This is it!

Tomorrow and Thursday my students take the state standardized test in Reading. This one test (taken in two parts) is how my worth as a teacher will be measured. That's right, people. I work and work all year long and my performance will be judged by one test. Keep in mind this test is administered on a computer and my students will scroll and click quickly through the test just for the sake of being finished. Less than half will give full effort. Many will not fully read the passages and others will not write (type) sufficient responses to writing prompts simply because they are too lazy and do not feel like doing it. Also keep in mind I will have students coming to school sleep-deprived, tired, hungry, angry, sad, hyper, bored, apathetic and every other emotion and condition known to human kind. Yet, in a few short hours, my job performance will be based solely on this test. My reputation as a teacher lies solely with a group of 4th graders who may or may not decide to put any thought into the most critical test of the year. If my students bomb the test, there will be no responsibility placed on the students who were disruptive or paid little attention to instruction. All responsibility will be placed squarely on MY shoulders. For example if my students are asked to identify similes or metaphors on the test and they fail miserably, people will want to know why I didn't properly prepare my students for the test (even though I taught similes and metaphors extensively and have reviewed them every day for the last week and a half). My methods in the classroom will be scrutinized and I will be asked what I should do differently in the future to properly prepare my students for the test. If this all sounds a little crazy, you'd be correct. Instead of looking at my body of work as a whole and looking at the growth my students have shown throughout the year, my job performance will be based on a test where my students either pass or fail based on a predetermined score set by government entities that have probably never set foot in a 4th grade classroom or at least haven't been in one in the last 30 years. But take heart ladies and gentlemen. I have worked myself to a frazzle and have poured my heart and soul into teaching these students what they need to know. I have given them the tools necessary to pass the test. The rest is up to them. Any wonder why my hair is turning gray and falling out?