The days have been exceptionally long as we inch toward, and then abruptly away from the spring season, in typical Colorado fashion. My schedule is crazier than usual and I have been on the go for over twelve hours a day for at least two weeks, which is hard to maintain with a family (unless you have a superb nanny, which I don’t.) As a result, I have had very little time to myself, and even less to actually reflectively apply that time and develop one strand of thought. However, I have no shortage of brief observations to offer on my own experiences and on some current news, some of which I will now share.
How about that test?
My eligible child still isn’t taking it but the kids at my school are. As usual, all able bodies in the building and spaces they occupy are expected to be available to the testing machine. Primary teachers, as well as intermediate ones are giving up planning time and specials classes to accommodate the testing schedule which, of course, outweighs anything else. It bothers me that in my school, my city, my state, and my country, all of this has somehow come to represent the sum total of the work that teachers, schools, and students do. It also bothers me to think that not enough people are inclined to say or do anything about it. Teachers did not, I dearly hope, earn their university degrees and teacher qualifications because they wanted to teach children how to take a test. Parents do not send their children to school hoping that after high school their progeny will excel at filling in the correct bubbles to multiple choice questions. I like to think that teachers and parents share a vision of those very same children developing useful critical thinking skills, becoming citizens who are informed, engaged, and empowered. The money and time being funneled into these tests are not serving that purpose, and are in fact detracting from it.
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