Two Thirds the way through my second week of classes and I seem to have hit the "I got myself into what?" wall. I knew there was going to be a lot to learn about the art of teaching but I wasn't prepared to jump into the deep end. Using Ayer's book I know this would be an example where I pull past experience to help calm the current situation. Past experience says to sit down, pick one class and confirm I understand the assignments for the week...then outline each one to gain traction on how I will attack it and them break it into small manageable parts. So here I sit in the library realizing I might have just questioned the journey I began last week...and I told that question to come back later (because I know it will). The reality is I am changing to a new normal for my daily life and this week will be pretty hard as I begin to take on the full load of school, raising a 4 year old daughter, and dealing with all the other things life throws at you. Little steps Mr. Nash, little steps.
I do want start writing about my conflicted thoughts about standardized tests. The topic is a hot one and has been brought up in all three of my classes, with none of them offering a clear answer. In To Teach, Ayers makes the point that kids learn at different paces (and makes a pretty good case for it). If you test a group of people for their knowledge of 4th grade math, who's to say Jon X wouldn't have picked it up in 5th grade, or that Peggy Q figured it out in 2nd grade? I have differing opinions on whether you teach certain subjects based on the kids comfort level, but that can be avoided mostly by preparing your classroom to be ready to intake the info. An article from another class gave a great history about the SAT and that it's sole purpose to to help predict the GPA's of students during their college career. This was done in 1941, when it was mostly upper middle class white people even going to college. Plus, it measures Math and Reading. No Science, arts, or History. Is the presumption that if you are successful in math and reading that you can master all other subjects with ease? I'm sure we'll get even deeper into this topic as the year progresses. Status bar wise, I am right in the middle now with a 50/50 split for and against standardized testing.
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Fair enough to raising lots of questions... and the tests themselves may well not be so bad, but the political uses to which test scores are used is a whole other issue. To reduce teaching to the number that can be obtained during a week of high stress tests seems to miss something vital about teaching -- even while it may be very important to occasionally check in on how kids are doing on some commonly-agreed to set of knowledge. You know, like we've all agreed that reading and math are the only important things ..>!
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