I will tell the story of why I wanted to be an High School English teacher until the cows come home. When my family moved to Silver City, as a freshman I lost my class room credits in High School level Algebra (which I took in eighth grade) as well as my advanced placement in English and was given no credit for the two years of Spanish that I had already taken. My standing in the National Honor Society was removed because I was a National Honor Society Student from Texas? I don't know, it still doesn't make sense. I was placed in Algebra 1 with a teacher who did not recognize I needed more than the basics. I checked out. I stopped going. I smoked pot in the ditch behind the high school. I failed the class I'd already had credit for. Twice. I stopped being good at math. A shame, because I had been good at it. I distinctly remember feeling the thrill of Tetris-ing numbers, arranging them, calculating, making them FIT. Making numbers speak to each other in a way in which they could come to a resolve. A resolution. An absolute.
Math used to speak to me in its own poetry. And when faced with me and my poetic math... the instructors tossed me aside, asking only that I learn like everyone else.
I had one exceptional English teacher. Who blinking quizzically and I think a little surprised nodded in understanding when I had informed her that, "I'd already read that book." At 12 I'd already read Animal Farm, thank you very much. And for perhaps maybe a week I sat in my desk, rolling my eyes at my classmates...they were fumbling towards "getting" it, only parroting a generic answer and always answering with a faint question mark as if they did not trust their judgment, their understanding, their own mind. My flustered frustration could not be remedied because the instructor had an entire class room full of students who needed her attention. I did not need her attention. I needed her respect and she gave it to me. I was given other books. I was allowed to sit in the hallway and read.
The next year... ha... another English Teacher docked my first paper a FULL LETTER GRADE... wait for it... because I was, "Using vocabulary outside high school level" and it was assumed that I was some how... stealing the work, not doing my own work, something. It never occurred to the instructor that a 13 year old student in love with language would like to elevate her speech by, I don't know, USING A THESURAUS. I had to stop. I struggled. I raged. I fought a good fight. And then... I gave up. I watch what it happening to my little brother. To students in our nation. And my heart breaks. The struggles I faced with my teachers not tailoring my education to fit my needs has multiplied. Our students now face a significantly larger problem.
Universal Teach to Test.
I knew nothing about the PARCC.
I thought it was like the TASS. A two day event every few years that judged whether I deserved to be in a different class room setting. Like, for instance, I was already great at reading and writing so I no longer had to take English. I was given the chance to move on to another language. I did well in math so I was allowed to move on and start working on High School level credits. Other students needed more assistance in subjects. As an "advanced" student I was given a class to explore, use a computer and assist teachers in the class room focusing an little ones that needed a nudge in reading and comprehension.
I was build to learn. And eventually I built myself to teach. I wanted, passionately wanted, to reach students. To nudge them into accepting their problem subjects in a way that would make it fit in their lives. Yes, sometimes, a subject has to be Tetris-ed into the right space. It can fit if someone helps you figure it out. And sometimes if you don't get help the entire system will crash down, nothing will fit, you'll panic and put anything anywhere and sometimes sooner rather than later you will FAIL. GAME OVER. And the discouraged sense of failure can not often be bucked and shrugged away. Sad and frustrated you do not start over. You walk away. The PARCC... does not allow teachers to help individual students figure out how to make the pieces fit. There isn't enough time. There isn't enough space. There is already too much on the universal Teach to Test schedule.
If your student doesn't
get it
the way they are supposed to get it
in the time they are supposed to get it
The test will tell you they didn't get it. And then the school asks the teachers why they didn't get it. The money source tells the school that because not enough students got it... funding will dwindle.
No Child Left Behind? HA. HAHA! What about EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT. And some children need to learn with tailored finesse.
The PARCC is not a two day test. It goes on for weeks. If a student does not participate and pass in the PARCC... they will not be issued their diploma. They will be issued something else. Whether that something else will hold the same standing when applying to college is still something I am trying to figure out.
My little brother wants to be an Engineer. He must participate in this generic, cookie cutter education. He must suffer through this before he can bust out and BUILD.
But I think... children should be building their own futures. When left to their own devices children have the capacity to build things we never knew could exist. They absolutely surprise and astound. And when they struggle the good teacher, the creative teacher, can help them figure it out when given time and space. Sometimes it takes a few tries. But Let it Go, kid. You'll get it. The PARCC test compromises our students, our teachers and our future.
It compromises THEIR futures.
Math used to speak to me in its own poetry. And when faced with me and my poetic math... the instructors tossed me aside, asking only that I learn like everyone else.
I had one exceptional English teacher. Who blinking quizzically and I think a little surprised nodded in understanding when I had informed her that, "I'd already read that book." At 12 I'd already read Animal Farm, thank you very much. And for perhaps maybe a week I sat in my desk, rolling my eyes at my classmates...they were fumbling towards "getting" it, only parroting a generic answer and always answering with a faint question mark as if they did not trust their judgment, their understanding, their own mind. My flustered frustration could not be remedied because the instructor had an entire class room full of students who needed her attention. I did not need her attention. I needed her respect and she gave it to me. I was given other books. I was allowed to sit in the hallway and read.
The next year... ha... another English Teacher docked my first paper a FULL LETTER GRADE... wait for it... because I was, "Using vocabulary outside high school level" and it was assumed that I was some how... stealing the work, not doing my own work, something. It never occurred to the instructor that a 13 year old student in love with language would like to elevate her speech by, I don't know, USING A THESURAUS. I had to stop. I struggled. I raged. I fought a good fight. And then... I gave up. I watch what it happening to my little brother. To students in our nation. And my heart breaks. The struggles I faced with my teachers not tailoring my education to fit my needs has multiplied. Our students now face a significantly larger problem.
Universal Teach to Test.
I knew nothing about the PARCC.
I thought it was like the TASS. A two day event every few years that judged whether I deserved to be in a different class room setting. Like, for instance, I was already great at reading and writing so I no longer had to take English. I was given the chance to move on to another language. I did well in math so I was allowed to move on and start working on High School level credits. Other students needed more assistance in subjects. As an "advanced" student I was given a class to explore, use a computer and assist teachers in the class room focusing an little ones that needed a nudge in reading and comprehension.
I was build to learn. And eventually I built myself to teach. I wanted, passionately wanted, to reach students. To nudge them into accepting their problem subjects in a way that would make it fit in their lives. Yes, sometimes, a subject has to be Tetris-ed into the right space. It can fit if someone helps you figure it out. And sometimes if you don't get help the entire system will crash down, nothing will fit, you'll panic and put anything anywhere and sometimes sooner rather than later you will FAIL. GAME OVER. And the discouraged sense of failure can not often be bucked and shrugged away. Sad and frustrated you do not start over. You walk away. The PARCC... does not allow teachers to help individual students figure out how to make the pieces fit. There isn't enough time. There isn't enough space. There is already too much on the universal Teach to Test schedule.
If your student doesn't
get it
the way they are supposed to get it
in the time they are supposed to get it
The test will tell you they didn't get it. And then the school asks the teachers why they didn't get it. The money source tells the school that because not enough students got it... funding will dwindle.
No Child Left Behind? HA. HAHA! What about EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT. And some children need to learn with tailored finesse.
The PARCC is not a two day test. It goes on for weeks. If a student does not participate and pass in the PARCC... they will not be issued their diploma. They will be issued something else. Whether that something else will hold the same standing when applying to college is still something I am trying to figure out.
My little brother wants to be an Engineer. He must participate in this generic, cookie cutter education. He must suffer through this before he can bust out and BUILD.
But I think... children should be building their own futures. When left to their own devices children have the capacity to build things we never knew could exist. They absolutely surprise and astound. And when they struggle the good teacher, the creative teacher, can help them figure it out when given time and space. Sometimes it takes a few tries. But Let it Go, kid. You'll get it. The PARCC test compromises our students, our teachers and our future.
It compromises THEIR futures.
