Kontan.

I am a class sponsor and had to choose students to represent their class in student government. There were a LOT of really great applicants. Six students have parents who teach at the school. Now, I play as fair as possible and I’m not willing to choose someone just b/c of who their momma is. Little did I know that the maturity level of certain colleagues is not the same. Wow.

Students completed applications. More than 70 applications went out. Forty-nine applications were returned. One interview was completed a day early and three more students didn’t show for their interviews. I only wanted to accept 15, but increased that number to 20. Only one student with a school parental was accepted. I almost didn’t accept that student b/c of the parent connection but felt that was just as unfair as accepting the student b/c of the parent connection. One teacher made the statement that it was a courtesy. Um…no. I responded that I did not realize that was the way things worked here and had I known that I would have NEVER accepted the responsibility since that is not how I work. This tuned changed as another parent made serious waves. Emails were exchanged. Nothing too major, but the tone was tense. I stopped responding and turned it over to administration who gave me their 100% support.

I would hate to know that my children received ANYTHING that they did not deserve. They know that they are responsible for themselves and I will not step in to get them things they don’t deserve. I will support them and speak for them if they need assistance, but I will NEVER demand that they receive something that they did not earn.

When you do that, what are you teaching your kids?

I went to school to set up my classroom yesterday and was surprised at the number of people doing the same. New teachers had orientation and I ran into the newbie who will teach sociology this year. I was asked about my approach last year and responded that I got through it and did what I wanted to with regard to approach.

Last year, I didn’t have to worry about a state or district made final. I was able to teach the course of study AND have fun with it. We learned the basics, but I focused on cultural influence and decision making. As a class we frequently discussed the driving forces behind our choices, viewpoints, and personal stance on issues. We studied world cultures and compared traditions, way of life, and evaluated from our personal perspectives while questioning the acceptance of the traditions in our own society. We reviewed advertising and its influence on our lives, as well as the steady changes in advertising and media. We had a great time and many students commented on how they received benefit from the class. There were several who asked about possible careers related to sociology. They learned and were genuinely interested. I was able to conduct the class in such a way that students were engaged and had a say in the learning process. We were not driven by test review. Many of my students went on the psychology and were not happy with the class. Yes it was a different teacher, but that teacher also had to focus on the fact that there was a district assessment at the end.

Had I had to issue a district assessment at the end of my sociology class I would have taught the class differently. I know that some believe it shouldn’t matter, but if you step into the classroom you will see just how much it does. Knowing that you will be held accountable for specifics, and not broad goals, changes your approach. My students could have written a wonderful essay about sociological perspectives, but would have bombed a multiple choice test on sociological specifics.

Think of it this way…

I have a master’s in American History. I can adequately discuss any time period of US history, but if you get into specific recall of what battle where and the date for this and that, I’m going to stumble. I can tell you cause, effect, build up and influence, but I am very weak in the minor details.

Maybe I’m doing a poor job of explaining the difference. I know that my students knew nothing about sociology at the beginning of the class and were inspired to seek more knowledge at the end. Had I had to stick to strict textbook learning they would have gotten through the class, filed the content in short term memory, and moved on. We did the book route, but it was not our focus. With a high stakes district assessment at the end, it would have had to be…there wouldn’t have been time for research and discussion.

High stakes testing is a game changer. A teacher (or student) is not considered successful if the student can’t accurately answer 100 multiple choice questions about the subject. No doubt, there are things students MUST know about a subject, but their learning should not be based upon a response to 100 multiple choice questions designed to test their reasoning and test taking ability. On a multiple choice test students are not able to demonstrate what they DID learn. They are not allowed to demonstrate their understanding of a topic. They are demonstrating their test taking maturity. if questioned on their knowledge, and given reasonable alternatives, most individuals will second guess what they know they know. With confidence and maturity they will choose the correct response. Many students lack this confidence and most lack the testing maturity required to land on the correct response. They will fall for the distractors because distractors are designed as reasonable alternatives to the accurate response. Test taking requires a maturity that some students do not yet possess.

I don’t know the best alternative for determining teacher effectiveness. Oral response? Knowledge defense with an assessment panel? I do know that good teachers are limited by the current assessment requirements and bad teaching is encouraged by it.

This semester I will be teaching Bible History and two other courses. The two other courses are planned and I am confident in my ability to instruct and guide students toward success. Although I am excited over teaching Bible History, I am apprehensive. I feel terribly unqualified. My knowledge is limited, and I am going to have to work to make it an enriching course for my students. I’m trying to decide on my approach, and I think I have decided to be honest with them. The course is not supposed to be a dumping ground and it has been a very popular course in the past. I believe it will be best to let them know that I am learning right along with them. I have knowledge of civilizations, but my biblical knowledge is weak. I will be a facilitator for the class. I will be reading and writing, right along with them. Maybe it will be successful, maybe not. Either way I will learn more about myself and more about the Bible.