I’m not that excited to get to work today.
My 8th graders hang out with me during Period 1
I promised them breakfast, a quick review and then time to play a game.
Then they report to their assigned room
to show off all they know about writing.
Today’s format is multiple choice and tomorrow’s is writing an essay to a prompt.
Yep, you read that right.
In my state of VA, the students have a 2-day writing assessment
and today is all multiple choice.
They are asked to read a draft of a student’s writing.
Yep, it has errors all through it
and to be even more inauthentic, each line is numbered.
Which of these shows the correct way to add commas in line 8? A B C D
Drag the quotation marks correctly to the added boxes showing line 23.
Which is the best way to add description to line 37? A B C D
Tomorrow they at least get to show that they can write.
I just hope they understand the random prompt given to them.
I hope their confidence is still high after today’s Part 1.
Why can’t Gholdy Muhammad be our state’s director of education?
Then kids could just write now and in May, read, compute and show science knowledge
to show off their genius in an equitible manner.
Writing Stories by Sally 
Ugh, yes- standardized testing is so unhelpful and inauthentic. Poor 8th graders! I am grateful ours are only two days a year, but still!
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May the force be with you, the odds be ever in your favor. I like that you blended the ideas of poetic expression and testing – – I need to do this to calm my soul.
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Best of luck to the 8th graders today! May they maintain their sense of self, may they understand that unlike that writing piece, they cannot be numbered, and may they still feel a love of learning after all this testing.
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I hear you! I hate state mandated assessments. Last week my 4th grade gifted students took a benchmark test. I went over their test and one of my students who is also autistic completely crumbled because she misread the prompt. We calmed her down by playing Kahoot on Greek mythology (which, by the way, she has mastered!)
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You are speaking such truth in this poem. I felt the same way when I woke up! The state mandated tests are soul-crushing for students and teachers alike.
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I couldn’t agree with you more. I’m not big on inauthenticity and standardized assessments take the cake! Determining a school’s worth by assessment scores based on one test is ridiculous. Can you imagine if our success was ultimately defined by one test that assessed mediocrity and sameness? Give me a break!! Good post Sally!
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The free verse really works here. Beginning with you, as the poem itself begins, grounds us in caring. Then… the reality of testing. Multiple choice???!! And you end with a wish. To ‘show off their genius in an equitable manner.’ I do hope they can soak up the good feeling you have about them, and hold onto it in spite of testing requirements.
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