March 12…the first day of school. The first day since I entered near panic-mode about our End-of-Level Literacy Exam scheduled for March 10-11.
Yes, I know that this exam really tests what they have learned since grade 9, but about a month ago, the entire weight of this test felt as if it had fallen upon my shoulders, and we went into review-overdrive! The kids and I are so ready for this test to be over!
Then I became a cheerleader…my nine-year-old cheerleading daughter would be so proud. I have cheered and praised and encouraged and bribed rewarded, for I do believe that if my students will just try…and try again…that they can only score proficient.
To encourage our students to just try, our school offers those who score proficient one-half extra personal day during their senior year…and no remediation class!
To encourage my students to just try, I offer my students food (today, they planned their menu!) and two test grades (one for each day) if I am convinced they “just tried.” (This second part was the deal I made with my students after reading them Mr. Teacher’s “The Million Dollar Test” from Learn Me Good.)
To encourage his students to just try, our principal has created the “Lucky 7″ checklist, and for just trying, each student who receives the seven checkmarks obtains two passes to leave campus for lunch in town on two Fridays.
Are we doing the right thing by offering so much? Maybe? I just know that the food, grades, and passes for an off-campus lunch has now made this test “real” to them. It’s not about the scores printed in the newspaper or placed on their transcripts nor the numbers reported to the Department of Education; it’s the ownership, their commitment to “just try” because I became what I should have been all year: a cheerleader.
So on Thursday, March 12, I will work to maintain this energy. On March 12, I will be a cheerful teacher as we can now go back to have real school…and the weight of that test is gone!
Tony Wagner in The Global Achievement Gap reports that schools are doing what I have been doing the last few weeks…”teaching to the test”…and while I completely agree with his sentiments…
They’re a lot more worried about their school or district making what’s called “adequate yearly progress” so they’re not stigmatized as “failing” (p 13).
I am a little concerned that Mr. Wagner may not truly understand the teacher’s perspective, for the weight of the test is mighty, bigger than what I can possibly control; therefore, I succumb to its weight for a short while and teach to the test, not for survival but for comfort. You see…I have to be able to lay down at night and know that I have at least attempted to “adequately” prepare my students for all this testing that we force upon our students.
Life is about tests. I have experienced, lived my fair share of them, and now I so look forward to March 12 when I can go back to better preparing my students for the real world, for how to deal with life’s real tests, which is what Tony Wagner then discusses in his newest release.
Now, maybe, I will have more time to read his book!
