Today was the second day of state testing in Minnesota. MCAs are brutal to my students. First, let’s look at the frustration factor. My kids have learning disabilities. Let’s throw a test in front of them and expect them to perform at or above grade level. Really?!?!? Then, let’s look at the average attention span of any child in society these days. Then, again, let’s throw a three hour testing time at the beginning of their day. Then, let’s look at the world of education today. Best practices say to actively involve your students, keep things moving, engaging, and relevant. Who lectures anymore? Kids don’t sit still in classrooms anymore (thank the Lord!). Teachers are constantly shaking things up, using different strategies, differentiating instruction, and actively involving students in lessons. So, again, let’s throw a three hour testing block at them and expect them to concentrate on the task at hand….for 3 hours!!!!!
Ok, I’ll let that go for now since that isn’t the purpose of this post.
My purpose… Good old fashioned fun.
My students were fried after testing, so another teacher and I took our kids out for a walk to rejuvenate them a bit. We walked around to the back of the building.We let them run through the football field. We noticed some other kids playing kickball, and then realized it was another class from our department, so we crashed the kickball game.
Our kids took the field and never looked back.
You should have seen the smiles, heard the laughs, and just watched these kids have plain, good, old-fashioned fun.
I took the kids out to be rejuvenated, but I think I was the one who was rejuvenated…this is why I went into teaching. The fun.
Testing is not fun.
Watching my kids struggle through the test was not fun.
Teaching is fun.
Watching my kids be kids… Running through the grass, playing kickball, laughing and enjoying the game… now that was real fun!
kmschad.life 
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