Testing season is upon us – state testing, federal testing, testing to see if our students are still breathing after all of the testing … it seems that education today cycles around testing. You are either preparing for a test, taking a test, analyzing the test data or testing again.
But I want you to remember one thing, we are teaching kids…
These tests do not define our kids, and they do not define our teachers. Our kids are nervous, they are feeling the pressure and taking it home. My daughter is in 4th grade this year – she has already had 4 separate 4 hour tests for reading, writing and math. We talked about what a test is, and more importantly what it is not – it can never assess her kindness, her generosity, the fact that she is a good friend or that she has won art awards. There is so much more to my child than what can be assessed by multiple choice questions or 26 lines on a single sheet of paper.
So as you are caught up in the stressful cycle that is testing – take a minute to remember what you really do – you teach kids! Thank you for what you do everyday 🙂
