What if after President Obama made his statement about too much testing, there were more statements following about the harm caused by charters, common core standards, behavior management programs. What if there was a recognition of what has been done wrong to a whole class of students?
What if there was a commitment to restitution for that harm done? They would have to put the money and policy and power that had gone into charter schools, tests, standards behind restitution for these children and to restore schools with dedication to best practice in real life, to pedagogy and curriculum that developed children’s minds and hearts and bodies.
What if we once again talked about critical thinking, workshop model for organizing classrooms, constructivist learning, comprehension, arts integration, physical education, meaning, collaboration, transformation instead of data teams, targets, data teams, fidelity to the model, assessment…and assessment again?
Is it possible our words, our voices, our actions can make a difference? Through this year, I have pondered the options other than quitting. I have pondered quitting.
As long as there are children in our school buildings and adults who go in every day with conviction and dedication, there is nothing to do but keep trying.