Level 2: 17%
It’s that time of the year again when AsTTle is about. Time to sift the sheep from the goats. Time to see if that 17% of my class who were at Level 2 have moved any since the beginning of the year. And here’s my praying that they have.
I’m quite delighted that my pay is not results based. Would I have tried any harder if they had? Would I have motivated them any differently? A performance bonus would be more the ticket! Yet how are we to fairly assess students? We mark them against national norms. But how does that really help? Surely there are so many factors involved in the development of a child….
Teachers say: "Well, it’s the home background…"
Parents say: "What are the schools teaching them these days?"
"Whenever he comes back from his dad’s/mum’s…"
"It’s the class sizes"
"He’s in with the wrong crowd"
"She always been a dreamer"
"You can’t put in what God left out"
I love that final, all encompassing disclaimer…
What would God say? "I have made each child in my own image, unique and special in everyway. With their own set of gifts and skills. It’s up to each you to find those gifts let the child blossom… I don’t care if you’re their mother, father, nanna or teacher. The task is the same."
Not all gifts and talents are measureable… most aren’t to be truthful. Yet they eaqually important in developing and growing students.
Well said.
What a great privilege it would be to sit with a child and help them learn about things that are their gifts and go with their strengths.
I can fully understand why some people chose to home school their children.
So much of class time is spent mucking about with things the kids don’t have the slightest inclination to learn about.
I couldn’t agree with you more! How can you measure the delight a child gets when they find that one book that will hook them into reading for the rest of their lives? The delight the teacher gets when they finally manage to connect the right child with the right book to start them on that journey? The delight the class has when sharing their reading with each other and becoming a reading community?
How can you measure the spontaneous? The passionate? How can you measure the depths that children can climb into new stories and climb out again changed with just a little bit more understanding of someone else’s point of view?
I know we have to measure and we have to report. But these are the things that I think are important. I want to know that my child LOVES to read, ENJOYS reading.
I know that if performance based pay was introduced the majority of teachers would teach to the test and the passion would be lost. That would be a major loss for everyone.
Great post Simon! Yes helping students find their God given gifting should be a priority.
Can I add at this point that I am thankful for a close friend of mine who spotted a talent in me and when I was 18 years old said to me “You would make a good teacher.”
My point is that we need others to help us find our giftings. As Teachers we can be that someone who unlocks an unseen door within our students and calls them out to be what they are made to be.
Kia ora
Love this post, have been reading your blog for a while and have finally taken a step out of “lurking”. The point you make of “It’s up to each you to find those gifts let the child blossom” is so very true. Recently my dad gave me an old school report (framed) for my birthday, a colleague of mine noticed that those teacher picked out things that still ring true for me today. Nice to know my teachers back then noticed my gifts and colleagues from today noticed also.