Testing vs. Education

(I am not a writer.  Enough said.)

I've had a headache for several days. It is hard to feel excited about education when you don't feel good.

I've been feeling weighed down with scheduling math and grammar.  How could I possibly reach my goals before standardized testing takes place in May?  The more I thought about it the more discouraged I felt about doing math and grammar six days a week to reach my goals before testing.  As toad would say, "Blah."

The age old "testing vs. education" argument rolled around in my head.  Where should my focus be?  Testing or education?  I know the answer.  I know.  Education.  It should be about education.  Standardized testing is merely a hoop to jump through as proof for lawmakers that its citizens are being offered an education in the most basic of basics (awkward but I'm going to leave it for now).

Does checking off one math lesson or one grammar lesson excite me? No.  Are these subjects necessary?  Without a doubt.  They, along with reading, are the foundations of communication.  Without them we cannot communicate ideas to our fellow beings.  We cannot begin to participate in the great conversation.

It is a shame that some people do not realize that there is more beyond the 3R's.   They do not know what they are missing.  They view school as something to endure.  I was in this category and have the tendency to revert to that perspective.  I am there now.

As I looked at 11yo's standardized test scores from July 2012, I realized that she will do just fine in May 2014 and again in 2017.  And, I reminded myself that no one can truly evaluate a child's academic achievements with a mere 20-30 questions per subject.

If testing is not the driving force in education then what?  What makes me downright giddy when I share it?  Gilgamesh?  Odysseus?  Latin?  Yes!  I barely know them myself and yet I feel ... joy? as we learn of them.  I feel joy sharing things with my children that were hidden from me.  Together I hope we can join the great conversation.

This is education - to share with others what excites you, what you love.