It isn't that I didn't

It isn't that I didn't want to blog over the past four days....it just seemed that all wanted to conspire against it! The weather (see sis' I get it in early!) was gorgeous so we spent a ton of time outside doing absolutely nothing but taking walks, etc...who wants to be on the computer when the weather is gorgeous? Add to that the old computer issue..and my main computer has a BIG one.....and blogging was truly spotty!

Updated my Windows 98 (yea...whatever) per Bill Gates usual specifications...and as usual, the computer is now glitchy. Seems a file didn't fully install and I can't hit email or the web. Hence...I trudge up to Hunter's room to access his WONDERFUL computer, just to check email via the web and the like. YIKES! I have no access to my email address books, etc., as his computer (XP) doesn't talk well network wise to my 98 computer. Hunter's solution....sheesh mom..buy a new computer. My thought...sheesh Hunter...how about I steal yours...and the problem is solved! (Okay..not really as it was his Xmas present...and it wouldn't be nice..but it is nice to threaten with the MOM card sometimes!)

So what have the Oz residents been doing besides playing outside a ton? Trying to get rid of the last of the tummy bug with the littlest Oz (who is still randomly tossing cookies (and formula!!!) but who seems to be getting much better -- not that he acted sick anyway!)...trying to get the next littlest Oz up and ready for his state mandated school testing. Which brings me to a short rant..

EDUCATIONAL RANT
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Yesterday (Sunday) they ran a huge front page article in the local rag on how to relieve test anxiety in the kids that are about to take the CATS test(and rag it is....don't get me started on their election guide each year that gives profiles on all of the democratic candidates including positions on issues, etc., and then lists [only..no positions] the republican candidates alphabetically...not even by what they are running for......therefore Jim Bunning (Senator) was listed before George Bush in the presidential election guide, etc.) They talked to teachers who detailed children having panic attacks, children tossing lunch, children who are otherwise quiet and unassuming going crazy so that they could be sent to the principal's office rather than take the test and the like. The article then went on to detail test taking strategies that parents can use with their children to settle them down prior to test time (like breakfast on test day, breathing exercises, visualization, and the like). These are test taking strategies that I learned in late HS to take the SAT and the ACT! (Note to brothers....C....C...A...A...B..B..D..D...B...A..D...C..A...B....remember?!) It also detailed that the state is considering additional testing, early in the year....then these tests late in the year. These tests seem to cause real angst. But why you might ask?! Why thanks...I will give you Dr. (Mrs.) Oz's opinion...

When I was in school...the typical standardized test was the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. We knew that we were to try hard on the test...but that the test was only an indication to us, our parents and our teachers of where our skill sets were. We viewed them as a fun break from the normal routine...and some of us (not all!) looked forward to taking them and getting our results. We were tested (if memory serves..and the older I get..it doesn't often serve!) in 3rd, 6th and 8th grade. Kinda fun.

Hunter, on the other hand..takes State Mandated testing EVERY year.....and EVERY year the teachers indicate to him and his peers that this test is the most IMPORTANT test they will ever take in their life (wasn't last year's the most important test?). The administration comes in an rah-rahs the test at every school....building the kids up to a frenzy....and telling the kids..."If you don't do well on this test...your school will lose funding and we won't have ________ (read sports, cheerleading, chess club..etc)." What the teachers and the administrators AREN'T telling the kids is that this test soley indicates what the bonus pool will be for the school and teachers...and whether the school becomes a No Child Left Behind School (which in this district doesn't really matter as out of 16 middle schools only 2 are NOT NCLB Schools......and so transfering to a better school isn't an option anyway...they don't have to be in compliance.....). This year..they have added a new component (at least in 7th grade). If you don't pass your writing portfolio with a distinguished mark (there is Deficient, Proficient, Distinguished, and Excellent)..you don't pass the seventh grade. This is the first time they have keyed ANY portion of the test to moving on.

So....why are the kids stressed? Well..they are tested repeatedly...every year...they are whipped into a frenzy..they are told that 1 portion of the test (not their grades throughout the year...but this one portion!) will determine whether or not they move on....and they are worried that their favorite program will be cut from the after school activities. Sounds like a barf-fest for even those of us who DON'T have test anxiety!

Here is a stress buster that the system should implement.....teach the kiddos.....put them in schools near their homes (don't get me started on busing and quotas that this system has implemented), test them at bench marking years (4th, 6th, 8th, 11th) rather than from k-12 (or "incessantly" as I like to call it)...and actually do something about the academic state of the District. You say you need more testing...no you don't....the "tests" have shown you are FAILING at educating, do you think more tests are going to show anything different? Try teaching a constant curriculum of Reading, Writing, Math, Science and History...not "touchy feely" classes like "Diversity", "Alternative Living", etc.

Here is something to leave you with...I graduated 85th in a class of 297. Not too shabby right? Under the new "you have to pass this portion" testing...I would not have graduated high school as I could not have passed the Math portion at the time. I wouldn't have left the 9th grade. Am I stupid? Nope...I didn't do math well from a "book" standard. (I can now!). Did my teachers fail me? Nope....my mind didn't work that way. One more thing..the girl that graduated #1 in my Sr. Class.......got a 1000 on her SATs...why? She didn't test (standardized) well....was she any less worthy?........

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Okay..that was my rant! Anyhoo...all is well in the land of Oz......here's to a great week y'all!



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