Wordless Wednesday--Sort Of...

My colleagues and I wrote a song to High School Musical's "What Time Is It?" to help motivate our kids for their upcoming state test. It mushroomed into quite a production complete with video. I'm hoping to get it up on You Tube to share. You can see that I was able to recruit DS 2 and his friend K to help. I love it when people work together to make school a bit more exciting for kids! I work in a great place with great people.

What's It All About, Alfie?

When I was little, I took piano lessons. I hated practicing songs that I didn't know. I remember when my Mom bought me a book that was simple versions of "songs from the 70's". I learned to play this song, "What's It All About, Alfie?"

This morning I found myself humming it...as moment by moment at school revealed more and more horrible things. We were informed that a student would have to be tested one on one today. It seems this 12 year old youngster was arrested last week on sexual battery charges on another student at my school!! Then another person came in and told us there was a second student being investigated on ANOTHER sexual battery charge in a totally unrelated incident. And if that wasn't enough, the Department of Children and Families is investigating two different families on horriffic charges of child abuse.

THEY ARE KIDS!! Or are they?

This boy is 12 years old. His mug shot is on the police website for his arrest. Anyone can see it. The girl may attend our school as well. And I ask myself HOW does this happen?

I live in a relatively affluent city. Most of our schools are filled with upper middle class to the rich and wealthy kids. There are pockets, however, of total poverty here. My school represents one of those pockets. Many of our kids go home and don't always know where their next meal is coming from, where their parents are, and where they will sleep at night. Some learn crime from their older siblings, parents, and neighbors. Many have at least one parent who is incarcerated. Some have parents who speak little or no English. They simply came here looking for something better than they had in their country and they are doing the best they can to make their way in this place.

Regardless, the state testing continues. I get angry when I contrast the many children at my school who are sitting hungry, lonely, afraid and angry, in front of test booklets they cannot read today with those students in other schools across the city whose major concern is that they didn't get BOTH $180 pair of jeans this past weekend. It's true. Yet, those are the stories that no test results reveal. They never have and they never will.

So, today, I find myself humming...."What's it all about?????" I don't know WHO Alfie is...or was...but when I looked at the lyrics this morning to see why this song was coming to my mind...I was a bit stunned:

What's it all about, Alfie?
Is it just for the moment we live?
What's it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give
or are we meant to be kind?
And if only fools are kind, Alfie,
then I guess it's wise to be cruel.
And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie,
what will you lend on an old golden rule?
As sure as I believe there's a heaven above, Alfie,
I know there's something much more,
something even non-believers can believe in.
I believe in love, Alfie.
Without true love we just exist, Alfie.
Until you find the love you've missed you're nothing, Alfie.
When you walk let your heart lead the way
and you'll find love any day, Alfie, Alfie.

May we all find a way to reach out and extend love to someone less fortunate than us this week. May we learn to reach across racial and ethnic boundaries. May we find a way to bring light into darkness; love where there's hatred; hope where there's despair. After all, "without true love we just exist, Alfie...Until you find the love you've missed you're nothing, Alfie!"

And, THAT'S what it's all about!!

Thursday Thirteen #44

Thirteen Things Susan Thinks About "The TEST"... and High Stakes Testing in General

WARNING: This is MY Soap Box...so it may get a little lengthy....

1. Tests themselves are not "bad". They measure what kids know and can do. They also give educators very important information about what they have (or have not) taught. It's an opportunity for teachers to know if they are teaching and kids are learning.

2. HOWEVER, what is happening in "most" states with the "TEST" is really hard. In some cases these tests determine whether a child will "pass" a grade level or not. In my state, they could keep you in third grade for THREE years. (In all fairness, they say there are other ways to prove proficiency for third graders.....but they are just as rigorous and pretty much impossible to achieve.)

3. In some states they are tied directly to performance pay for "SOME" teachers. This means that teachers are becoming more and more competitive with each other over these tests.

4. Teachers of those students who struggle the most will not end up staying in those places where they are needed the most when growth on a test determines your effectiveness and pay.

5. There are a plethora of them in most states. Some kids take up to two weeks worth of tests. In Elementary particularly this is TOO MUCH! They ARE kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6. Even though the data reports indicate that on any given day a child would have acheived at a range, the score is hard and fast and the range is not considered for kids who are retained based on the test. In other words, on another day, a child may have been OK and no one would have had a knee jerk reaction and charted his future. But ONE score (not the potential range) is the only thing that is considered and his future is set with no chance for change.

7. Every year we read about teachers who "cheat" or violate test security in some major ways. This is serious business. I don't condone it and I certainly do everything in my power to NOT compromise scores on any child's test. BUT I do "understand" how these people are driven to this point. They really want the kids to do well...and they make a choice that could cost them their job. I am not saying it's a good choice...only that I know the impetus behind it.

8. The depth of testing we do makes people (both teachers and students) CRANKY!

9. When schools are "graded" or "ranked" based on the test, I don't think you really get a fair picture of the school. There are schools in my district that are "A's" and I can tell you there is NO WAY my children would go to them....it really is misleading.

10. I know that No Child Left Behind was implemented with good intentions. But I spend my time working with kids who have been "left behind" because of this law. There are 11 year olds sitting in third grade...they feel "stuck" and "angry".

11. Some teachers spend so much time on test prep that they do not TEACH! In most cases these tests are tightly connected to what we are supposed to teach, but teachers don't trust that.

12. The intensity of it all, can zap the FUN right out of the classroom. I suspect that when we, as adults, look back on our schooling, we don't think about that great worksheet or test we took...instead the memories are made in the FUN. I worry that we are not helping kids love learning and school and fun sometimes.

13. Let me sum my soap box up: Tests, in and of themselves are not "bad" or "wrong"...it's what we DO with them that really BUGS me!!