Can a teacher really learn from the TAKS test...

Even though you have signed an oath soooooooo many times that you won't mentally score it?!?!? Would that document really even hold up in court?!! Bunny trail from my original thought...

So I have vacationed with ten 5th graders who will be taking the Reading TAKS for the 3rd time this year. They don't pass- they don't move on to 6th grade. Yes, there are loopholes, but DUDE these kids feel defeated so they don't even try anymore.

Since I have had plenty of time to think today while watching them take a "mock TAKS test", I found myself getting frustrated as I looked around the room. Several of the students weren't doing ANY of the strategies I have taught this summer. (Well, really just reinforced since they have seen the strategies during the school year.) Some of these kids could pass if they just put a little effort into it and changed their attitude. I am not giving them things just to waste their time. It is to help them. It makes me sad when they toss helpful tools to the side that could get them to where they need to be.

God must look at me the same way I look at these students sometimes. Here He is seeing more of what I see in my own reality. When I feel defeated, I pout. I quit. I sulk. I rebel. He sees opportunities to stretch me. Chip away at my character. Build strengthen. All for the next task He has for me. I just see the fact that the work is WORK. It's soooooo hard. And I really really really don't want to take the time to do it because it is sooooo time consuming. But HE knows the benefits. He has provided the strategies and tools to help me get where I need to go.

Somedays I just refuse to do the work of going back to the text, finding the paragraph and underlining the answer. I refuse to look at each option and choose the right one...not just the first one I see with One word right.