Setting a Standard, by Donna Pitino

Are you able to "accentuate the positive" when it comes to test-taking?

I have never been a fan of standardized testing. The time spent teaching to the test and administering it do not rank high on my list of priorities.

As teachers, we know that children possess multiple intelligences, many of which are not measured by a paper-and-pencil test. Sometimes, under the pressure of producing "results," I forget this. I'm not the only one. Listen to what these following teachers had to say about their now famous pupils:

Beethoven is helpless as a composer.

Thomas Edison is too stupid to learn.

Albert Einstein is mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.

By what standards had these students been measured?

Seeing the positive
Left to our own choices, teachers employ a variety of methods to test a student's understanding. Some of these methods include: hands-on models, demonstrations, oral presentations, PowerPoint™ programs, discussion groups and creative interpretations of factual material (paintings, plays, songs, poems, stories, etc.), to name a few.

However, since we are required to give certain tests, I try to see something positive in them. I tell the students the most important thing they can do to prepare for the test is to try their best – not primarily to get a good score, but because trying their best challenges their minds. Anything to get those brain cells working is a good thing! Seeing this connection shifts the emphasis from getting the "right" answer to improving their reasoning ability.

Giving them options
Next, I have assigned work on hand for those students who finish before the others, especially for days when we have the longer standardized tests. They can do things like work on our current project, bring in a book to read, or write in their journals. I feel it's important not to overload your students right after the test, but if they don't have options, they may begin distracting those who are still working.

Finally, I give my kids lollipops. Maybe that's a tactic left over from my kindergarten days, but it truly does seem to relax them as they work!

Above all, I try to pass on to my students that the tests don't tell all the things they can do: each of them has good ideas; each of them is important to their friends and to their families. As teachers, it may be our job to administer tests, but let's remember that it's also our job to pass on those other very important things.

Donna Pitino teaches language arts at Torrington Middle School in Torrington, CT. She's also a freelance magazine writer.