I was "schooled" by twenty-two 3rd graders.
The students in my third grade classroom have been working hard, very hard as a matter of fact, in preparing for the upcoming assessments given by the state of Oklahoma. Our particular grade level will have tests in both reading and math come the mid-part of next month. Not only do we work diligently during the school day, we also have after school tutorials 4 times a week. We are doing our best to be ready but as of late we have grown weary and tired of it all.
Today I promised them that we would have a respite from the rigor of state assessment practice and actually do some things that were different and fun for a change. I told them that they would not hear me say the words "test" or "state assessment" once during the course of the day. If they did, then I owed them each a piece of candy for every time that it happened. Last night we went to town with the purpose of picking up a bag of treats. I ended up reaching for a huge bag of miniature chocolate bars. I told Mike that whatever was left over (and I was sure that it would be more than a plenty) could go into his candy jar at work. I was confident that I would not say any of those words.
I was wrong.
Really wrong.
I almost slipped immediately upon starting the day when I was referring to our weekly spelling tests that happen each Friday morning.
"You all need to be ready to take your spelling t.......", I found myself stopping on that beginning consonant sound of t.
Several of the kids noticed it and I reminded them that the sound of t didn't make the word test. My journey down the slippery slope had begun.
I can't believe how fast I failed. By 8:20 in the morning, only 25 minutes into the school day, I had already said the word "test" 5 times. I did the math. That big old $10 bag of miniature chocolate candy would be gone in a matter of minutes. The kids were happy, as well kids would be when they are able to catch their teacher doing something she said that she would not do.
It was fair.
I knew it.
While they were taking their selection test for this morning in reading, I had the chance to stop and think for a moment about what had just happened. If they had heard me say that word 5 times in such a short span of a morning, I could only imagine how many times I say it during the course of any given school day.
It made me stop and think.
It gave me a sobering feeling.
It's no wonder sometimes that kids get test anxiety.
Why wouldn't they?
They hear it way too often.
Test taking, especially state assessment test taking, is a necessary component of being in school these days. It's not just Oklahoma either. Students in Texas, Colorado, Kansas, and every other state in the U.S. are in the same boat. At the ripe old age of 9, students are already expected to be able to pass reading and math. There's a great deal of stress involved for all concerned, grown ups and kids alike. It's not my favorite part of being a teacher.
In the days and weeks ahead, my hope is to have them ready to succeed. They don't know it, but their teacher intends to pray them through those exams as I walk around and monitor my classroom on test day. Of course I wish for them to do well. That's the whole reason behind this all. But even in all of that, there is one thing most important to me.
No matter what the ending outcome shall be, I ask them to do their best and give 100 percent that day with integrity and honor.
The test graders will not know just how far the students have all come. They won't realize how much work each child and their respective families have put into learning everything they could to be ready. Even if they don't know it, I know there is someone who does.
And the someone is me.
What a privilege it has been to meet so many good kids who would eventually call me their teacher.
Olathe Elementary in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado~
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