Dear Teachers,
It’s testing time for the students in our state. As the tests get started, I keep reminding my kids a standardized test doesn’t capture all the amazing things they’ve learned so far this school year.
It doesn’t measure how they’ve become more responsible or how they’ve learned the magic of using flash cards to help them memorize vocabulary words.
It can’t tell that they’ve learned how to navigate gossip, disagreements with friends, or how they turn their day around after a sibling wakes them up way too early.
It doesn’t reflect how they’ve handled change – in our case, a move to a temporary house, a parent’s new job that includes a lot of travel, and a new school.
This testing period I also want to remind you, my child’s teacher, these standardized tests don’t define you as a teacher.
It can’t tell all the things your students learn from you.
It doesn’t measure how you are continuously teaching study skills, talking about personal responsibility, and asking them to speak up for others.
It can’t tell they’ve learned every student is different and how everyone learns in different ways. It also can’t tell all the times you take your students’ individual needs into account and how many ways you have to differentiate instruction.
It doesn’t reflect all the times your students got questions wrong until they finally felt the joy and pride of getting it right.
Most of all, these tests won’t be able to tell how very much you are appreciated by parents like me.
I know we try to pretend these tests are no big deal but when the testing time finally comes, there’s pressure on you to have students who are successful.
What the test doesn’t show is our kids are already successful because they have you.
xoxo
–k
Dear Me Tomorrow: Overwhelmed: When parents feel overwhelmed and need a break…
We think that kids instinctively know what cleaning up is, but they don’t. By teaching them how to do it, we’re setting them up for success and giving them the tools to be more capable and helpful.
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