Field Blog Post 3

This comic strip was based upon my observation hours completed at Brady Middle School. The 7th grade math teacher, Mrs. Beacher, was giving her students a test the following day and told them they had to study hard for it. The students were clearly upset, making comments about how they always have tests and gave out concerns of being overwhelmed. Mrs. Beacher brought over a textbook to my desk and told me that the school had changed the curriculum this year. She ranted to me about how difficult this year has been not only for her students but for herself as well. She told me she has struggled immensely with the amount of content she has to teach in such little time. She said her students feel as though they are being rushed and she can’t do anything about it. I felt bad for the students because they have not been successfully learning due to the lack of time they have to practice and solidify their knowledge on the material.

When I looked at the textbook that the teacher gave to me, I began reading it. The units contained about 5 different topics in each, and she was expected to cover each unit in one week. Mrs. Beacher told me most of her colleagues felt the same way in regards to the new textbook. The new textbook was hurting the kids and stunting their learning growth. It’s not beneficial towards any one to pack in so much material for the young students. The creators of the textbooks let down these students and teachers

This observation can be closely related to The New Teacher Book chapter titled “Time to Get Off the Testing Train”. Although this chapter is centered around the flaws of standardized testing, it can also relate to testing in general. According to the essay written by Stan Karp, “Like weeds in a garden, the spread of testing is strangling the curriculum, narrowing the range of what is taught.” When schools are hyper focused on testing and simply receiving data to get results, effective learning is put on the back burner. This was seen at Brady Middle School, where the students felt as though they were being rushed to constantly take tests, rather than spend time learning the material. It’s crucial that we as future teachers put the learning of our students first, rather than focus on testing them on material they aren’t confident about. The main lesson I have learned from this chapter and my observation hours is that assessments for schooling should be based on improving teaching and learning, not just to simply retrieve data.

Christensen, L. et al. (2019) The new teacher book: Finding purpose, balance, and hope during your first years in the classroom. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.