The former U.S. first Lady said, "You have to love your children unselfishly. That is hard. But it is the only way."
When I first read this quote, I began to think about the many ways that you can interpret that quote. Foe me I believe that she meant that no matter what the situation or circumstances that we are dealing with we have to be sure to love our children unselfishly. It may be hard because everything is not always easy, and children can try your patience, but God gave us this beautiful babies to love, nourish, and bring up the right way. We have to teach them how to love and be patient with others. We have to teach them that just because people may look or act different then us doesn't mean that we can hurt or disrespect them. We have to teach them how to love unselfishly if we want a better future for them and for all of us.
This class has been interesting to say the least, but I appreciate everything that you my colleagues have shared with me. Thanks for the great blogs.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Testing For Intelligence
As a public school teacher, I test my students a lot because I want to know if they understood the concepts I taught them. I chose different types of ways to assess them. One week I may give them a pencil paper test, the next week I may have them present what they have learned. I may even have the students write as essay or even create a drawing to see if they understood the concepts that were taught.
In the school system that I work for everything is geared towards preparing the students to take the yearly test. I don't agree with this because some children are not good test takers. Some children panic or freeze up when it comes time for taking a test. I believe that testing students is only part of what we should look at. I believe that we should look at the students as a whole. Some students are great writers, some are more creative and can draw or perform what they have learned. Children have a variety of ways to express themselves, so why should we limit them to just a yearly test. I think that needs to change and we should look at all of the abilities of every child.
The country that I chose to look at to see what kinds of assessments they give their students is Mali. The interesting part of my search was that attendance was low even though the schools were public. The reason for the poor attendance is that families have to pay for uniforms and supplies for the child and most families if they can get the children to the school, they can't afford the cost of the everything they need. The only testing that the school systems in Mali provide their students is the test they must take to go from primary to secondary schools. Another interesting fact was that although the girls test well to get into the secondary schools, the places are reserved for the boys, so most girls never get to attend the secondary school.
In the school system that I work for everything is geared towards preparing the students to take the yearly test. I don't agree with this because some children are not good test takers. Some children panic or freeze up when it comes time for taking a test. I believe that testing students is only part of what we should look at. I believe that we should look at the students as a whole. Some students are great writers, some are more creative and can draw or perform what they have learned. Children have a variety of ways to express themselves, so why should we limit them to just a yearly test. I think that needs to change and we should look at all of the abilities of every child.
The country that I chose to look at to see what kinds of assessments they give their students is Mali. The interesting part of my search was that attendance was low even though the schools were public. The reason for the poor attendance is that families have to pay for uniforms and supplies for the child and most families if they can get the children to the school, they can't afford the cost of the everything they need. The only testing that the school systems in Mali provide their students is the test they must take to go from primary to secondary schools. Another interesting fact was that although the girls test well to get into the secondary schools, the places are reserved for the boys, so most girls never get to attend the secondary school.
In order for a teacher to make and accurate assessment of any child, we must look at the child as a whole. We cannot just look at one yearly test to say that a child has successfully completed a school year. We must look at the child has done throughout the year to make an accurate assessment.
References:
(2011). Education in Mali. Retrieved August 3, 2011 from http//www.askjeeves.com
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