Testing,One, Two, Three....

     Parents of elementary school students come face to face with the stresses of constant testing in public schools today. The anxiety it produces is palpable. Not only is there pre-test anxiety, but there is also test-day nervousness, and later, the results can inflict even more damage. I have experienced it firsthand. Though, I always breathed a sigh of relief that the outcome was not traumatic as well. In their book, Strategies that work, authors Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis express their concern about this new testing-mania invading the public school systems, as they report that the federal No Child Left Behind mandate is becoming known as, “No Child Left Untested”. Harvey, S. and Goudvis, A.(2007), p.239     

     Working as an ESE inclusion intern, I sat in a fourth grade classroom and listened as the teacher lectured her students sternly about how she could lose her job if they did not perform well on their F-CAT tests; (as if they weren’t already under enough stress). This brings me to a much over-looked facet of the classroom environment in the “real world”. Ironically, this is a facet of the classroom responsibility that the College of Education impresses on teacher candidates to be especially mindful of: Creating a safe, secure learning environment where children feel comfortable.  So, how do educators become blind to the fact that putting this amount of stress on students is actually the antithesis of “Creates positive learning experiences: Recognizes cognitive and affective needs of individual students and arranges learning environments and activities to meet these needs.” (Accomplished Professional and Pre-professional Competencies for Teachers of the Twenty-First Century; Florida Education Standards Commission, Florida Department of Education, Tallahassee, Florida, 1996)  

     A study on Brain-Based Learning, provides some profound research, that is very applicable to this topic; it states: “Chronic over-secretion of stress hormones adversely affects brain function, especially memory. Too much cortisol can prevent the brain from laying down a new memory, or from accessing already existing memories”. Stevens-Smith, D. (2006). Brain Games. Strategies, Vol. 19. Retrieved October 24, 2007; www.healthybrain.org.

      

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      An alarming report coming from authors Goudvis and Harvey sheds light on what could turn out to be a destructive backlash from NCLB 2002. The authors refer to an article published in Bloomberg Markets, called “How Test Companies Fail Your Kids”. This eye-opening article written by David Glovin and David Evans begins by citing statistics on the $2.8 billion dollar testing industry, and then goes on to reveal that, “From 2003 to 2006 scoring errors affected literally hundreds of thousands of students in the United States. Even Tester-in-Chief Roderick Paige, former U.S. education secretary, expressed concern that testing may not be done accurately and competently. (Evans, D., Glovin,D. Bloomberg Markets, Dec. 2006: 126-142); Goudvis and Harvey, 2007, p. 239.

     While authors Evans and Glovin were disturbed by the fact that the lives of school children are being negatively influenced by apparent flaws in the accuracy of the testing industry, I would like to bring attention to what I feel is a lack of professional insight into the whole idea of “one test fits all”; which is basically what appears to be the approach to testing (and failing) students in America’s free and democratic public education system. If the education process is required to be “equitable”, then shouldn’t testing be required to fit similar parameters?  

     Does all this extreme testing, which subjects students in specific age-groups to rigid academic evaluations, allow any room for the nature of individual developmental processes? For that matter, does it make room for the academic disparity determined by socio-economic privilege? The term differentiation is constantly being used as the measuring stick for classroom lesson plans, but the children it is supposed to serve are the ones whose motivation and self-esteem are destroyed when the “one-size-fits-all test” negates their academic progress.  Sadly, this makes me wonder how many unique future artists, scientists, or inventors our oppressive, educational testing regime will snuff out due to its rigid, irrational agenda.  

    

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      I wonder how many times Thomas Edison would have been denied promotion to the next grade level, had he been in our current public school system. According to his biography, “Thomas Edison attended public school for a total of 12 weeks. A hyperactive child, prone to distraction, he was deemed “difficult” by his teacher. His mother quickly pulled him from school and taught him at home. At age 11, he showed a voracious appetite for knowledge, reading books on a wide range of subjects. In this wide-open curriculum Edison developed a process for self-education and learning independently that would serve him throughout his life. © 2013 A+E Networks. All rights reserved."   I fear Edison’s curiosity for exploration would have been held back by below average test scores, because as a boy, his energies were channeled toward whatever piqued his interest, and children today have to focus on what's going to be  on the test.

     Then, there’s Albert Einstein, who probably would have failed so many of our modern academic evaluations, that he would have lost his unique curiosity for scientific investigation. A biographer writes, “Once Albert learned to speak and got into school- he didn’t fit in – neither with his fellow students nor with his teachers. Poor Al. Simply put, he was rather odd. Fellow students viewed him as a freak because they were obsessed with sports and he wasn’t interested at all. In academics, his school emphasized rote memorization rather than creativity, and he wasn’t good at rote learning.” Brian, Denis, Albert Einstein: A Life, 1996, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

      The one-test-fits-all mentality which dominates the education system today shows no mercy to the kinesthetic learner who needs hands-on learning experiences to excel academically, as well as to express himself, along with a relaxed classroom environment for optimum academic development. An article on the internet describes this unique type of learner. “Kinesthetic learners typically learn best by doing. They are naturally good at physical activities like sports and dance. They enjoy learning through hands-on methods. They typically like how-to guides and action-adventure stories. They might take breaks from

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studying to get up and move around. Some may seem fidgety, having a hard time sitting still in class.” Kinesthetic Learners, By Melissa Kelly, About.com Guide

       Well known actor, Jim Carrey was one of these kinesthetic style learners, but was also affected by socio-economic hardship which is a factor responsible for the gap in academic gains for many struggling students. For Carrey, it meant dropping out of high school: “When his father, an accountant, was laid off, all the family's kids went to work to help make ends meet. Jim Carrey worked as a janitor, and eventually dropped out of high school. The Carrey family lost their home and lived in a Volkswagen van.”.© 2013 A+E Networks

       Should a one-size-fits-all test hold so much weight in determining a child’s future success and whether he or she has a chance to move ahead, when the circumstances and developmental processes which influence test performance are so uniquely varied? If, according to David Glovin and David Evans, the evidence of faulty testing practices was strong enough to rate publishing in Bloomberg Markets, Dec. 2006, then, why hasn’t the education profession lifted its voice to protect the students who are so vulnerable to these errant and inequitable practices? These alarming facts were published seven years ago! How much longer will this faulty system continue to wreak havoc in the lives of America’s children?           

 

 

Personal Development Proposal Intro

 

                                                            Pence:  PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL

 

 

         I am a first-year teacher. I have had two internships, each lasting three months in 2011. One internship was in a high school ESE/SLD classroom, teaching Social Studies, which is what my supervising teacher asked me to do, “Would you like to take over the social studies?”; they had new books called, United States Government.  Even though I didn’t have a particularly strong background in government, I did research on the topics of study and created lesson activities to increase student interaction, simultaneously facilitating comprehension. When the internship was over, the students made me a card in which each of them wrote a line. One student wrote, “Thank you for making learning fun.” 

        My next internship was teaching 4^th and 5^th grade inclusion. In this internship the present ESE Inclusion teacher simply had me walk with her and observe her routines in the classrooms for the first week. Then, she divided her schedule in half and gave me half of her classroom responsibilities. I did the work by myself after that. It was a very rewarding experience; in fact I didn’t want it to end.

        I accepted a job in October of 2012 teaching second grade in DeSoto County, at a Title 1 school where I had completed my inclusion internship with 4^th and 5^th grade classrooms. I was greeted by a boisterous, good-natured, but rather unruly group of students. One of my most essential tasks was establishing some solid ground rules for classroom behavior, and setting up a behavior chart. There was no behavior chart in place when I came into the classroom at the end of October. The students’ lack of regard for rules was a major issue; the previous teacher left because she was hit in the eye with a paper airplane. Once I established some basic rules, I had to keep reminding the students why the rules were important.

      I made a behavior chart out of five different colors of construction paper. Each morning everyone’s name was on green which had a picture of a smiley face: Below green was yellow, where a student’s name card was placed after their first warning; Below yellow was orange with the words, “WATCH OUT!” and a scared face, for the second and last warning; Below orange was red which had a picture of a crying face because when a student’s name landed on red, it meant that they had lost recess. I explained to the second-graders that it was not a situation where the teacher was taking their recess away, but rather a choice they were making to break a rule and thus, give-up their privilege of recess. I wanted the students to become conscious of the dynamics of “actions and consequences”. I put a piece of blue construction paper above the green, which said, “Excellent” which was for students who showed above-average effort or who were especially courteous to a classmate. We would read the rules together aloud from the poster I had made. The students’ behavior improved significantly.        

      In this elementary classroom there were five caucasion students, five African American students, and three Hispanic students. Six of the students were girls and seven were boys. Three students lived with grandparents, one little girl went back and forth between her mom and dad, and one boy was being adopted by his aunt. Two of the Hispanic students spoke Spanish in their homes; consequently, one of these students, a little girl, struggled the most with reading, out of the entire group. I discovered this while administering Fair Test reading assessments.  

     One of my students had an obvious writing disability which was a hindrance in nearly every aspect of his school work. I had to constantly encourage him, and often I did not require as much writing content from him; if Myles could get one paragraph written while the other students wrote two or three, I would give him credit. He actually did above average work in math, but often wrote his numbers backwards.  Likewise, Evelyn, the little girl who struggled with reading, was hindered by this in other subject areas, since reading is a skill necessary to all content areas. I believe it was a matter of a lack of exposure to books in this Mexican girl’s life which was the root of the problem. Sometimes, I would give her paper and crayons to take home on Fridays; enough for her, and her older sisters; they would thank me when they saw me walk students out to the bus. 

      One day my students all came back to the classroom after their scheduled library period, and I asked them if they were ready to read so that they could take their AR tests (the school encourages school-wide AR competition.) The thirteen students looked at me with discouragement on their faces and said that only three of them were allowed to take books out of the library because the other students owed money for late books. They all qualified for free lunch. There was a designated “snack time” for which only three of the students sometimes brought a snack. So, right away, I began buying crackers, pretzels, or cookies for the students who didn’t bring snacks (a minimum of ten students every day).  When I was interning at this same elementary school in a fourth grade class, the teacher didn’t care whether or not everyone got a snack, and she refused to provide any for those whose parents didn’t send one.  I would be working with inclusion students on math problems, as they complained that their stomachs hurt because they were hungry. The students in my classroom were also provided with free breakfast; however, the bus often arrived too late in the morning to allow students to go to the cafeteria before the tardy bell rang. So, by the time “snack time” came, these children were starving. I reminded students to ask their parents to send snacks, and I also mentioned it in the weekly newsletter, to no avail.  

       I feel that one of my strengths as a teacher is my passion for enriching the learning experience. I am including a copy of a play I created for my ESE High School Government class during my internship. We were studying the bill of rights, and had read about the trial of John Peter Zenger who was arrested for printing a newspaper story which told the truth about a dishonest judge. I created a part for each student in the class, making accommodations for their reading levels. We actually had to practice it several times so that the students could perform it for my university supervisor.  They took it very seriously and did an excellent job. Below is a copy of the reader’s theatre play which I created:

                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

United States Government, Chapter 1 Lesson 5,   Feb. 9, 2011

                                    

                          The Trial of John Peter Zenger -- Readers’ Theatre (play)

Jesse--   Judge : Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury we are gathered here today on the 9^th of March, 1734 for the trial of John Peter Zenger. What are the charges against this man?

 

Liza     D. A.:  Your Honor, This man is charged with printing lies about England.

 

Jesse--___ Judge:  Sir, What do you plead?

 

Brandon -   John P. Zenger: Your Honor, I plead not guilty.

 

Jesse--____   Judge: Sir, if it pleases the court, you may present your case.

 

Brandon_--   _John P. Zenger:  Thank you, Your Honor. I left England so that I could have more freedom. I have not told any lies about England in my newspaper. What I have printed is the truth; the jury can read it for themselves. (He hands the newspaper to the jury.)

 

 

             The Trial of John Peter Zenger -- Readers’ Theatre page 2

__Jesse        _Judge: The jury may begin deliberations.

 

Fidel, Freddie,Brandi______ The jury takes the newspaper and sits at a table in the corner to talk a few minutes. Then, the jury walks back to the courtroom.

 

Jesse__    Judge:  Has the jury reached a verdict?

 

_Fidel___     Jury: Yes, Your Honor, we find the defendant, not guilty.

 

Jesse__       Judge: On what grounds do you find him innocent?

 

 Brandi    Jury :  This man was helping to inform the community. We      need freedom of the press.

 

_Freddie_ Jury:     A newspaper should have the right to print what is true.

 

_Jesse_ Judge:  I rule that the defendant is innocent.  Court is adjourned.

                                                             THE END

 

 

     I also found graphic organizers on educational websites and customized them for the lessons.

 United States Government Chapter 2 Lesson 4

Name of Guiding Principle	What does it say?	How does it work?	What a Principle is
1.  Popular sovereignty	The people hold all the power.	The people elect their leaders.	A principle is a basic truth or law.
2. Limited government	The Constitution sets limits on the power the government has.	All parts of the government must obey the law.	A principle is a basic truth or law.
3. Separation of powers	The Constitution put the power of government into three different branches.	Government power is divided between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.	A principle is a basic truth or law.
4. Checks and balances	Limits are placed on each branch to prevent one branch from becoming too powerful.	The three branches of government are given separate duties, but must act together sometimes.	A principle is a basic truth or law.
5. Federalism	Power is divided between national and state governments.	Both national and state governments have their own agencies, officials and laws.	A principle is a basic truth or law.

      I feel that it is important to arrange information in a way that shows how certain ideas relate to others and thus increase comprehensible input. Some graphic organizers I would fill in partially so that the students would understand how to complete it with information from the text.

U. S. Government	Chapter 2 Lesson 4
United States Constitution	System of Checks and Balances	System of Checks and balances	System of Checks and Balances
Branch of Government	Power it was given	Power it was given	Power it was given
Executive, or President
Judicial, or Supreme Court
Congress, or Legislative
Congress, or Legislative

  

 

  I found different types of effective graphic organizers to customize for my class’s social studies topics. Sometimes I would type the information into a model graphic organizer for the students to view, using the document camera, as they wrote the information on a blank graphic organizer at their desks. (Remember this is an ESE/SLD class; but I also feel that even for Gen-Ed elementary students, having a completed graphic-organizer model to view, helps in three ways: 1. It helps them learn how to use a graphic organizer; 2. It helps them learn what kind of information to look for in the text; 3. If you are going to test them on the content, it can be used as a review strategy, as well as being easy to file in a portfolio. ) Another method I applied to accomplish content-area comprehension, is to have a completed graphic organizer in my lesson plan so that I know what pieces of information students should be looking for. I gave each student a blank graphic organizer at their desks. Then, I would draw a similar graphic organizer on the dry-erase board; as students found the correct pieces of information in the text through silent reading or whole- group read alouds, I let them take turns going up to the board to write in the information, and I check to see that each student is filling in their graphic organizer correctly. Basically, what I have described is the ways that I have scaffolded students in the use of graphic organizers, the methods are my personal synthesis in the creation of an effective, child-centered learning environment; developed out of an intuitive concern that comprehension ( my goal as an instructor) is happening for every student in spite of the learning disability they are challenged with, or quite simply, an inability to focus. Research has proven that graphic organizers are successful tools in facilitating comprehension for content area text:

 

 Reading Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities by Dr. David Moore and Dr. Michael Smith:

 Graphic Organizers Graphic organizers can benefit readers greatly before, during, and after reading (Roberts et al., 2008). Before reading, they serve as ways to activate prior knowledge and make predictions. During reading, they help students capture connections among ideas. After reading, they facilitate students’ consolidation of a text’s contents. Students benefit from the ability to match graphic organizers with corresponding types of text.   

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                                             Social Studies Lessons, United States Government.

Name of Colony	Good things   about the government	Bad things about the government	Opinion of England
Massachusetts	“Each man had a vote”, and “It created the first public school system”;	No religious freedom.	Loyal
Jamestown, Virginia	First assembly of elected representatives.	Ruled by a governor from England.	Loyal
Connecticut	Wrote the first constitution.	Ruled by a governor from England.	Loyal
New York	The right to a jury trial.	No freedom of the press.	Loyal

 

   Name_________________________                                 Date______________

             

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NAME:________________________________________           U. S. Government Chapter 2 Lesson 1

			It did not allow for a president.
	Too Weak

 

 

 

 

 

States refused to pay their debts to soldiers.

A meeting was called to change it and improve it.

It had no system of justice.

It had no system of laws.

Congress had no money to pay an army.

Each state printed its own money.

Articles of Confederation Written in 1777

 

 

 

 

      Another method I used to facilitate comprehension was to get out the art supplies which I purchased for my class and allow them to draw diagrams such as the parts of a plant, and then label the parts. While taking a RED 4350 reading education course, I had read a study about integrating literature and science in the elementary classroom. The title was, The Science and Literacy Framework SOURCE: Science Child 46 no3 N 2008, by Charlotte Rappe Zales and Connie S. Unger.  Adding the art medium was my idea.  My opportunity to apply this study came when my students and I read the story of Farfallina and Marcell: The caterpillar and the gander become friends, and then each go through a metamorphosis which causes them to not be able to recognize each other.

      After we read the story, I asked the students to get out their science books and look up the life cycle stages of the butterfly. I let each student choose what color of construction paper they wanted to draw a picture of Farfallina’s (the caterpillar) life cycle. The students could use magic markers or crayons. The students were very engaged referring to the science book diagram along with their story book, to draw and label pictures of Farfallina and her life cycle stages. We set our reference sources out on the back table. Many of them drew the tree that Farfallina spun her chrysalis from. Each student had a different way of illustrating and labeling the developmental stages of the butterfly, but they were all actively engaged in a science-integrated literacy project while using an art medium. The students’ work was amazing!

      This brings me to the “philosophy-end” of teaching; not to say that personal philosophy isn’t already evident in parts of my teaching style described earlier. I believe that the “whole” student is being short-changed, even neglected, because of today’s telescopic focus on Standard Test results, and streamlined, generic academic-output demands.  I am a firm believer in Gardner’s Theory of Eight Intelligences. I think that the educational environment should embrace the development of the “Whole” student in regard to the diversity that, in Gardner’s concept, belongs to every human being, not just cultural groups. I also believe that adding creativity and art to the learning experience in a wide variety of contexts will guarantee a deeper level of student engagement and participation; in turn facilitating a higher degree of comprehension and learning.      

      Citation: Oreck, Barry. (2006). Artistic choices: A study of teachers who use the arts in the

classroom. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 7(8). The flood of new standards and curriculum in all of the major subject areas, while often emphasizing the development of higher order thinking skills and creativity, can overwhelm teachers and inhibit their use of  creative, open-ended explorations and in-depth projects. In this climate, many teachers report that they lack the time and the autonomy to use the arts and that their jobs will be in jeopardy if they do not follow the given structures or scripts (Fried, 2005; Gatto, 2002)

2002). Despite these pressures, some teachers find ways to bring the arts into the classroom on a regular basis. Given the low priority and lack of resources for the arts in many schools we might conclude that teachers who employ artistic approaches are simply highly unusual people driven by their personal passions.

   (Gardner, 1993). These characteristics, among others discussed in the field of aesthetic education, allow us to identify artistic aspects of the teaching and learning experience, rather than to define arts simply as separate disciplines, each with its own set of rules and conventions. The teacher’s ability to bring the arts into the classroom – allowing students to truly explore and make discoveries, find and pursue problems, arrive at unique solutions, and communicate in multiple modalities – thus requires both an artistic pedagogy and an understanding of the aesthetic qualities of experience.

       I designed a poster for my classroom which read: Art is a personal expression; for that reason, each person’s art will be different. The differences are beautiful.

        I would like to work for an administrator who had a more creative outlook on education.