My Teaching Experiences

I read test questions Wednesday with a small group in preparation of the ISATS. Ms. Gratton told me to pick three students to work with, so rather than select my three favorite students I chose the three closest to the back of the room. I figured that it wouldn't make a huge difference and that the proximity would be easy. Wrong! In my group was the dependent reader I've spoken of before, who initially asked if he could work alone, but was all right with being in the group when he realized that we were all working together and that I wasn't going to force him to read aloud in front of his peers. Also in the group was a very nice young man who was cooperative and pleasant throughout the whole reading process. Finally, there was a girl who was pissed that she had been chosen to be in that group. When I said her name (when I was picking groups) she scowled at me and sent darts my way through her pupils. In the group she was short, uncooperative and rude to me and the others. I didn't let her temper tantrum get to me, though. I tried to understand that perhaps she was having a bad day or that she was upset with me for putting her in a group with two boys and away from her friends. I didn't take it personally, but rather saw it as an inappropriate reaction to an inconsequential ten minutes in her life and continued on with the assignment. I wanted to say something to her about it later, but wasn't sure what to say or how to phrase it. I think that what stands out to me about this instance is that I can see myself in her through that inappropriate reaction and I hate it. She made everyone else in that group very aware of her feelings and made everyone else in that group uncomfortable. The one cooperative boy sort of laughed at her, but not in a way that anyone but me saw. I think I was so conflicted about saying anything to her because I didn't know how. It wasn't until I was an adult that anyone said something about those behaviors to me, and that hasn't always gone well. I almost feel like I've lost my moment to have that discussion.

Switching gears...to talk about the ISATS. First of all, I hate the idea of standardized testing. Second of all, I find this concept of testing difficult. Not in the sense that I don't understand the concepts, but in that I don't understand the test questions some of the time. So often, even on the kids' level, I find ISAT questions difficult to answer. I don't always know the right answer and I think I would get many of them wrong should I be tested. When I was in elementary school, we didn't do standardized testing. The elementary school I attended primarily had a lower percentage of white students than minority students. And this financially-challenged school that I attended was in Virginia, so many things were different - right down to the focus on phonics rather than whole-word recognition. I was never taught how to take those types of tests or answer those types of questions. I have the content knowledge on what many of the questions ask about, but I don't have the procedural knowledge. Sometimes I can get the answer narrowed down to one of two options, but have no idea where to go from there. Even if I can, I can't always tell the students why I answered the way I did. Helping the students and realizing my own setbacks with the testing makes me even more aware of why I dislike the tests - because they don't actually test knowledge. They test one specific method of answering questions that applies to no other aspect of life.

My Teaching Experiences
I'm a graduate student at Boise State University just starting to work with the school districts. This no-frills blog is my account of my experiences in the school setting. Archives: January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007	Sunday, April 09, 2006 I read test questions Wednesday with a small group in preparation of the ISATS. Ms. Gratton told me to pick three students to work with, so rather than select my three favorite students I chose the three closest to the back of the room. I figured that it wouldn't make a huge difference and that the proximity would be easy. Wrong! In my group was the dependent reader I've spoken of before, who initially asked if he could work alone, but was all right with being in the group when he realized that we were all working together and that I wasn't going to force him to read aloud in front of his peers. Also in the group was a very nice young man who was cooperative and pleasant throughout the whole reading process. Finally, there was a girl who was pissed that she had been chosen to be in that group. When I said her name (when I was picking groups) she scowled at me and sent darts my way through her pupils. In the group she was short, uncooperative and rude to me and the others. I didn't let her temper tantrum get to me, though. I tried to understand that perhaps she was having a bad day or that she was upset with me for putting her in a group with two boys and away from her friends. I didn't take it personally, but rather saw it as an inappropriate reaction to an inconsequential ten minutes in her life and continued on with the assignment. I wanted to say something to her about it later, but wasn't sure what to say or how to phrase it. I think that what stands out to me about this instance is that I can see myself in her through that inappropriate reaction and I hate it. She made everyone else in that group very aware of her feelings and made everyone else in that group uncomfortable. The one cooperative boy sort of laughed at her, but not in a way that anyone but me saw. I think I was so conflicted about saying anything to her because I didn't know how. It wasn't until I was an adult that anyone said something about those behaviors to me, and that hasn't always gone well. I almost feel like I've lost my moment to have that discussion. Switching gears...to talk about the ISATS. First of all, I hate the idea of standardized testing. Second of all, I find this concept of testing difficult. Not in the sense that I don't understand the concepts, but in that I don't understand the test questions some of the time. So often, even on the kids' level, I find ISAT questions difficult to answer. I don't always know the right answer and I think I would get many of them wrong should I be tested. When I was in elementary school, we didn't do standardized testing. The elementary school I attended primarily had a lower percentage of white students than minority students. And this financially-challenged school that I attended was in Virginia, so many things were different - right down to the focus on phonics rather than whole-word recognition. I was never taught how to take those types of tests or answer those types of questions. I have the content knowledge on what many of the questions ask about, but I don't have the procedural knowledge. Sometimes I can get the answer narrowed down to one of two options, but have no idea where to go from there. Even if I can, I can't always tell the students why I answered the way I did. Helping the students and realizing my own setbacks with the testing makes me even more aware of why I dislike the tests - because they don't actually test knowledge. They test one specific method of answering questions that applies to no other aspect of life.