Preparing For The STAAR

As days go by, the students get anxious, uncertain, and nervous about having to take the upcoming STAAR test.  It seems that most have been practicing and studying the various topics of the test for quite some time now, but not all have had the opportunity to have devoted and caring teachers in the classrooms.  My two elementary students have been practicing and learning all the concepts that will be covered on the test in April, but my 8th grader has been having to deal with teachers that expect their students to motivate and teach themselves.  For about 4 weeks now, she has had no homework because her teachers want her to look over material that will be on the test.  She says that her English teacher has given them a "Twilight Book" to read in class or study for their STAAR test.

As a parent, I feel that she is not being taught or motivated enough to be prepared for her test.  As a future educator, I know that it is our responsibility to educate the students and ensure that learning and understanding is taking place.  Three weeks ago, I asked my daughter to write everything that she went over or did in the classroom so that I could evaluate her lessons.  To my surprise, all she had done for those three weeks was "read a book and summarized the chapter read".  I was very disappointed and concerned so I arranged a conference with this teacher.  Upon my arrival, the teacher had nothing to discuss.  She simply said my daughter was a great student and that she had no problems with her in her class.  I was not surprised to hear this but I was very upset that all that mattered to this particular teacher was my daughter's attitude in her class.  This was unacceptable but I still remained calm.  I asked about her grades and she just said she was doing great!  So I specifically asked her for grades on tests she had taken already.  Well, she had NONE! She had conduct grades, participation grades, and a grade for her sitting in her desk and reading.

I went on to ask her to bring the principal in so that I could voice my concerns.  The principal had no idea of what was going on in the classroom and I was even more disappointed! My child had been at school for about a month now and nothing was being taught like it was supposed to.  I told the principal that it was her duty to ensure that students were taught by capable teachers and that the students were learning.  Once they saw that I was not going to ease up, they decided to send home a detailed schedule of what was going to be taught in the classroom up until the STAAR took place.

It is very important for students to be mentally, physically, and emotionally prepared for taking the STAAR.  NO student should go into the testing room without the tools he needs to be successful.  I have researched and gathered important information so that you can prepare your students and/or children for taking the test.  The TEA website offers a great deal of information for the students, teachers, and parents to use in order to help the students succeed.

REMEMBER: ALWAYS PROMOTE AND MOTIVATE LEARNING FOR ALL USING THE APPROPRIATE TOOLS FOR STUDENTS!

Behaviorist...how much is too much?

As future educators, it is our duty to ensure the learning of our students through effective classroom management procedures; but how much is too much? Let me relate an incident that occurred this past week at my daughter's elementary school.  My daughter is a fifth grader whom I consider being popular and intelligent.  She has several friends that she hangs around with and one fairly close friend.  This past week there was a "lice pandemic" with a couple of classrooms in the fifth grade. Naturally, my daughter was grossed out and went as far as asking me to allow her to stay home for the week.  I obviously did not allow her to stay home but did decide to take my necessary precautions.  Mid-week, my daughter comes home freaked out and upset.  She related that a couple of girls were bullying her about her having lice and calling her names.  I proceeded to ask her if she had let the teacher know about the situation and she stated she had so I, as some of our instructors say, "let the teacher teach".

The next day my daughter came home alleviated and so I figured the teacher took care of business.  To my surprise, she had not only taken care of the issue, but, in my opinion, had blown the issue out of proportion.  I asked my daughter how things were going and she replied with a smirk.  She then stated that her teacher gave the girls ISS also known as in school suspension and had encouraged the girls to act the same way these girls had acted.  She said "My teacher said for my friends and I to shake our hair in their face every time we saw them and tell them to share the lice".  I was furious! I drove myself to the school and asked for a conference on the spot.  This, to a future educator, was unacceptable behavior.  Even the fact that these girls got ISS did not make me happy.  I didn't think that the consequence matched the misbehavior.  It was the first time that these girls had in a sense bullied another student and the consequence of their actions was too severe.  

I voiced my concerns about these girls' punishment and then proceeded to adamantly ask for an explanation to the teacher's actions.  I was infuriated with her response but nonetheless, I kept my cool.  I simply stated that 2 wrongs don't make a right and that her counsel to these young girls, especially my daughter was unacceptable.  She replied saying that these girls needed a taste of their own medicine.  I completely disagreed and went on to tell her that as an educator she should find ways to solve the problem not fuel it.  She explained how she instills in her students the manners they don't learn at home and she drills them daily about how she wants things done.  I responded with a raised eyebrow and decided I would go in to the teacher's classroom to do some observations.  She was very critical about everything and she was very demanding to the students.The students had to sit a certain way, speak a certain way, and even walk in a manner that was approved by her.  It seemed like I was in an army base! After seeing all of the things that were going on in the classroom, I decided to set up another conference and have the principal sit through it.  I was not in approval of the teacher's behavior and needed a change.  I told the principal that I could see the fear in the student's expressions throughout the day and that their learning was being affected because they didn't ask questions to clarify any issue they were having.  Luckily, this triggered the principal to go in and observe as well.  She agreed that the teacher was wrong and needed to ease up on her discipline plan.

Some teachers don't realize that being in control all the time instills fear in their students and they then are not able to communicate effectively.  It is important that teachers allow their students to voice their opinions and feel secure about the environment they are in. Here's a link that supports my theory of a strong behaviorist negatively affecting the performance of students.