The author of the New Possibilities book shows how experience in teaching outside of her usual element actually ended up benefitting her class for the better. She was able to find a new way to teach her students that were more understandable. If she were to have stayed in her usual manner of teaching both she and her students would have probably not gained as much.
The thing that stuck out to me the most was the section on tests in the Rethinking book. I remember as a child absolutely hating the SAT tests. I always felt dumb after taking one of those tests because I felt like I knew so much but when I took my tests there were many questions that I was unable to answer. I know some kids who would just fill in random dots, not even reading the questions. Everyone learns differently so a basic test given to everyone will not accurately measure their intelligence. Another thing about the standardized tests are that they are timed. As a child I felt very pressured to answer all my questions before the time was up. I would constantly look at the clock to see how much time I had left. Whenever I or another classmate did not finish before the time there was a feeling of disappointment and discouragement.
It is not only standardized test that cause great stress to students, just about any test can do that. What is not always fair is that people remember different things so the test may not contain all the information that one child remembers, but that does not mean that the child did not learn anything. The purpose of tests is to see that the students are learning. There are other ways to find out if a student is learning. Discussions are a great way for everyone to collaborate and talk about the things that they learned or things that they found interesting. If children enjoyed school more they would probably not mind going so much.
Something to think about: How much more fun is school when there are hands on activities and interaction. As we get older it seems that school becomes a bunch of lectures, book-work, tests and quizzes. How could we make adult classes more fun?
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Aloha Kawai,
ReplyDeleteAs an early childhood educator, how was your feelings of disappointment and discouragement affected how you teach children? I certainly agree that standardized testing is not appropriate for young children, but how do you advocate for them? Do you conform to what is expected from government agencies or do you teach what is best and most effective for young children? As early child educators we must continue to advocate for what we believe is best because the policies that seem to be driving the field are becoming more and more about achievement and outcomes rather than appropriate, meaningful experiences.
Hi Kawai,
ReplyDeleteInteresting question -- Why change the norm? I imagine this question echoing through policymakers' chambers or administrators' offices or even some teachers' classroom. Why should the norm be challenged? It seems easy to keep things as they are -- teaching the same way to all children, using the same activities every year, conforming to the standardized testing processes. Yet, what would it mean for children if educators chose not to accept any norm? How might the stories in the Rethinking text change? What are teachers' roles in this possible change?
Jeanne
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your comments. I do agree about the testing and it's very good how you mentioned your experience on taking the SAT's. I remembered how I use to hate taking those tests and didn't understand how it relates to our school's curriculum. We as teachers do need to find ways to have children gain knowledge through more hands on work than taking tests. From my experiences I loved going to the classes with group work and discussions. Maybe we should encourage our teachers to do these activities because we all learn easier doing hands on work than just lectures.