Since I’ve dedicated this summer to being a full-time artist, my main creative outlet has been writing since I work my second novel daily and nearly everything I read somehow flavors that manuscript. Additionally, I finally found the time to reflect on my first two years of teaching at an Austin public school, which has been the most challenging teaching situation I’ve ever faced.
I wrote an essay, called “Monochromatic Butterfly: How Teaching to High-Stakes Testing Leads to Teacher Mediocrity.” Although I started working on this essay a few days after school was out in early June, I did not finish the first round of editing until The Fourth of July. I thought that was an appropriate time to email what was essentially a two-page protest about my current teaching situation to about 30 friends, the majority of whom were educators or had been. I requested that they email me their reaction to the essay. I made a special request to friends who happened to be English teachers and/or writers to edit the essay.
My goal was to send my polished essay with the AISD superintendent and Lloyd Doggett, but a few friends suggested that I send it to a few major newspapers as an op-ed piece. One friend, a journalist, recommended that I interview other teachers and throw in some stats. I laughed at the latter suggestion since I know that people lie with statistics all the time. I don’t want to adulterate myessay with that deviltry!
In the meantime, I was amazed at some of my friends’ passionate response to “Monochromatic Butterfly.” I emailed them back, asking permission to add their unedited reaction to my essay in its entirety. This would at least give other educators’ voices, chorusing in harmony with my main point: high-stakes testing leads to mediocrity, both among students and teachers.
With so much emphasis on the test, students mainly prepare through rote memorization and the “new strategy” that my school tried this past school year was to standardized the lesson plans as well.
I was horrified that things had worsened. My love for teaching had only lasted this long due to my freedom to be creative in the classroom while teaching the curriculum. Take away creative freedom and I might as well do some other less stressful job that pays more. (I know a few passionless accountants who make more money and have less stress than I do!)
Whatever happens as a result of “Monochromatic Butterfly” at least it has provided me a creative outlet to vent and share my opinon. Sometimes, just getting things off my chest is just the thing I need to continue pursuing happiness.