Mid-Year Testing Blues

Before break, there was mid-year testing. It is computerized so we get immediate results, but we don't really know what was tested and what the questions were. We just have to have faith that it is a valid instrument, a valid way of showing growth. But I am of little faith in these things. Oh me, of little faith.

Results?  I'm disappointed. Depressed, even, if I stop to let it affect me. I shake it off. The reports don't give me much information except their scores and whether or not they passed certain standards. On the one hand, I can say that our students are lacking pre-requisite skills to be ready for these new standards. This gap in their learning is to be expected. On the other hand, it still feels terrible. 

I have been tracking their progress in class. I know their skills have improved. Most of them are better at solving a long division problem than they are at estimating. I am not okay with that because it means they don't really have conceptual understanding. But, at least they can divide now. Many of them. If I just look at their work in class, I feel more successful. But somehow it didn't transfer in the test-taking situation. I am willing to change my practice so that students think critically, understand conceptually, even learn to enjoy math. But I am not willing to change my practice with the intent to do well on tests. 

I have heard this line of thinking that if students are engaged, and your teaching strategies are sound, then students will do well on tests. I disagree. My life as a teacher is about negotiating this tension. Can we just teach? No, because now we have to be publicly accountable. Our lives and our careers will be based on how well our students do on these standardized tests. Even if it's only 25% of our total evaluation score, there's a psychological effect that makes it feel like 100%.

What can I do? Pause. Reflect. Decide. Imua. I need to re-commit to engaging, meaningful lessons in which students can work cooperatively with each other and get something out of it even if they are at different levels. I will find ways to pull aside students who need extra help. I will find ways to challenge students who need to move ahead. I will maintain high standards in terms of critical thinking over rote learning. If I can keep that focus, and not mope about test scores, I will be able to get through the year.

Good Idea Grant Project Unfolds

Another thing that happened was that I got my Good Idea grant project going (projects using electronic modules called LittleBits). It's not going quite how I envisioned it, but it's going. I had to decide from the beginning how structured to make this. I went with the Little Bits company motto, "Make Something That Does Something." Pretty loose. At a certain point, I had this feeling that it was chaotic, and not going how it was supposed to go. The students were supposed to make a plan, and then build from their plan. It seemed that they were just doing whatever came to their mind. They saw styrofoam balls and wanted to make a snowman. They saw pipe cleaners and wanted to make candy canes. And heaven forbid, someone made guns from the connecting cubes. They were even making projects that had no plan to incorporate the Little Bits! They started to do their own thing rather than work with partners, which was one of the objectives. The supply box was a mess. The room was a mess. This same day, my principal came in, and I was horrified, because I thought things were going very badly. When she left, I had a talk with them. And as I was talking to them, I realized that there were a few teams who were focused, on task, and actually putting a lot of thought and effort into their projects.  One student had ambitious plans to make a hover craft, but realized, after trying, that with the materials we had, it would not work. This is exactly the idea. This is engineering, trial and error, problem-solving. No, the projects were not very complex, but it was a first effort. When I spoke to my principal the next day, she had noticed those good projects and said encouraging things. I think I got a thumbs up from her. I am thinking about how I can make the process more structured when we get back from break. I will not give up.

Why Professional Development? What the answer is not

I haven't written in a while, which is strange because so much has happened. We had a whole week of very good professional development (GLAD training based on best practices especially for English Language Learners and 1 day of Singapore math). The kind of professional development in which you know you learned something and you know you will use what you learned, because it makes so much sense. In a way, it's validating that this is what the "powers that be" are encouraging us to do. It seems child-centered, language-development centered, and in the case of one day training with Singapore math, conceptual understanding focused. This is in line with my philosophy of teaching. A couple of times the trainers referred to how the students will do better on tests if you use these strategies, and I noted my dislike for that reference on their evaluation. I understand that testing is so much a part of our teaching culture, that to suggest that it is not important "does not compute." Writing is important, communication is important, language is important, thinking is important. But standardized high stakes testing is not that important. At some point, my way of thinking will be the norm and not the radical viewpoint. So I have to keep saying it, planting those seeds, reminding people to always have their teaching philosophy at the front of their consciousness. Most teachers don't say that the reason they teach is so their students can do well on tests. I hope not anyways. Most teachers will say either they love children and want to make a difference in their lives or they love a certain subject and want to share that love with their students.