Testing.

Tomorrow my students take the second portion of the ISTEP.  If you're not from Indiana, you're probably not familiar with the term.  ISTEP = Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress.  In other words, BLEEEEGH (puke noise).

Middle school students take this test, along with practice "scrimmage" quizzes all through the year to prep for the test.  Last week, they also took an SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory) test which measures their reading improvement.  When they get to high school, they will take quarterly "benchmark" tests that also measure their progress with the standards each quarter, along with the GQE (Graduation Qualifying Exam) and of course the SAT and ACT when applying to college.  Also, high school students who stay in our after school program have to take a TABE test (Test of Adult Basic Education) at the beginning, middle, and end of the year.

Aaaaaah!  Can you imagine?  I agree that some sort of standardized testing is the easiest way to measure the progress of a large amount of people quickly and efficiently.  However, I cannot help but sympathize with some of my students when they make comments about feeling more like statistics or numbers than people.  The last thing I want is for them to leave school feeling like they were just sent through some sort of factory assembly line.

And that's why my goal as a teacher is to not just teach facts, but teach my students how to think for themselves and use their intelligence as sources of power and influence in their lives.  I want them to know that it is wonderful to be curious and wonderful to ask questions.  I want them to recognize their potential by discovering new perspectives and challenging their original views of the world.  I want them to realize the excitement that can come as a result of learning new information.  I want learning to be FUN. 

Yes, I have a ways to go.  I'm only in my second year of teaching, and I already can see how passionate teachers can burn out fast due to the many challenges we face every day.  In schools like mine, many students don't know how to be consistent and dedicated because they've never seen an adult who fits those descriptions.  Some don't know that education is a reward because they come from a line of family members who has never seen it that way.  It's tough, and in my second year I've already had to remind myself that it's going to always be difficult, but that it's worth it if I can even get a few students to find something exciting in what I teach them.

I hope that most of the teachers in our country feel this way.  There is a lot of pressure put on us to show good results on these tests, and sometimes the pressure gets so fierce that we forget why we became teachers in the first place.  Yes, it's important for them to know this information, but we also have to remember that we are shaping the minds of growing human beings, and that takes more than the memorization of facts.  

I guess what I'm saying is that I hope educators remember that although there is standardized testing which measures all our students on the same plane, each individual child needs to be given attention and taught how to see his or herself as one person with a lot of brain power.  

Does this make sense?

I didn't realize this would turn into such a preachy post, but I think I stepped up on a pedestal at some point without realizing it.  I want to clarify that I am a new teacher, still learning.  I am not nearly perfect, and there are many, many improvements to make before I become the teacher I want to be.  But these are the foundations for why I do what I do, and I hope many people in my position feel the same way.

Thanks for listening.

Peace,

Kelly