The Joys of Teaching -- without High Stakes Testing

I believe two things with all my heart:

-- Children love learning and, therefore, teaching should be delightful

--  I am the luckiest person in the world

These two things are confirmed every time I step into the small room in the Falcone Library at Le Moyne College where, on Tuesday evenings, we hold the LEAP program.  These lovely children come on their own time to read, research and write.  They race ahead of us with ideas and energy.  Our jobs as teachers are more about guiding their boundless energy than prodding them to get to work.  This Tuesday night, as the parents arrived to pick up kids at 8 p.m., one girl sighed audibly.  "Already?!" she complained.  If only children felt that way every day at the end of the school day.  And I believe they would -- if education can be realigned with its true purpose.

The kids in LEAP are reading, researching and writing in order to make a change in their worlds.  The kids in this year's programs are in three groups.  The oldest group is researching child abuse and writing a pamphlet to be distributed to their peers.  They want "by kids, for kids" emblazoned on the brochure.  So as they work on getting the grammar and spelling right, and making sure their information is correct, they are not focused on passing an exam, but on getting the word out about a problem that is important to them.  The same energy these kids would have put into spreading the news about a new romance or break-up goes into what is, actually, school work.

A group of LEAP kids enjoying Whoopi Golberg's Sugar Plum Ballerinas series

One group has decided to write a novel about bullying.  They decided that people should see how a person becomes a bully (based on their research, many bullies were bullied themselves in the past).  They also wanted to let people know that there are effective ways to stand up to a bully.  Inspired by Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan, they, too, wanted to write a story about overcoming obstacles and the grace and dignity people have, even in the worst circumstances.  By writing a novel, they can show the internal struggles of the characters (a trio of girls).  The energy they are putting into writing this novel -- which they have no doubt will be published, because it is "awesome!" -- is amazing.  And, of course, we will do all that we can to make sure that the novel gets into the hands of a publishing house.  We believe that the kids in the program have something important to say and will do anything we can to help them say it.

I should point out that these children are exceeding all expectations in the Common Core State Standards for responding to literature, writing narratives, gathering information through digital sources, revising based on input from teachers and peers, and using proper grammar and spelling (although we did discuss the use of dialect, the power of The Color Purple and accurate portrayal of characters).  But don't tell them they are exceeding Common Core Standards -- they think they're just having fun.

I look at these children, happily working away on their own time, when they could be home watching television or playing video games, and the contrast between them and the picture concerned parent Jeanette Deutermann draws of children dealing with state assessments:

We saw our children crying at night over months and months of test prepping homework. We heard our children say, “please don’t make me go to school”. We saw our 8, 9 and 10 year olds wake in the middle of the night asking, “What will happen if I do bad on the test?” On test days we watched our children break out in hives, refuse to eat, throw up, lock themselves in school bathrooms, shake, sob, and lose their smiles. These are not isolated instances, but an epidemic. (You can read Deutermann's full account here.)

 The atmosphere created by high stakes testing is draining away the energy and joy our students naturally have when it comes to learning.  The good news is that it pops right back when children are placed in a supportive, purpose driven environment.  We learn to read, write and do arithmetic in order to communicate with each other and solve life's problems.  We learn in order to be citizens.  The kids in LEAP, given that opportunity, are engaged and excited about learning.  And that brings me back to my second truth: I am the luckiest person in the world.  Why?  Because I get to watch what kids can do, watch them take charge, grow and learn -- and I get to help them do it.  There is nothing more rewarding.