Day186 as an Oklahoma teacher
I spent the day writing lesson plans and grading the rest of the semester tests. Yes, I know that I should have been finished with grading those tests, but I don't get time at school to grade the tests. I always have to take them home. Semester tests are supposed to show a teacher what students remember, to remind the students what they learned in class, and to show the students what a college final looks like. Since I am a person who follows the rules, I created a test that took my students the full 90 minutes to work on it. This year, my students annotated an article, created five questions with answers using the Answer, Cite, and Explain strategy, created a formal outline for a compare/contrast essay, and was supposed to conduct a 10 minute discussion about the article, but we ran out of time. Are semester tests becoming obsolete because of high stakes testing? Are teachers really taking these tests seriously? Do I require my students to complete too many tasks on the test? If we are going to push students down the college path, they need to know what it takes to pass a college final. EOI testing doesn't follow a college final format, but a semester test would allow students to experience that idea. EOI testing is too limited and is not even looked at by colleges. It's time to make the semester test the most important test in high school, other than the ACT, and relate it to a college final. For the second semester, we are doing projects in some classes.
Despair
This week, a blogger challenge was issued to some Oklahoma bloggers. Even though I wasn't on that list, here are my thoughts about hope and despair in education. I'll start with despair. A tweet by Kent Bush caught my attention the other day. He said "You have to wonder how history will remember these states that cut education in the name of ALEC experiments." He was referencing what is going on in Kansas; a school district was going to a four day week while extending the school day. The problem has to do with budget cuts. Sound familiar? Until the teaching profession is respected by politicians, until authentic solutions are given to improve education, and until schools quit facing budget cuts, the problems caused by all this inaction will persist. All of what has happened has been a set up by other groups to destroy education, to manipulate the public, and to denigrate teachers. I didn't go to college and earn three degrees so that I could work for lower pay, but I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. Toll roads, outside groups, and political mayhems are more important than the education of my children and my students. This problem is not caused by one political group, but by both Democrats and Republicans. They serve us; we don't serve them.
A New Hope
I saw the Star Wars movie for a second time. In the movie, Poe asked Finn why he was helping him escape the First Order. Finn responded, "Because it's the right thing to do." It's the right thing to stand up for education. How can we stand up for education? Get the message out: share blogs, make videos, send emails to legislatures, visit the Capitol, and collaborate with Oklaed. I've seen the influence that we have; we just can't give up. The Oklaed bloggers and the #oklaed chat that has kept teachers informed have made the biggest impact. However, it's time for the rest of us to pick up the gauntlet and do our part in this situation. I feel that teachers in the rural areas are too silent and need to voice their ideas and opinions. The bridge has been built; we just need to cross it. It's time for teachers to go to the upcoming Edcamps in Tulsa, OKC, and Lawton so that we can collaborate, plan, and get ready for the next battle. The force has awakened.
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