A NJ teacher surprised her students with motivating messages on their desks before an exam pic.twitter.com/SHcUPBd74A— Dory (@Dory) May 15, 2016
I don't have any excuses, really. I let testing get me down this year. I allowed it to show in my interactions with staff, and I let it show in a couple of interactions with kids.
Not my shining moment.
I see things like the tweet above online, and I think, "If I were still in the classroom..."
Hogwash. I can still do stuff like this. I can create (and encourage) schoolwide celebrations. I can portray the most positive message I can muster to the kids.
I don't need to say things like, "Just slug through it. Do your best." I can do MUCH better than that.
I have to be honest, it's really hard being the site-level coordinator of state testing when you barely believe in the concept of state testing at all. I want less standardized testing, and more individualized learning. It's hard to hold people accountable to that, but I'd rather do the hard work of figuring out how to make that work than give the tests we've got to our kids. It hurts my soul.
But I've got to be resilient. More than I was today. More than I was last week.
And you know what? I've got a chance on Wednesday to do it right with the kids I'll see then. I can also not be such a sourpuss to my colleagues. Sorry, guys.
I need to be more awesome. #kidsdeserveit
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