These students are fucking stupid!

As one of the VPs at The College Board points out, the purpose of an essay question is to have students form a persuasive verbal argument. Regardless of the subject matter and which side of the issue you take, the question can be answered with successfully without using specific details in order to prove your point. Quoting another VP at The College Board, “everything you need to write the essay is in the essay prompt.”

What about the essay question that asks, “Is patience a virtue?” Considering that most high school students live in a world where everything is immediate, wouldn’t this question be unfair as well? Almost every high school age student is familiar with Twitter, Facebook and other outlets that enable him or her to immediately give and receive information. Whether it’s a quick dinner or the results of a pregnancy test, patience is something that is rarely required in the daily life of today’s young hipster.

What really bothers me about this outcry is that it clearly stems from the bias that people automatically have (or pretend to have) against reality television.

We can all agree that certain reality shows are worthless and barely even qualify as mindless fun,  but to lump them all together as a waste of time is as wrong as painting all sitcoms with the same brush. Do people consider Cheers and The Cosby Show garbage television just because they share the label of “sitcom” with Small Wonder and The Mike O’ Malley Show?

The other issue I see behind this controversy is the prevailing opinion of today’s young person that unless something involves them, it doesn’t matter. This attitude is usually expressed with the phrase, “I wasn’t even born yet.” (As if anything that happens before your birth should be of no importance to you.)

I find it delightfully ironic that these kids who are complaining are smart enough to know that an understanding of history is important to be a well-educated individual, but they are too stupid to realize that television, all television, is as much a part of history as any other media.

In other words, these students are fucking stupid!

Hear more from the King of TV on The Paul Goebel Show podcast and at his website, www.TheKingofTV.com. You can also follow Paul on Twitter @PaulGoebelShow.

Many teachers complain every year when it gets close to that dreaded state testing time. There are principals who tell them to spend that month before testing doing “test prep.” Is this a good teaching practice? Is it a worthwhile use of our instructional time?

I would venture to guess that most teachers would say no; that we are teaching our students to be nothing but good test-takers. They may not know how to think critically, but they can sure color in those bubbles!

Additionally, most state tests mainly consist of multiple choice test questions. Does this really show what our students have learned? In credential courses teachers learn about the value of informal, ongoing assessments (like simple teacher observations and anecdotal notes), and students choosing work samples for portfolio assessments. Students can be given choices of different project ideas to demonstrate what they have learned.  For example, when I was teaching third grade, we covered a unit of study about Martin Luther King, Jr. At the end of the unit, I wanted my students to demonstrate what they had learned. Rather than give them a traditional multiple choice, matching, true/false, or fill-in-the-blank test, I presented them with a list of choices: they could write a written report, do a puppet show, write and perform a skit, do a PowerPoint presentation, make a poster, or write and perform a poem, rap, or song. I also allowed them to work with partners or in small groups so they could collaborate and use their teamwork skills.

My students were so excited about this project that they asked me to invite in their parents and the principal to see them present their projects. There were two PowerPoint presentations, a puppet show, a skit, and a poster. I truly feel that these projects were meaningful assessments, and my students will remember what they learned for a long time. Students were able to choose something relating to their own interests, learning styles, and tap into those multiple intelligences… and they had fun!

On the other hand, multiple-choice, standardized testing may be a necessary evil. In our current educational world of No Child Left Behind, how can schools demonstrate that students are becoming proficient without some method of standardized testing? With the sheer number of students that need to be tested, the only feasible way is to give them tests that can be computer-scored. Some advocates of this type of testing would say that tests are just another part of life. You take tests throughout your school career, and then come the tests for college – AP Tests, ACT,  PSAT, SAT, GMAT, GRE (the acronyms go on and on…). Some employers require potential employees to take tests before they can be hired. So, testing may just be a part of our society, and teaching students to be good test-takers may be a valuable skill. Test preparation does alleviate some test anxiety because students become familiar with the format, rigor, and types of questions they will encounter on the “real” test. It also allows students to review what they have learned, which helps to reinforce concepts that may have been unclear or just forgotten.

Although there are better ways to assess students’ knowledge and proficiency of subject matter, it does not appear that the current methods of state testing are going to change any time soon. Therefore, it may be in our students’ best interest to help them be prepared for testing. Teachers must be aware of the “burn out factor” though, and not spend too much time on test preparation. Sometimes students spend so much time preparing for the test that they burn out before the real test occurs.

I believe that teachers should spend no more than one to two weeks on test preparation before state testing. Teachers should teach students test-taking strategies, such as reading the questions before reading the passage, eliminating answer choices that cannot be correct, reading all answer choices before choosing an answer, and reading the question carefully. Students should also be sure that they have answered every question. Try to eliminate stress related to the test. For example, I have had students tell me that they think they will be held back and have to repeat the grade if they do not do well on the test. This just adds unnecessary anxiety.

Encourage students to get a good night’s sleep, have a healthy breakfast, and to do their best. That is the most we can ask for.