BP2_2009101_Anti-Teaching

“We are all cut out for learning. It is what makes us human. If our students are “not cut out for school,” perhaps we have made the mold too narrow or inflexible, or more likely, just not meaningful enough to inspire students to fit in,” (Wesch, 2008).

As I read the article from which the above statement is quoted, I wanted to scream “Thank you! Someone out there is listening!” Whoever believed that sticking 200 students in an auditorium with their $100 textbooks and their four-hour long multiple answer tests should be banished from the education world. While this method of droning on in front of a class, who is barely paying attention, may have worked at one time, it is out-dated and harmful to student’s educations. I once listened to my grandfather talk about how school worked “in his day.” He talked about how instead of testing every student with a workbook and bubble sheet, they evaluated students strengths and weaknesses, their interests and passions. If a student wanted to be a doctor, they would follow one course of work that helped prepare them for school to be a doctor, and if they wanted to be a refrigerator repairman, then by gosh they took electives in electrical mechanics. School was all about preparing for the future. We still like to use that line these days, but now it is a joke. School, for so many, has turned in to seven hours of cramming in as much information that you think might be on that standardized test as possible. I am not blaming today’s teachers for that either, and I tip my hat to those out there striving to do more in their classrooms. But as a country, until we realize that those tests aren’t going to teach our students a darn thing, there is nothing that can be done. I graduated 4^th in my class of 400 with a 4.2 weighted GPA in high school. But my FCAT, SAT and ACT scores were atrocious. Shouldn’t that say something? I worked my self to death to succeed and prepare myself for my future, but according to the state of Florida standardized tests, I was barely successful. I challenge myself, and fellow teachers, to change the way we teach. Make education mean something for your students. We can all gripe and groan all day about tests and standards and we kid ourselves if we think our students don’t pick up on that. We cannot allow ourselves to be completely governed by tests anymore. That means, if for only five minutes a day, stop focusing on the tests and the standards and teach your students something that they can apply to their lives. Just think, five minutes a day, could change your student’s lives forever. I had a teacher in high school that would take some time each week to talk about different career fields. She didn’t do it because it had to do with what was on Friday’s test or because of what we were studying, but because she thought it was important. Students still talk about how she inspired them to be more, to do more. What will you do with five minutes?

Wesch, M. (2008). Anti-teaching: Confronting the Crisis of Significance. Education Canada. 4-7.