Reflective Thoughts

"Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them." Lady Bird Johnson, former U.S. first lady

This quote means so much to mean because I believe in it so much. You should expect so much from children because they are capable of everything you put in front of them! The job of a teacher is to give children endless knowledge and to be able to believe in themselves. Teachers should challenge their students and believe that they will succeed. Every child is different and capable of different things but they all have strengths that teachers should believe in. Teachers just open the doors for children and it is something that I am so grateful to be apart of!

Testing for Intelligence?

I personally think that when measuring or assessing a child there are many things that need to be looked at. I believe that they child’s academics should be measured to see what knowledge they have and what they still need help with. I think that a child’s behavior should be assessed to see if it is impeding on the child’s ability to learn or grow academically. I also strongly believe that the child’s home life should be looked at in some way to understand the positive or negative environment that the child is living in. I believe that all of these thinks should be measured or assessed because they all effect the child and what they are capable of. If a child has a rough home life and no one to support them, the odds are stacked against them, but they shouldn’t be punished for something they can’t help.

I looked into China to see how they assess their children. I was shocked at what I read. These children go to school at the crack of dawn and don’t come home until dinner. They are given exam after exam of pure recall information. They are expected to do well because they have no other option. If parents follow the 1 child rule they hang that over the child’s head and tell them they have to do well, their family depends on it. (Stack, 2011) To me this seems so stressful on the child. Children also go to school to learn to be creative and use their imagination, not just sit, listen and recall answer. I am glad that in the US I am able to teach and prepare the students not just feed them tests. Although sometimes I feel like it could quickly turn into that.

I teach kindergarten, which to me should be the most fun grade. I started 4 years ago and we had so much fun and did so many projects. As the years have passed I have had to do more and more testing. Now, all I feel like I do is test. I just finished testing for report cards and it took me a whole week to do! My poor kids missed out on so much direct instruction because I have to do what I am asked. I really want to know who thinks that this testing is such a great idea and why we have to have so much. I want children to love school, not be tired of it by first grade because of all the testing. 

Stack, Megan K. (2011, January 13). Chinese students’ high scores in international tests come to a cost. Las Angeles Times. Retrieved from
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/13/world/la-fg-china-education-20110113