Today was the 3rd day of state testing, which meant it was the third day in a row I heard this phrase uttered in class:
"We already finished the reading PASS (state test), so why are we doing work."
Oh if I had a dollar for each groan I heard from students, who walked into my classroom when they saw my smart board, not turned to a movie, but to a bell ringer assignment, I would be a 3 day millionaire. Of course that's an exaggeration, but that is what it felt like.
The first day I heard their groans I was so frustrated. I wondered where they got the idea that my class would just end after they had taken the test. I very firmly explained that during the next 4 weeks I would be taking grades and that those grades would go on report cards. It felt like a battle with my students, one I didn't have enough coffee to fight.
Then I realized that this was based on expectations. Perhaps a teacher or parent in the past had put so much emphasis on the state test, that the students missed the point of the classroom. So today I backtracked over the notes about the parts of poetry and instead shared this poignant piece by Malcolm London.
I then did the dreaded English teacher "what does he really mean" conversation. I could see my students sit up. Here was a guy being honest about school, and their teacher was standing at the front of the room talking about how bubble answers aren't the most important thing. Why? Suddenly they forgot that they were mad that a movie wasn't being shown and were diving into their own poems centered around two small words...I Am.
This past week has been one of the hardest for me, but it wasn't just a lesson my students learned. As one student told a young man who had been absent..."It's not worth complaining, I guess we are still gonna work in her class." That's a lesson that holds true for me too, I've gotta do the work at the front of my classroom too. I can't just sit back and coast through these last weeks. I care too much for those young faces to let them down.
'till the cows come home,
Ellie
