Week 4

We talk about testing in class quite a lot. It’s a difficult subject because there’s no right or wrong answer. I am mixed about my opinion on testing. On one hand, it’s important to have the benefit of knowing if a class or school is up to par with essential skills such as reading, writing, and math. It keeps the schools and teachers accountable for their students learning.

On the other hand, the impact of testing scores have put so much pressure on the schools and educators, it may not benefit the children at all.

Last week I read in chapter 7 of Tested, Maryland’s Anne Arundel County also uses Benchmark tests as a gauge of how students will perform in the state tests. These Benchmarks are given six times a year in math and three times in reading. Although these tests do not have consequences on the school, they are still treated with as much pressure and intensity as the state tests. The book describes how much pressure is put on the teachers to stay on course and teach the children what is needed to pass the tests. Throughout this chapter, I was thinking, what is being done to make sure the children learn? What is there to engage them in learning while they obtain the information? I would have been miserable if I was in this elementary school. This school operates on rigorous (maybe very cut and dry) lessons.

I question if all this testing is really helping. A lot of us grew up without this and seem to be perfectly capable. I’m pretty sure I comprehended more with lessons that were interesting and fun.

In the Ayer’s book, To Teach, he talks about building bridges. I’m really liking this book because I see how much he really enjoys teaching and how important it is to teach teachers to understand the children. This chapter is about building bridges and being responsive to the realities of the children’s lives. In order be a good teacher, we much understand our children. We must not only teach them but be open to them teaching us. I agree with many of Ayer’s ideas…… HOWEVER….. when do we have the time or flexibility to implement it into our classrooms. What if I’m teaching in a school like Tyler Heights where every day they are learning how to test or taking tests?

The subject of year round schooling was brought up in class. There are many reasons why I like the idea. Each year, children take a lot of time off in the summer. Some are fortunate enough to have great experiences like vacations or summer camps. But I think the majority of children don’t have this option. When I was on summer break my option was to watch television. I had some books that my mom gave me to read, but due to our financial situation, I didn’t get a chance to do any extracurricular activities. I also think that there’s an adjustment period when children first start school in the fall. Also, during the last month or so before summer break, many students have mentally checked out. Year round schooling would eliminate many of this and have the kids be ready the entire year to learn. School is to prepare children for the real world. Most people don’t stop working for the summer.

Another issue that came up during class was the subject of pay. People must be making extraordinary amounts of money nowadays if “teachers make nothing.” From the numbers that were given to me, teachers make a very decent salary. I wonder why everyone seems to bring up the fact that teachers don’t make much money. When I first thought about going into teaching, one of the (very few) cons was the salary. But when I looked into it, it wasn’t that bad! In addition to the salary, having a pension, benefits, and steady job makes me feel way more comfortable than my current job- living on tips. Lastly, I didn’t get into teaching because I thought it would make me rich. I’m sure many teachers would agree with me on this point. I went into this thinking, if I could have any career I wanted, without worrying about pay, what would I do? Teaching and working for Disney/Pixar were the only two jobs I could come up with.