Expedition Standardized Testing

Standardized Testing…no matter if you hate it or tolerate it, it is a part of the education landscape. There are many complaints people have about standardized testing.  High pressure isn’t good for kids; it takes the focus off true learning; it doesn’t truly measure a student’s ability, etc.  But often we don’t focus on the hard truth that testing days are brutally boring for teachers.  Staring at a group of students for four hours while they are testing is hard.  I have had several mind games I have to play to keep myself awake and alert. 

One of them is I treat the day as an expedition, and compose my day’s journal entry in my head during the testing.  This year I decided to keep track of my journal entries.  

Benchmark Day 1

Today I took my young explorers on a trial expedition. Fortunately, most of them came well equipped. I had to offer replacement equipment to one of them. We did have a few hiccups with the equipment at the beginning of the journey, but they smoothed themselves out rather quickly and we were able to continue forward. I had to field numerous questions on how to properly use their equipment, but better today than when we begin our truly perilous journey in the spring.

Benchmark Day 2

Today was our second and final trial expedition before the real journey this spring. I became slightly disheartened when some of my young charges did not know how to address a specific peril that we had trained for the previous day.  Many of my trainees tried to rush through the journey to discover that they were left waiting for those who were behind.  I hope they learned that those who take their time and are methodical reap greater rewards than those who try to rush to the end. 

STAAR Testing Day 1

This morning was the first of our 3-day expedition through the dark jungle.  I could tell my young explorers were jittery as they began to arrive at our launch point. After fielding a few last-minute questions about our journey and their equipment, we began. We started off our journey strong, and I was pleased with how seriously these inexperienced explorers took this perilous journey through rough terrain. A few of my pupils did become a little reckless as they sensed that we were at the end of our very difficult first day. Now that we have safely reached our base camp we can regroup for the next leg of our journey. 

STAAR Testing Day 2

Day two of our journey started off much rougher than the first. A few of my young explorers treated the day like a game. They left behind important equipment and ignored my vital instructions.  One even broke his equipment before we began. They do not seem to be taking the dangers of this expedition seriously.  Some clearly didn’t listen to instructions and ran into trouble as soon as we set off which could have been easily avoided.  Others needed breaks only mere moments into the journey.  By far this has been our rockiest start. Others were reckless and rushed through today’s trials.  It also did not help that the weather was indecisive today.  The temperature would fluctuate between sweltering and freezing with no warning. I only hope the last leg of the expedition begins smoother than today’s. 

STAAR Testing Day 3

The fatigue of this long journey has set in.  My chargers were slow to get started this morning. However, they were more cooperative than the previous day.  We had a small hiccup with our day’s rations, but were able to easily overcome it with some luck and quick thinking. Once we began, the majority finished the last leg of our expedition ahead of schedule and became restless as they waited for their more cautious peers. I am relieved that this year’s treacherous trek is over. My young explorers and I have earned a long rest until we must begin this journey anew next year.