Kim Frencken: Let the testing frenzy begin

It is almost that time. Test time. The time that all teachers dread. The time when an entire year of opportunities (both those missed and those utilized) are crunched into one to two weeks of testing that will determine if the standards were taught to a mastery level. 

Absences are forgotten. Frequent movers are disregarded. Chocolate seems to be the cure-all from hunger to improving brain function. 

 Discipline is suddenly enforced. And no one, not anyone, gets relief from the stress.

Pencils are sharpened. Teachers are trained (again). Testing manuals arrive and are secured under lock and key. Posters are plastered in hallways. Notes are sent home to parents. Testing officials plan visits.

The first day arrives. Everyone enters the playing field. The manual is carefully read word-for-word to eager and not-so-eager ears. The first stop watch is set and it's off to the tests. Computer keys furiously pound. Pencils scratch and circle. Eyes dart around the room settling on the teacher and the clock. Sleepy eyes drift down the screen or page and carelessly mark responses. Teachers panic when they observe the nonchalant student who cavalierly completes the test in under five minutes. Minutes and seconds continue to tick by and almost as soon as it started, it's over. For this session.

And so goes the week or weeks of testing. Everyone gets caught up in the frenzy.

We laugh about it in August trying to be brave, but when test time rolls around in April we're reduced to a quivering mess. So much pressure is put on teachers to perform. To reach mastery with their students.

And to a teacher that knows the heart of her kids, that isn't always possible or important. To some it is more important to receive encouragement or a hot meal or a smile. Not everyone comes to school to learn. Not everyone is college bound.

In this age of enlightenment, we still insist on assigning a title or a number to our kids when most teachers would rather use adjectives. Instead of mastery, why not use encourager? Why can't creative replace proficient? Our kids are so much more than test results. When will the 'powers that be' realize this?

(For more of Kim Frencken's writing and information about her educational products, check out her blog, Chocolate For the Teacher.)