Author: brian

It’s about passing tests

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“School isn’t about learning, it’s about passing tests.”

That was a comment I overheard from a ninth grade student recently.

Sadly, she’s right. At least in most schools and classrooms. Including mine.

The damaging impacts of high-stakes tests on teaching and learning are real. Personally, it has dramatically impacted my career over the last ten years. I’m brainwashed by these tests. Really. My lessons begin and end with thoughts of the NYS Regents exams. If it’s not on the test, I don’t teach it.

Through all this, do my kids learn mathematics? Probably. I can’t say for sure. But do they learn how to take tests on mathematics? Definitely. Make no mistake, there’s a widening divide between these two abilities.

This is not to say that tests themselves are necessarily the problem. They aren’t. In fact, there’s research that shows that tests can actually promote learning. Take a unit exam or exit slip, for example. In my case, students often complete these assessments individually. If students don’t do well, they can retake at any time, for any reason. There’s no pressure to do well on the first go around. You don’t get it? No big deal. Let’s find our weakness, improve, and try again. The focus of these assessments is learning.

This can’t be said for high-stakes tests. And herein lies my headache.

I know this is nothing new. I’m simply echoing the voices of millions of teachers all around this country. Ironically, though, what motivated this post wasn’t the countless adversaries of high-stakes tests, but the voice of one ninth grade student. She believes the purpose of school is to prepare her to fill in bubbles with a #2 pencil. This really bothers me.

The fact that she has devalued learning in the school setting – and reduced it to passing a test – is deeply troubling. And I know she’s not alone. It makes me seriously question how I’m contributing to this high-stakes epidemic.

 

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#MTBoS30

I totally stumbled upon this during the last couple of days, but I’ve decided to adopt a customized version of #MTBoS30. Right now, my writing isn’t efficient enough to squeeze in one blog post each day and still maintain a sense of normalcy with life. So instead, I’m committing to one deeply reflective Twitter post each day. This is something I don’t do enough of so, to a lesser degree, I hope the end result – writing, reflecting, growing, and sharing more – is similar to those that are blogging traditionally.

This will be a practical, yet challenging journey for me. Being succinct is an arduous task in itself, which I will embrace. Less is more.

Each of my #MTBoS30 Tweets will be embedded here, the most recent first.

 

Trashketball

 

I always hear about Trashketball. I thought I’d briefly share the version I play with my students.

I set up the room with 1, 2, and 3 point distances, one of each. I use duct tape and white out for this. 

I post a question. Each group works on it and I randomly select one student to answer. Before answering, the chosen student can confer with their group members, but he must able to explain or justify his answer. Here are the guidelines for the game:

  • If a student gets the question correct, he earns three shots to make a basket. All shots must be taken from the same location.
  • Each group is allowed to passed earned shots to another group member once during the game.
  • Groups can use any resource but a non-calculator, electronic device to aid them in answering the questions.
  • If a student gets the question incorrect, I earn one shot to make one basket. I can earn a maximum of three shots per question. Each shot is separate from any others and can be taken from any distance.
  • Groups cannot communicate with other groups. If they do, I earn a bonus shot.
  • The game is the entire class versus me. Whoever has the most points at the end of the class period wins.

Here is what we use to shoot.

The trash basket is the typical, run-of-mill classroom trash receptacle.

My record as of today is 83-0-1. No kidding. Despite what my record may reveal about my utter dominance, my students LOVE playing. This is due in part because each class desperately wants to hand me my first loss. Hey, students need motivation, right?

Oh, and how have I amassed such an impeccable record? You’ll have to ask my students.

 
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HOT v. the most appropriate

Every now and then I’m confronted with the idea of asking higher order thinking (HOT) questions. A lot of teachers are. In fact, there seems to be an unhealthy infatuation with HOT questions in education.

Don’t get me wrong, HOT questions certainly have their place. They serve to connect ideas, broaden perspectives, and deepen understanding of the content being learned. I strive for HOT questions. Even if it’s indirect, the heart of any good lesson, I believe, revolves around them. They’re a must.

That said, there’s much, much more to questioning than HOT questioning. In fact, by placing so much focus on HOT questions, we can lose sight of how questions build off one another and their dependency on current levels of student understanding. What is the goal of the question? How will it lead to the next? HOT questions can be too demanding and, consequently, create a gulf between what is currently understood and what’s expected. Any question is entirely dependent on our students – nothing else. They must meet them where they are.

What I strive for is not necessarily asking more HOT questions, but finding the most appropriate questions given the context. “What” and “when” questions should not be frowned upon if they are frequently used during a lesson. Instead, we should be critical of the sequence of any and all questions we ask and how this sequence impacts students’ abilities to answer HOT questions.

 
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