Change of Pace

This week was surprisingly low-key. I gave an end of unit test to my sophomores, and they were actually quiet for (almost) the entire class. I have to give it to them-- it's difficult to be quiet and patient for an hour and a half. Classes really should not be that long. But I was pleased and somewhat impressed that they managed to hold it (mostly) together and get their work done. Also, I am still figuring out how long it actually takes kids to finish things, and how difficult they really are. Apparently the test was way harder and took way longer than I envisioned. Oopsies.

Anyway, here are more articles by the same two fabulous women I always praise. The first, by VS, discusses the ridiculous policies being enacted in DC public schools, even though they completely ignore facts and statistics. Ummmm, k. The second, also by VS, tells a rather depressing story about the College Board deliberately discriminating against a nearly blind student. I've always despised the College Board for their capitalistic, standardized ridiculousness, but this is just disgusting. And finally, this last article, by DR, continues to reiterate the folly of NCLB. She says it perfectly here: "The federal government does not know how to reform schools. Period. Congress doesn’t, and the U.S. Department of Education doesn’t." Amen, sistah!

What a week!

Phew. I am exhausted. This has been a hellish week. I'm not going to go into details, but suffice it to say that meetings put me WAY behind in terms of grading and planning (which I consider way more important, but hey, what do I know?). On top of everything else, we had a fire drill today that was not a drill. Apparently there was a gas leak, so they had to evacuate the whole school for about an hour. Fun times. It was good to see the kids fooling around, though. They needed that break for a bit. Anyway, I am probably going to bed early tonight. So overwhelmed right now.

Yes!!!

Nothing much else needs to be said. Horaaaaaaaay, Finland.

Whoops...

Haven't updated in a while. Bad blogger. Also haven't been keeping up on education news. Bad Ms. Brown. But today, my students took the PSATs. Most of them complained about it. Can't say I really blame them. They are so inundated with standardized tests that the important ones are starting to mean nothing. Not to mention that the class time taken out to administer these tests could be used for actually teaching something. What a novel concept. Anyway, here's an article about it (by guess who) that sums up yet another problem with the standardized milieu affecting education today. Woot?