Jaimie Howe contributed today's post. More of Jaimie's thinking can be found here.
I’m sure we all see and hear about the controversy associated with state testing and specifically this year in Wisconsin with the new Badger Exam. The controversy that accompanies this assessment and the decisions that are made regarding the Badger exam our pretty much out of our control as individual districts, schools, and educators; however, how we choose to handle, proceed, and/or deal with the fact that in the end we will all be giving the assessment in some way shape or form, is ultimately our choice. Instead of continuing to dwell on the fact that changes seem to be made daily, technology isn’t always working, or the possibility that it may not even be around next year; consider the material that is available to us and how those materials may support our teachers and students in so many ways; more than just preparation for a test.
Back in January, I was given the charge from my principal to dig into ways in which we could prepare the students in our building for the upcoming Badger Exam. I browsed, researched, printed, and read an abundance of materials available to us; in search of a way to build not only our students capacity, but our teacher’s capacity and knowledge in regards to the Badger Exam and ultimately, the Common Core State Standards. As our teachers plugged away at the materials through January and February, I couldn’t help but worry that we were spending all of this time “teaching to the test,” and wondering if all of this preparation was truly worthwhile. As I continued to have conversations with the 3-5 teachers in my building about their experiences with the materials, I started to worry less. I heard a lot of, “Wow, the content is so HARD,” but not hard in a bad way; hard in a rigorous way. Teachers have come to me and expressed that using these materials has really opened their eyes to what really is expected of our students with these standards and the rigor involved. This is really the first look, since the implementation of Common Core, that teachers have had, that truly allows them to be able to see and understand what is expected. I also feel that the way in which the teachers in my building chose to use the materials, has been paramount. At first, it was frustrating because the technology wasn’t working on ipads, so the students couldn’t access the tests since we do not have a computer lab in our building. However, not using the technology turned out to be very valuable. The teachers ended up truly using the materials to teach and not just practice. They modeled, worked as a class, worked in groups, and really dug in. I had numerous comments regarding how engaged the students were with the materials and the topics. Teachers have also commented that the resources have helped them in their own instruction. They have reflected on their own teaching and indicated ways in which they are going to change their instruction to better meet the demands of the Common Core.
As a result of this, the teachers in my building seem to be less stressed than other buildings about the unknown of the upcoming Badger Exam. They've worked around the complications, which are certainly inevitable with anything new; and have turned the complications into a positive change in their teaching.
In current times of education, I see too often, time spent dwelling on all that is negative and we fail to realize all of the positive that is out there. Because the teachers in my building chose to find the positive in the materials and use them to better their instruction vs. “teach to the test,” the controversy regarding the Badger Exam has affected them very little. They don’t feel they've wasted instructional time; rather, they’re thankful for the opportunity that they had to use the materials to improve their instruction.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to see some of the Badger Exam materials that are out there, check out some of the links below.
Online practice tests:
Print Resources:
Additional Activities:
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