Use only a #2 Pencil

Well, it's silent in the Elms right now -- something that rarely happens when we're learning.  The GORP fueled students are bent over their MCAs, working hard and trying to remember that, this once, it's not O.K. to ask a neighbor for help.

At Prairie Creek, we don't focus on test preparation for a month or two before the MCAs.  Our first conversation about it was last Friday.  I think it is our responsibility to help students feel comfortable in test taking situations and to help them understand the format and purpose of this particular test. 

We explain that a standardized test is an efficient way to get a snapshot of a student but is not an effective way to get to know a learner or to see everything that learner can do.  We talked about our recent 4th grade and honors projects and how much more information that provides to us as teachers.  We also help the students understand that the state couldn't afford to send someone to watch their projects or interview so this is one way they can try to make sure that schools are successfully teaching students -- or at least get an idea of what schools might be struggling.

I also think it is important for students to be "good test-takers."  Unfortunately, standardized tests are a way institutions use to measure our abilities and students will be asked to show their learning this way for many years to come.  I keep test taking advice simple:

1. Have fun - smiling releases chemicals that enable us to think better.  I give the students test taking nick names on their GORP cups (ala World Wide Wrestling)-- "The Bubbler," "The Eliminator."  This kind of silliness helps students relax and feel comfortable as they are taking tests. 
2. Get interested - you do much better on tests if you're paying attention.  We talk about our "Wonder and Awe" habit of mind and how it can help us be better readers and thinkers as we're moving through new material.  I always share that I once had to take a two hour reading test that was entirely about the history of buttons.  If I would have been bored, I would have been sunk. 
3. Be prepared - know the format of the test and its purpose.   I encourage students to always take a pre-test if it's offered so that they can feel very comfortable when they are sitting down to the test.  They know what to expect.
4. Take your time - I am almost always the last person to finish a test.  We teach that "check your answers"  means "think through the answer from scratch."  For open ended questions, we urge students to write more than they think they need to, to be clear in their response (marking the different things they were asked to provide), and to be obvious ("as it says in the article").  This type of specialized writing takes time to develop but we do introduce the frameworks for successful standardized test writing.

  Simon and I used to have disagreements about test taking in the progressive setting.  Personally, I think that if a pedagogy is successful then students should be able to exhibit their abilities in a variety of ways.  I do think that progressive teaching allows students to excel in many, many more ways than can be measured with a multiple choice or limited written response test -- but when asked, I'd like my students to be able to perform on such tasks.  Simon, I think, saw test preparation as simply training students to jump through hoops, hoops that had no meaning and no value in "real life."  Perhaps.  Perhaps.  For right now, I'll have another handful of GORP and marvel at our silent, diligent students who have learned that no matter what you do, you should do it to the best of your ability.