read between the runs

tomorrow morning my students will take their staar test for my class, and i am at peace. i think that, overall, we used this year to the best of our ability and learned a wealth of information. now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that that information will be useful on the test, but i am happy with all that we have done. i know that many of my students are well prepared to be successful tomorrow.

it’s tempting to be overcome with worry about how it all will go down tomorrow, but at this point it is all out of my hands. i have done everything within my ability to set these scholars on a path towards future success, and for tomorrow that includes the staar test.

i told my kids that, at the end of the day, the staar test is just that: a test. whatever score they earn does not define who they are as an individual, and the learning that we have engaged in over the school year cannot be quantified and reduced to a single number. that idea is a disservice to everything that i believe in about education. i understand and appreciate the value of standardized tests, but i see little benefit in amplifying their meaning and using them as a measure for whether students should pass or fail a grade. i hope my kids internalized the message that there is no need to stress ourselves out too much over our scores because in the end, life goes on and what’s going to happen because of it will happen. i hope they try their best, and we’ll worry about the results once we have them.

i know the scores of these kids factors into my rating as a teacher, but i remain nonplussed. as i said for them, it is what it is, and what’s going to happen will happen. me sending that worry into the world would only further worry these kids who don’t need additional burden on what is likely the second most stressful day of the school year. besides, i believe wholly in everything we have accomplished together.

until then, we will keep learning and reading until our school year is over, because as we know, staar is not the end of the school year!

poignant quotes i used with the kids today to hopefully inspire confidence and assuage fears:

1. “your focus and dedication determine your outcome.”
2. “whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

do great; be happy