Testing, testing... click click click

Hello Teacher Friends and Students from the lovely Ramah Valley!

About 6 months ago, I accepted a position to teach in the Gallup district schools. I was assigned to a small town school where I knew testing would be a common occurrence- in the education world we call it "assessment" to make it sound less imposing. We are a data-driven school in a data-driven world!

I am not here to editorialize (okay, maybe a little), but more to discuss the student reaction to the waves of testing. Examples of student response....

"Why are we doing this?"
"What does "subject-verb" agreement mean?"
"Why do I HAVE to do this?"
"Done." (after waaaayyyyy too brief a time.... sigh)
"Am I dumb if I get this wrong?"
"How did I do?" (again, after waaaayyyyy too brief a time.... deep heaving sigh)


So, if we analyze data, let's use this data direct from the students. Despite repeated explanations, students understand instinctively that a 10 question quiz with one open response does not exactly constitute a fair evaluation. It just doesn't. A second quiz on grammar was only a few questions longer. This grade was added to their GPA and also determined their status, and our school status and my teaching status. Yikes. Although my students will hate me for saying so, this test needs to be waaaayyyyyy longer. Like 40 questions longer. At least. It needs to feel weighty and make sure it is getting a true picture of their comprehension. I want data to feed into my teaching practice, but I also crave accurate data. Let's say, scientifically, we need a larger sample size with a more reliable measurement.

Let me just address the responses of my students that pertain to their feelings of self-worth. (Big, hyperbole-inducing sigh) Guys, are we serious??? We speak to bully-prevention and tack up positive posters and Positive Behavior Reinforcement all day long. Then we administer an incomplete test with questions that are confusing to a group of students who desperately need to build confidence in order to develop that "grit" we are all trying to instill in our students.
How? How do I not teach to the test? How do I cover standards when I just need to hand out hugs? I know that's a bit touchy-feely and gets us into difficult territory, but really... let's think about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.




If we know our students are not fully meeting their physiological needs, and we are not able to meet safety and security... or love and belonging.... or self-esteem... How will they reach self-actualization? Who are the people we are producing in our class? Passing the buck, refusing to admit you are part of the village it proverbially takes... these are the ways we are failing our next generation.

If you feel the need to point the finger, look in the mirror. Each day is an opportunity for kindness. Are the current policies in education a kind part of the work we are doing? Using the evaluation we cite in Bloom's Taxonomy....



It is considered necessary to CREATE a better system. I am looking for a show of hands here.

With all of that said, the things that work again and again in classrooms the nation and world over are simple.
Organization
Clear Expectations
Energetic Educators
Caring Educators
Knowledgeable Educators
Resources (you know, books, teachers, materials, etc.)
....

Suggestions are welcome. This is a conversation that needs to take place. I consider myself a life-long student. I also consider teaching my own calling. Letting another year, term, week or day go by before better things happen is failing. And that is something I REFUSE to let my students do.

Thinking about my name....

So, I am taking a class to enrich my teaching practice as a Humanities teacher. Yes, I am taking English courses as well, but this blog pertains to my amazing opportunity to learn from Facing History and Ourselves, a wonderful history resource that began in Brookline, MA. Not too far up the road from me. So, some of my blogs going forward will be in line with that class and some will likely be about my foray into online classes with SNHU.

My Name: Amanda Ruth Pazzanese Whittaker Minaker

The story of my name is a bit funny. My first name Amanda means lovable. I remember knowing that from a young age- always a student of semiotics and language meaning.... The thing that is funny about this name is that it was very popular so I knew many incarnations of the name for friends around me. Also, the meaning is a little bit of a tease. You are lovable, not loved guaranteed. Still, I believe we live up to the titles and labels that are attached to us (more on this, I guarantee).

So.... my middle name is a bit tricky. Ruth was my parents' choice. I was named for my maternal grandmother, a woman who had a questionable history. My mother did not grow up with her for reasons which reason may not explain at the moment. I saw her a handful of times in my life, with a few fingers left over and I just never liked the name. Yes, it has a lovely biblical connotation. Still, my history with the bible leaves that something... again- best left unsaid. The name also took on a further negative meaning when it became another point of teasing for me. I was raised a Red Sox far. Babe Ruth? Yeah... So at my first opportunity, I chose my own middle name.

Pazzanese is my maiden name. My father's family came here in the early 20th century from parts of Southern Italy that are semi-shrouded in mystery. My great grandfather may have been dodging arrest or an angry husband- either way, he came and he then snuck back to get his brother. He married and I am told the family was quite extensive in the greater Boston area. I have done some research and discovered many second cousins in the area. I have always been proud of this name and this history. My father's family are some of my closest extended relatives.

Whittaker Let's just say.... it was a starter marriage.

Minaker- Ah... finally! This name is one I am proud to have attached to my history. The Minakers are a wonderful family and my husband and I have extended the line by three beautiful branches. Our girls' names were very carefully selected! When my husband and I married, I decided I would change my name (again) but this time it was my control. The Minakers descend from a German town- Magdeburg. They came over before the Revolutionary War and settled a town in Ontario. There was brief foray into the colonies, but mostly the family were Loyalists and any stragglers returned to their northern families. There has even been a history written about each of the lines of this family.

My father is full Italian (oh, there might be some Greek and Jewish in there too. That's the story).
My mother describes herself as "Heinz 57", but ancestry.com says mostly Irish (her father's family were Michigan farmers after immigrating from Ireland in 18th century) and her mother's people may have been French Canadian, Cree Tribe and English and Irish- they were mostly farmers in Virginia. So.... my history is unique and storied.

I feel like so many aspects of who we are are assumed our own, but the more research that I did into my family, the more I learned about why I am who I am.

Good luck to my children!