A Different Kind of Effectiveness
This summer, I'm teaching rising first graders in a program called Targeted Services. It's a gentle way to ease some learners back into the school year. They qualify through all sorts of criteria that I won't bore you with. The short story is that lately I have been spending my days with five busy little bodies who are brushing up on Kindergarten literacy and math skills and remembering how we "do school."
I'm not a teacher, so I entered this adventure with a small amount of anxiety. I felt the pressure to get these kids up to the standards we have for incoming first graders. I also recognized that doing flash card after flash card and worksheet after worksheet was not going to be effective. So, we've been doing math and reading AND learning about different animals, and writing stories, and doing experiments, and creating and playing and laughing and practicing how to walk in the hallway quietly. It's been fun and draining and I have been constantly worrying that I wasn't doing the right thing. I was worried that I wasn't being effective.
You see, in education, effectiveness is the word we use as the ultimate measure of an educator's value. Our effectiveness measured in test scores. Some will argue that this isn't true and it probably isn't entirely true. I'm sure that other factors are considered. However, if you look at how educators are evaluated, you will see that our effectiveness is often all about numbers. How many kids meet the standards? How many didn't? How many of YOUR students met the standards? How many didn't? How many skills does that student know? How far off from the norm are they? How many boxes have you checked in all the things you are supposed to be the most effective you can be? Numbers...numbers...numbers...
I've been so worried about the numbers this summer.
Don't get me wrong. Numbers DO matter. We need to know what kids know, how many of them know what we want them to know, how many don't know what we want them to know, etc., etc. That's all really important. I will never, ever argue that testing is unimportant or unnecessary. However, sometimes it feels like we have taken a black and white approach to how we view success with students. Sometimes it feels like the numbers are the ONLY thing we care about.
That's super stressful because after 11 years in this field, I know that some kids will always learn things at a pace that doesn't match the pace prescribed by the Department of Education. They DO learn. There isn't a student in our building who doesn't learn. Some of them just take a bit longer to move through the progressions. That isn't bad or good, in my opinion. It's just what is. The tricky thing is that we are considered to be effective based on these numbers and that doesn't account for all those grey areas.
I want to be effective in my work with students. I mean, who doesn't? Since our effectiveness is based on numbers, these two weeks I've been worrying about numbers. A lot.
Then, a little friend made me remember to take a deep breath and worry just a little less.
Last week, we learned about oceans and sea turtles. We made sea urchins, and sharks, and sea turtles out of craft supplies and made a museum with our creations. Today, we took down our ocean museum and everyone took their creations home. I had made a sea turtle too and one of my little friends asked if he could take it home with his creations. I was going to recycle it, so I told him that was fine.
That little boy very carefully peeled my sea turtle off of the wall. He carefully peeled off the tape. He tried to put the sea turtle in his bag by himself. Then he saw that it was going to get rumpled, so he asked me for help. As I helped him ease the sea turtle into his bag, he gently patted my arm and said, "Thank you for letting me have your turtle, teacher."
He thanked me again as we cleaned up the classroom.
He thanked me again when we processed our day: "My rose today is spending time with you and getting your turtle," he said.
He thanked me again when we lined up to go home.
He thanked me one last time as he gave me a hug and got into his car to go home.
I'm not sure how his numbers stack up when we look at what our incoming first graders know and don't know. I know he's silly and impulsive and blurts and has to be coaxed to do anything that resembles academic work. We've been working hard, but I'd guess his numbers might still be below where we want him to be.
However, he is walking in line quietly. He's cleaning up his messes. He's mostly playing fair and taking turns. He's pushing through tasks that feel really difficult when we start.
And today...he felt loved.
I don't really know how to measure that with numbers, but if I could measure that moment we would be off the charts.
I'm pretty okay with that.
I'm not a teacher, so I entered this adventure with a small amount of anxiety. I felt the pressure to get these kids up to the standards we have for incoming first graders. I also recognized that doing flash card after flash card and worksheet after worksheet was not going to be effective. So, we've been doing math and reading AND learning about different animals, and writing stories, and doing experiments, and creating and playing and laughing and practicing how to walk in the hallway quietly. It's been fun and draining and I have been constantly worrying that I wasn't doing the right thing. I was worried that I wasn't being effective.
You see, in education, effectiveness is the word we use as the ultimate measure of an educator's value. Our effectiveness measured in test scores. Some will argue that this isn't true and it probably isn't entirely true. I'm sure that other factors are considered. However, if you look at how educators are evaluated, you will see that our effectiveness is often all about numbers. How many kids meet the standards? How many didn't? How many of YOUR students met the standards? How many didn't? How many skills does that student know? How far off from the norm are they? How many boxes have you checked in all the things you are supposed to be the most effective you can be? Numbers...numbers...numbers...
I've been so worried about the numbers this summer.
Don't get me wrong. Numbers DO matter. We need to know what kids know, how many of them know what we want them to know, how many don't know what we want them to know, etc., etc. That's all really important. I will never, ever argue that testing is unimportant or unnecessary. However, sometimes it feels like we have taken a black and white approach to how we view success with students. Sometimes it feels like the numbers are the ONLY thing we care about.
That's super stressful because after 11 years in this field, I know that some kids will always learn things at a pace that doesn't match the pace prescribed by the Department of Education. They DO learn. There isn't a student in our building who doesn't learn. Some of them just take a bit longer to move through the progressions. That isn't bad or good, in my opinion. It's just what is. The tricky thing is that we are considered to be effective based on these numbers and that doesn't account for all those grey areas.
I want to be effective in my work with students. I mean, who doesn't? Since our effectiveness is based on numbers, these two weeks I've been worrying about numbers. A lot.
Then, a little friend made me remember to take a deep breath and worry just a little less.
Last week, we learned about oceans and sea turtles. We made sea urchins, and sharks, and sea turtles out of craft supplies and made a museum with our creations. Today, we took down our ocean museum and everyone took their creations home. I had made a sea turtle too and one of my little friends asked if he could take it home with his creations. I was going to recycle it, so I told him that was fine.
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| Our Ocean Museum |
He thanked me again as we cleaned up the classroom.
He thanked me again when we processed our day: "My rose today is spending time with you and getting your turtle," he said.
He thanked me again when we lined up to go home.
He thanked me one last time as he gave me a hug and got into his car to go home.
I'm not sure how his numbers stack up when we look at what our incoming first graders know and don't know. I know he's silly and impulsive and blurts and has to be coaxed to do anything that resembles academic work. We've been working hard, but I'd guess his numbers might still be below where we want him to be.
However, he is walking in line quietly. He's cleaning up his messes. He's mostly playing fair and taking turns. He's pushing through tasks that feel really difficult when we start.
And today...he felt loved.
I don't really know how to measure that with numbers, but if I could measure that moment we would be off the charts.
I'm pretty okay with that.
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