The Calm Before the Storm

We're administering the final exam today. This will be the culminating event of my summer school experience, and in about 5 hours from now, I'll really be able to tell what kind of improvement my kids have made.

Four weeks. That's all I've had with these guys. And I feel that they are ready for this test today, for the most part. However, the thing that I struggle with the most is that I feel we've been grooming them to take this test, and that were they left to their own resources, they are still unprepared to address many of the principles that we have taught them. We have literally stripped the lessons down to the bare minimum, and made sure that they've mastered that. And those are the kind of questions that are going to be on this test.

The test we're giving them is the same one that we administered the first day of school. The students take the test to see where they're starting from, and then we teach them all summer, and then the last day we give them the exact same test again. The idea is that they should have learned how to do the problems they'll be seeing again, and so they should improve. This is how we're teaching for the test.

I hate teaching for the test. It does very little to support a person in further mathematics. Sure, there are a few kids in the class who have grasped the concepts, and I'd feel confident in seeming them progress further, but for now... it's frustrating. I just hope that once I get into my own classroom, I don't have to do this as much.

It will be good to have today over though. This has been a frustrating week for me, and the highlight of it will be to see it come to a close. And to top it all off, I get to end my week with a 4 hour test on Saturday. Fabulous, eh? .... I can't wait.