Given the fact that this past week marked my second week of Tuesday through Thursday insomnia, I’m now well rested and ready for another challenging week at school. I also can reflect on last Monday when I first learned that my educational critique, “Monochromatic Butterfly,” had been published by the Texas Observer–three days earlier than I had expected. http://www.texasobserver.org/oped/monochromatic-butterfly
Through my sleep-deprived days following, I forwarded the link to friends, family and my writers’ group. It’s amazing to think that what began as my way of dealing with the angst of teaching under such an oppressive educational system that functions solely to prepare students for a high-stakes test, is now “out there” for interested people to read and get a small taste of what a creative, practing teacher is up against.
People assume that the students are a teacher’s main source of angst, but it’s truly the system, perpetuated by politicians and school administrators who keep me up at night. They have the luxury of sitting remotely in their offices, far away from the students, and designing bureaucratic, nightmarish educational policies with disregard to how it will affect students in both the short and long term.
Common sense and logic should tell them that if a teacher is forced to focus more on an assessment than on content, then the challenge of students learning that content well will be much more difficult. The overemphasis on generating “data driven assessment” opportunities continues to plague classrooms.
And yet, my glimmer of hope lies in the fact that my voice is being heard. There are like-minded people who are in position of power and are willing to do what they can in order to help. It’s going to take a network of such people to change the direction.
Just last week, I heard a brief report on CNN about how the president was reevaluating No Child Left Behind. The report mentioned how some things would change in order to help schools better serve the students. This is the level that needs to start the momentum. I just pray that it is a change for the better and not just yet another assessment in the name of educational reform.