where do we go from here?

I know that jealousy is not a good trait, nor is it normally my cup of tea, but I admit to feeling it lately-- There are so many blogs (of friends, friends of friends, etc.) that highlight excellent teachers doing Things I Want to Do that often I just want to scream.

I am trying to look at it as storing up my wonders. I have lists and lists of things I will do differently (even if I am in the same school) next year. I am building my knowledge and my skills sets-- taking courses, getting training on writers' workshop, learning from the people I consider to be mentors... I'm just building up my skills so that when I am in an environment that encourages the use of those things I can shine like the superstar I am.

Sometimes I feel like crying when I think about the fact that the environment I'm in isn't one where I feel like I'm encouraged to be the best I can be. There is a strange mix of causes creating these feelings: first and foremost the interpretation of NCLB and the Teach To The Test Mentality, next the concept of Progressive Education as embraced by the administration, and finally the needs and mentalities of my students, their families, and the community as a whole. The resulting tension of these things brought together is (to me) Suffocating.

Teaching solely to the test kills education. The goal of education should not be to have students who can fill in the correct bubble on a scantron sheet, but to create thinking individuals who can be an active and productive part of the future that we envision for ourselves. As teachers, we should seek to work ourselves out of a job, to create students who are so intrinsically motivated to learn that they choose to do so on their own. The only way (in my opinion) to do this is to hit them from all sides-- to show them the relationship between the concepts they are being asked to learn and the environment they are in, to show them the changes and challenges that education can provide in their lives, and to motivate them with visions and tastes of the paths they can choose to follow.

Education should form the entire being, and this cannot solely be measured with a standardized test. It can't be measured by anything other than the passion, integrity, intelligence, creativity, and imagination of the people our students become. I grew up in that world, Mr. Bush, and I know that given the tools and opportunities, my students can flourish too.