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.