Sunday, May 31, 2015

Testing Is Not Teaching

Our first reading discussion is scheduled for day one of the institute. I know many of you are anxious to begin your reading, so here is your first assignment! As you read Testing Is Not Teaching, select a line (or two) that strikes a chord with you and/or deserves discussion. In a comment to this post, record the line(s) and a brief (really brief, like a sentence, or even just a phrase) response. We will use these responses to frame our discussion on June 24.


Happy reading!

17 comments:

  1. "We realized that Sputnik was the product of Russian know-how so we realigned our teaching to focus on the thinking behind science and mathematics" (6).
    Was this the moment when science/math took over Classical education and the humanities?

    "When Laura got off the bus in the States at 2:30 p.m. she was ready to put her fist through the wall. She had few breaks, barely time to get to her locker or speak with classmates, and only twenty minutes for lunch. Worse, her independent reading dropped significantly" (71). Hmmm . . . how many of us teach in schools with block schedules?

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  2. "Make no mistake, when children cannot read or write, life will treat them badly. Good teaching is the answer. Good teachers, like good coaches, know how to raise expectations within a learning community. They build on individual power in service to the group in order to provide a level of excellence that transcends what any individual could do separately. Proficient learners help other children become better thinkers. Every child has some kind of excellence to contribute to the class." (20)
    Kids rise to the expectations we set for them. We need to set the bar high and provide kids with enough scaffolding to show us their "kind of excellence."

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  3. "One of the major problems we have in the teaching of reading is the aliterate reader, a reader who can read but doesn't." (p. 44-45)
    Kids need a reason to read and also room to select pieces they would like to read. Not every student is going to love to read, but I think we need to work harder to help kids hate it less.

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    1. This reminds me of Stephen King's On Writing - that writers need to read as well as write in order to improve. For the "aliterate reader", writing must seem futile or daunting (or both).

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  4. I thought I would share this even though it is not the official assignment, : Massachusetts students' artistic responses to standardized testing: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/10/standardized-test-art_n_7546756.html

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  5. “I submit that methodologies like those being propagated by Microsoft will produce the same kind of pseudo learner” (p. 37).

    While I am typically a fan of Donald Graves, this particular book is not my favorite. I find his rhetorical use of patriotism a little much. It was a challenge to keep reading as Graves denounced competition, capitalism ... and Microsoft. Bill Gates a pseudo learner – who knew?

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  6. "My greatest concern is that teachers will look up to the “wisdom” of power and authority instead of down to the children who are the source of what needs to be taught." (p. 51)

    Too often we forget that our classes are made up of unique individuals possessing a myriad of talents, skills, and needs. By tunning in to our students we can better approach them where they are and bring them to where we would like them to be.

    "Emotion is the engine of intellect." (p. 41)

    If we want students to peform to their highest potential, they have to care about what we are asking them to do. They must be somehow invested in the task. I think this is the most difficult aspect of teaching, building lessons that everyone will find engaging and important to them.

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  7. "Focus on the writer and the writing will come." pg 21
    Teaching writing is hard work as is learning to write. Shifting from what/how children are suppose to write to where the child writer is and what the writer desires is freeing (I assume for both teacher and learner).

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    1. Mary, my school and district (like many other) have a strong focus on student-centered learning (SCL). The quote you have selected is the purest form of SCL.

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  8. "I love my father." Ralph pg 15 Everyone has a story to tell.

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  9. " Teachers are left out in the cold and forced to teach writing as they are taught. The cycle repeats itself again and again, with both teachers and students failing to engage with writing and avoiding it as much as possible. Teachers remain the masters of their student slaves, always choosing the topic, responding with a grade, and seldom reading in to find out what the student is trying to say. Students knowing the teacher isn't invested in this exercise, reveal as little of themselves as possible" (11).

    How do we create writers and teachers that are engaged in their work? Connects to what I hope to learn here at the writing project.

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  10. How can reading, learning, or any other aspect of curriculum be improved if there is such a significant loss of teaching time? (pg. 3)

    This makes me think of all the teachers in our building who took class time to get students ready to take the Smarter Balance test this year...hmmm?

    More and more children can read but choose not to. They join the ranks of the aliterate, the army of children for whom literacy is not an asset and for whom it has no function. (pg. 69)

    This is why I read aloud everyday to my students. To show them how exciting books can be, and introduce them to new series/authors.

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  12. "Standards developed from afar tend to be abstract and leave out local aspirations, the real energy behind successful change" (Graves 49).

    Are standards developed generally enough to allow for teachers to fit them with local aspirations, and especially with the push towards standards-based education as well as individualized learning?

    "We have to look at the diversity of children's intelligence and teach them about learning through the things they do well" (Graves 89).

    Giving students the confidence they need to challenge themselves and push forward, but allowing them to have their own experiences and intelligence to fall back on if they get stuck...Allowing them to see what works for them individually.

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  13. "Whatever can be more cheaply and easily scored by computer tends to be emphasized in instruction."

    I feel this way every time students finish and NWEA and I have to check if their reading ability went up 2 points, as if that were any sort of measure of their ability. Nothing that is on that test makes them WANT or LOVE to read. In fact it does quite the opposite.

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  15. "The pronounced emphasis on testing has created an enormous imbalance between skills and the purposes behind those skills. In short, children repeatedly lose a
    sense of the function of reading"

    If the goal of school is to prepare students for their future, what greater disservice can we do for future generations than to rob them from understanding the very purpose of reading and writing?

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