Can't we just let kids be kids again, let teachers teach as best they can, and let the profession of education do what it does best... teach?
Thanks for letting me vent! :)
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