Blog 4: Reflect on the idea that tests are the only objective assesments of students learning.

I don't know how many of you are like me, but yo mention tests and I either get so much test anxiety that I can't stand it or I just shut down completely. I don't know who coined the idea that everyone can take a standardized test and perform to the best of their ability, but they were WRONG!. I know a little boy whose anxiety is so bad before our Georgia CRCT that he has to go to the doctor because he becomes ill. Even when I did teach I hated that time of year when we had to administer the CRCT. Any kind of test that has to be under lock and key to prove our students are learning is just not right.
I would much rather walk into a classroom where students are actively involved in their learning and not sitting there biting the end of their pencil because they are waiting on the time to stop taking the test to be called. I understand that some subjects such as math are more difficult to have creative assessments but there has to be alternative methods to assessing ones math abilities. Yes, I agree that ttest are easier on a teacher to develop and grade but once a system has been developed the process can go rather smoothly. Allowing students to show their creative sides when creating posters or 3 dimensional objects to explain what they have learned is a much better way to assess them.
I am a fan of ditching test anxiety and learning new ways to assess what we as teachers are teaching our students. :-))

Ft. Walton Beach 2010

Ft. Walton Beach 2010

Ocean Food Web - ASSURE lesson plan

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Ocean Food Web - ASSURE lesson plan

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When researching a technology infused classroom I viewed several you tube videos criiticising the way we teach. Most were comparing our classrooms to those of several decades ago and showing that not much has changed. I find this amazing considering the advances in technology and the advances in just he capabilities of the human brain. Our students are not the same as the students that were sitting in the classroom depicted in television series like "Little House on the Prairie". Our students are not going home afterschool and working on farms, they are going home watching television, playing realistic video games and communicating with others across the world.
We need to take this all into consideration when deciding on what we as teachers have to offer our students in the classroom. I would love to have a classroom where I am just the facilitator and the students are not only teaching their peers but are teaching me all of the "cool" tech stuff they know. I see the future classroom with less desk, less cluttered with teacher decorations, and more open spaces with cool new technology. Students are up moving around using cellphones, laptops, smartboards, virtual reality and 3D televisions. I love the idea of groups of students listening to different podcasts and coming together and teaching the class about what they have learned. Time restraints would be lifted on classes. The typical 55 minute classroom would be replaced with students being engaged in what they are doing and not changing classes until they have exasperated the excitement of the current lesson.
I want my classroom to be an exciting place, a place where students come to learn, and want to come and learn. I want to know my students, know what they like and not just be another warm body that passes through. Todays classroom needs to be as exciting as the video games kids play or else they have to "shut down" in order to participate in class.

A Vision of Students Today

Education Today and Tomorrow