April was a blur. There’s no other way to put it. Yes, it’s common to hear many teachers say, “This year is going by so fast. I can’t believe it’s already _____”. But due to a few factors, this past month seemed to speed by faster than Usain Bolt. First, we had spring break. Next, it was a week of SBA (Smarter Balanced Assessment) Boot Camp. Then, with two weeks left we ended the month with the SBA state test. During those ten instructional days some of my thoughts wandered into questions. Did I really teach this month? Did I have any sort of impact on my kids? Did I really do what was in the best interest of them, their growth, and their learning in my class? As I watched our kids work day after day, I realized my thoughts were shifting from me and what I had done to them and what they were doing.
It seems that our students listened to the information, to the advice, to the tips-and-trick-of-the-trade we had talked to them about during our Boot Camp week. While we didn’t really want to give up even more class time, having gone through the state testing cycle for a few years now we felt like we owed it to our kids to talk to them about what we’ve seen, what we’ve learned, and what we would recommend they do. We did what we thought was best in hopes that they would remember and apply that information when the test started.
Then we started our designated two weeks of testing not sure if we’d need all 10 days. In the past we haven’t. Even though our students only work on the parts of the state test during their Language Arts period, usually the vast majority were done by day seven or eight and the number of students needing more time was small enough that we handed those test tickets over to other test coordinators to decide a time and place for those kids to finish. This year, as each day passed, we realized that we would need to use all 10 of those days. That’s what we promised the kids. That’s what they were (verbally) counting on. That’s what was best for them.
Despite the fact that after these two weeks the number of not-yet-finished may be slightly higher than in the past, I honestly don’t regret anything I did throughout April. Why? My kids gave their best effort each day, took their time, used their knowledge and studied the resources I provided. And now we can get back to our “normal” and embark on a new and exciting path of discovery in our final 33 days.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
