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    We're all good at something

    I have found that I am pretty good at putting Lego sets together.  Sure, there are directions included for a seven year old, but assembling a set of over 200 pieces into something that actually resembles the picture on the box makes me happy enough to do a cartwheel.  If I look at the finished product wrong or breathe a little too deeply, it might fall apart, but then I get the satisfaction of putting it together again.  Yeah, right.

    My youngest grandson told me that if I am not the winner, I have to be the loser.  This is pretty good logic for a three year old.  When he races me to the top of the stairs and arrives way before me, I feel like I am the winner when I see the smile on his face.  It's the little things that make me happy.

    With all of the testing going on right now, I think it is important to realize that children learn at different rates and may have a lot of excellent logic going on in their brains that just isn't ready to translate into the right answers to test questions.  Spending time talking to them and listening to their answers provides more insight than a standardized test.

     

    bee 005

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    Posted: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 2:55 PM by Betty
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    Comments

    Pat said:

    I liked the points you make. In my class, my students were required to write "I am a Born Winner!" on every paper they turned in for a grade. Students who had me for four years told me that was one of the most meaningful things that improved how they felt about tehmelves.

    # April 9, 2008 4:42 PM

    Jenna said:

    I definitely agree with your points.  I was just thinking that we should never underestimate the power of a mind of a child.  When you look at a 7/8 year old, you don't expect much from them and it is very easy to expect the bare minimum from them.  But when they are given the chance to have opinions on a topic, some very wise words can come out of their mouths.  This often leaves me in awe.

    # April 10, 2008 4:27 AM

    Dave said:

    Not sure I agree with this logic at all. Without testing a child, no one has any understanding of whether he/she is good or bad at anything. You have to give a kid a basketball and ask him to shoot before you know whether or not he's any good at the sport. By not asking him to shoot, no one will know. Not even the child. He/she may have other qualities, sure. But, only by evaluating the child through testing will it tell us where the child is, and where he/she may go.  

    # April 10, 2008 7:56 AM

    Betty said:

    Dave, I think that testing is okay if done in a non treatening way for the children.  Achievement tests at the end of each year are fine because each child is viewed as an individual based on what he or she has accomplished.  When teachers have to cover material and test all students on the concepts covered, it just doesn't make sense.  Children do not learn at the same rate and don't take the information in and assimilate it the same way.  Therefore, some students are being pushed way too fast.  My point is that some children are feeling pressure to learn material faster than they can, and it's not fair to them.  Achievement tests at the end of the year are a better idea than what states are doing now.  I have to wonder if our current administration is thinking about how the kids are feeling.  What about them?

    # April 10, 2008 2:46 PM

    Stacey from Two Writing Teachers said:

    This post is so poignant and important.  Thanks for taking the time to write it so eloquently.

    SAS

    # April 12, 2008 10:22 PM
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