First day of MCAS, 2009

Today was the first day of the 5th grade MCAS for my students. They were so anxious and unsure of how to deal with their nervous energy. They were so resilient though... I cannot express how impressed I was with all of my 10 and 11 year-olds. Not only did they take their time and mark up the texts for today's session, they organized their thinking and found examples from the text for the open response questions.

I do not remember taking standardized tests that were so publicized and discussed when I was a child. I wonder how I would have responded.

At the very beginning of this school year, I asked my students questions about what they were excited to learn, things they felt nervous about, etc. Almost all students wrote that they were feeling nervous about MCAS. In September.

Today, I used several different strategies to help my students get through the day. I wrote each of them a personal pep-talk note on the back of a postcard (beautiful doggy portrait postcards published by Phaidon). I also had snacks and many words of praise. My students shined today. They were persistent and determined to show off their skills. Two of my students took longer than others (as I might have suspected). The solution? I offered each of these two young one of my scarves.

Earlier this year, one of the two boys had difficulty focusing on a timed writing assignment. He displays some of the characteristics associated with aspergers and has difficulty focusing and dealing with stress. At the time, I brought this student with me to a grade-level team meeting and tried to help him focus. After countless reminders, he still hadn't written more than one sentence on the page. I remembered weeks earlier when this child had been very distraught that I hadn't let him wear a winter scarf during class. He'd told me that it was a new fashion he'd seen in a magazine.

Random thought? Yes. Solution? I hoped so. In the midst of the meeting, I got up and went to my classroom to find my own scarf that I'd left near my desk. I brought it back and asked my student if he wanted a "magic speed writing scarf" to help him with the timed assignment. He did.

I handed him the "magic speed writing scarf" and he positioned it just as he wanted it. I asked him to show me his "ready to write" face - and he looked up with a big smile. This child is an amazing writer, but his anxiety can impede his ability to demonstrate this when given timed tasks. I gave him a big "1, 2, 3... go!" and he started writing. The magic scarf seemed to be working!

Which brings me back to today... MCAS testing. This child and his peer, who also hadn't finished the first round of reading comprehension testing, were sitting in my room struggling. I brought out my two scarves and asked the two boys if they thought the scarves might help. Did they ever.

Who would've thought that a pink and blue scarf would turn two anxious young boys into excited and energetic test takers?! My students finished their work efficiently - and with great effort. I was so impressed and proud of them.

I have so many thoughts about MCAS and the role it plays in our school system - as well as the effect it has on children. Should districts, schools, teachers, and students be held accountable for learning? Yes. Is this the best way? Probably not. For now, I'm choosing to focus on the success of today (scarves and all) instead of the bigger picture. Sometimes it's the easy way out.

a student's letter that has helped sustain me

I am starting this blog more than halfway through the school year. I am in the midst of my second year teaching 5th grade in a public school in an urban area. I am amazed by how much I can love my students and yet how much my work can consume me. There have been struggles I've endured this year that have made me want to just stay home in bed and sleep through everything.

Not knowing where to begin this blog, I am starting with a letter I received from one of my students about a month ago. This letter has helped sustain me as a teacher. It was given to me on a Monday morning after I'd missed the last two days of the previous week (for health issues). My student wrote the letter in different colored pens and decorated all of the space on the edges. She even created an oragami heart, which she decorated, and then stapled to the bottom of the letter. The letter reads:

Dear Ms. H,
I just want to tell you that I appreciate everything that you've done for me. Not just as a student but as a person. You are a great teacher Ms. H and you don't deserve to be treated with disrespect. I'm gonna do my best to behave better in school. You go above and beyond what teachers are supposed to do with their students. You go to the tournaments and games if your students have any. I appreciate the fact that you have the patience to talk to me calmly and softly. Even when I get attitudes with you, you still talk to me nicely. I think that you are the best teacher in the whole universe. You deserve a lot of respect. Ms. H you are the only teacher I have who I can talk to about anything. If I have a problem you make it all better. I appreciate all that you do for me. When I'm in 6th grade I'm really going to miss you. I won't be able to have anyone to talk to anymore, but if they let me I'll visit you. You are the only teacher I know who I can talk to about anything and everything. You are the best teacher ever and I will never forget you Ms. H.


I am beginning this blog with this letter because I love this student and want to believe that she is right about me. I want to believe that I make a difference in a way that will endure as my students grow older and encounter their own myriad of challenges.