Or, lollies...
or, even scoops of peppermint ice cream atop a sugar cone.
Instead, behold twenty-six brand new pencils waiting for the children. Waiting for the Illinois Standards Achievement Tests they will take every morning this week. Waiting for the scores to prove what they know, to prove what I have taught them.
Can it all be measured by little darkened circles?
Oh, how I hated standardized tests as a parent. My child always did well on them, and I felt like they were such a waste of time.
ReplyDeleteBellezza, you must be a wonderful teacher since you're so concerned about what knowledge you have passed on to your students. Thanks for caring!
ReplyDeleteBermudaonion, I have never, and I mean ever done well on a standardized test. My mother and I were talking about my reading scores just a few weeks ago; they were always abysmal, and yet reading is my favorite pastime. I told her it's because I read for the whole picture, and they were always asking such trivial things as, "What color sweater was the boy wearing?"
ReplyDeleteRichard, your photo icon of John Belushi always makes me smile. One of my favorite lines from Animal House went something like this: "And you?! Your grade point average is 0.000013." When the camera pans to Belushi's character he has two of these lovely pencils stuck up his nose. Somehow, disrespectful to education as that is, I've always thought of it as hilarious. Maybe I just hate administration. :)
Just imagine those beautiful pencils being used to write poems and stories and dreams . . . instead of shading tedious circles on another ridiculous standardized test. Luckily the students have you for a teacher, so they get plenty of joy, too.
ReplyDeleteA little something to lighten up the task and take the pressure off. Good thinking, teacher.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness. I have such bad test anxiety. It is literally why I have not applied to Ph.D programs. I don't want to have to take the GRE subject test.
ReplyDeleteI hope your students and you have a good week. Treat yourself to a bubble bath the last day. I know how stressful that can be.
I have such an issue with standardised testing. Smart kids think they are dumb. Those who are good at filling in the blanks are considered the 'smart' kids. Silly way to measure intelligence.
ReplyDeleteNo, it will be measured by how, when they grow up, they'll remember what a wonderful teacher they had. :)
ReplyDeleteTheir is way too much pressure on children to perform well on standardized tests. But with a teacher like you, how can they fail?
ReplyDeleteLove the artistic photos.
I hate tests but I do love pink!
ReplyDeleteWe have let our daughters know that we have no interest in their standardized test scores, aside from their respectful participation in the process. God gave them to us perfect, and perfect they remain, and measuring them up against some governmental yardstick won't change that. I'm glad your students have a teacher with such great perspective!
ReplyDeleteI will provide a counterpoint as a LOVER of standardized tests, especially as a schoolchild. A whole day spent with those nice shiny new pencils, filling in wholesome grey circles, in lovely silence. Boy did I hate school most of the time, but never when I could just sit quietly and answer questions.
ReplyDeleteTexas students have the TAKS test this week. I feel for the kids and I feel for the teachers having been on both sides of the desk. Wishing your students luck! And secretly wishing for an end to so many damn tests.
ReplyDeleteWell, I wish I weren't always the contrarian. As in so many areas of life, the changes that have come to the standardized test and what leads up to it are substantial.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in grade school in the 1950s, the ITED (Iowa Test of Educational Development) was one of the most joyous weeks of our year. We loved taking it - and I mean at least 90% of the class loved it. The other 10% mostly didn't like anything about school, if memory serves. (It may not. I'm old.)
As I recall, we all did acceptably well, I never did very well on the math portions, but I hated math. I soared on the verbal, which is part of the reason I loved the test, I suppose.
But here's the thing. No one "taught to the test" in those days. At least, if the teachers were doing it, we had no clue it was happening. And we were tested only once each year.
When those tests came back, every danged one of us went with our parents - both of them to sit down and talk with the teacher about our scores. I loved that, too. We'd look at what I'd done well and where I wasn't up to snuff, and everyone would agree that we would do this or that to help encourage me where I was lagging. I distinctly remember signing up for those conferences - there were four slots per evening, which suggests a good, long discussion.
How can I put this? I'm not sure standardized tests per se are the problem. I think society is the problem - along with unrealistic expectations of and interference with teachers, laziness on the part of many parents, a dumbing down of standards and so on.
I don't know enough about today's way of doing things to comment, really. But I know that we had the tests, loved taking them, used them as tools and graduated with an education many colleges don't provide these days. I'm glad of that.
Yikes, I have a love/hate relationship with these standardized tests. Here's hoping your students will perform well and make you proud!
ReplyDeleteHmm, I don't know and you should talk to my eldest, who is losing a day of his spring break because the Nashville Public School District believes one more day (in which most of the teachers will, in fact, be gone because they already made plans) will make a difference in test results. Did I tell you my eldest is a math teacher, now?
ReplyDeleteIn a word, no. But trust you to find some simple beauty in the less than desirable. Hope all goes well.
ReplyDeleteLove your pics!! Very artsy :)
ReplyDeleteI am not one for these tests either (in NL called CITO tests) but I guess they need some kind of formal test to rule out subjectivity. I can understand that. But... I think tests like that have become so important that some kids are way too nervous to do well.
I don't know about the exact test methods in the US but for NL I would vote for several smaller test moments throughout the whole school period instead of bringing it altogether in one moment full of pressure.
Here in China it's even more crazy... a child here doesn't even have a proper childhood, no time to play or do sports: it's *only* about school, homework until late at night, study camps during weekends and vacations, and results... extreme high results that is because if not you won't succeed in life here... sad but true!
Hope all will go well for your class!
the pictures are beautiful. I'm not a big fan of standardized tests, though! oh well.
ReplyDeleteI've been so intrigued by all of your responses, from loving standardized tests to despising them. I'm also intrigued by the ways that different nationalities treat the assessment of children.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I'm especially moved by your remark. To have the children meet with the teacher and the parents to discuss progress on an individual basis would be my dream! I so often shake my head at the alleged progress we've made in education, which to me doesn't come close to the education my grandparents and parents received in public schools. Certainly today's students are better in technology, and I'll even concede mathematics, but as far as language arts go? I'm truthfully appalled.
Ideally, tests should be given not only to assess what the children have learned, but to guide future instruction.
I know the photos are not to the main point of this post, but I just have to say I love the pink bouquet of pencils! Outstanding, Bellezza. :)
ReplyDeleteI must have been an odd duck back in the late '60s/early '70s, as I loved taking those standardized tests. :)