Week 12: Stress Well, Test Well?

Next week is testing week. That means this week was test prep week.

Cambridge testing is something that I had never heard of until arriving in Indonesia. I had already known about the pressure that is put on children in Asian cultures when it comes to testing, but I was not quite sure what to expect in this school setting. Over the past few weeks, I have learned that there is just as much pressure on these students to test well from their parents as any other typical Asian school setting. Although the teachers do not pressure them (in fact, we do the opposite!), they are getting a lot of pressure put on them at home.

The school recommends that we prepare by teaching to the test much farther in advance, but my cooperating teacher (and many other teachers) have decided that one "test prep" week should be enough. All of what the students have been learning this year has been, in a sense, preparing them for these tests. The curriculum that we use is Cambridge curriculum, so each lesson and unit taught all year is preparing them from the Cambridge tests. If they participate and do their work throughout the year, then the tests really should not be that big of a deal. Yet, there are still parents who worry about their child doing well on the tests, requesting extra study material and tutor recommendations and strategies for preparing. In all this, these children are under a lot of stress. All this stress does not make them test better.

The stress seemed to show a little bit more each week, and it especially showed this week. As it, test prep week, we have explicitly referred to the test and what to expect. It seems that each time I mention it, some of the students viscerally show their worry for this test, asking questions about it, or simply whimpering a little bit.

Test prep sounds super boring. If it is done by reading through example test questions and skill and drill strategies. These types of boring strategies can also be stress-inducing as students become overwhelmed by the amount of facts that seemingly need to be memorized.

It doesn't have to be boring though.

That was my goal for the week. Even though I had to do a week of test prep, I tried to have some fun with it. Two weeks ago, I mentioned how unsuccessful our review game was, but that I was going to continue to look for fun and different ways to review. Well, I found something that worked! Throughout the week, we had an ongoing math competition between tables using fun team names and whiteboards. I would project a practice question on the board and one student from each table would stand in the front to answer the question on their whiteboard. As questions came up, I would address them and review concepts with the whole class. Each team was given five "phone a friends" in which I would choose a student from their table to come up and help them. This ensured that every student would participate in solving the problems because they could be picked to come up. We also had a rule that I could take away points if they were not participating or misbehaving. Overall, this worked very well! Each table got to pick a fun team name, resulting in the following names and final scores:

-Chicken Littles: 23

-My Hero Academia: 25 (winner!!)

-Avocado Toasts: 23

-Pub G: 22

This game started on Monday, and was a continuous game throughout the week. This kept students more invested in the game each day, ready to continue the competition. On the last day, during the last 10 minutes of class, we did a speed round which involved every single student in the class. On the test, there is a mental math section where students only get 5, 10, or 15 seconds to answer a question. For the speed round, I would state the question, and each student was given 5 seconds to answer on their whiteboard, and then they would put their whiteboard on the ground and go to the back on the line, and the next person from their table would be up to answer the next question. Although it was a bit chaotic, the activity went well and was effective.

Another way that I tried to make test prep a little more fun and engaging was during science. There is a science portion of the test, and again it is all review of what the students have been learning all year. At the beginning of the week, we made mind maps on big sheets of paper where the students brainstormed all that they had learned over the past year. In the middle, we wrote 5th grade science, and from there it branched out to Biology, Chemistry, and Physics to which students created the rest. Students also needed a lot of practice with reviewing the concepts related to plants.

For the steps of plant germination, I created a sequencing game where the students were given 6 strips of paper in random order which each had a step in the germination process. Each table had a set of strips and worked together to put them in the correct sequencing. From there, we talked about what the sequence was, and why it made sense for plants to germinate in this way.

Another specific thing that the students needed work reviewing was the parts of a flower and the life cycle of a flower. Rather than just reading and lecturing through these concepts, we did a more interactive activity. Each student was given a card. If they had an orange card, it meant that they were a step in the life cycle of a flower (there were only 6). If they got a white card, they either had a word or definition. They had to search through the class to find their pair. Once the pair found each other, they had to present that part of a flower to the class using whatever resources they chose. This ensured that each student had a task to focus on and was involved in the overall learning of the class in a fun way.

For English, the students needed to prepare for the writing portion of the test, both fiction and nonfiction. They did practice this writing by writing out their own essay responses to two different prompts, but after their writing, they got to look over other students' writing to do partner editing. Students would pair up with another and read through the writing of another student and look for errors, room for improvement, and then give suggestions. One skill we were heavily focussing on was correct spelling. Overall, I think the students learned the importance of going over their writing, especially when they have extra time on the test to do so.

Even though there were engaging and fun activities incorporated into the test prep this week, it was still a lot for students. So on Friday afternoon during our RTI time (which is basically a study hall at this school), the kids asked if they could play Asia's Got Talent. With the permission of my CT of course, we set up a background on the screen for Asia's Got Talent and had a few of them be the judges.

At least seven different students came up (with their contestant number tag) and gave mini performances that were mostly just silly. We had the rule that you were only allowed to say over-the-top encouraging things, so each performance ended with a "that was brilliant" or "by far the best somersault I've ever seen in all eleven years of my life." The students even created a golden buzzer made of a pencil sharpener and yellow paper that they would throw as confetti. Some students sang solos or duets, danced, rapped, or drew scribbles on paper while dancing. Even though this time was not used for test prep, it helped the kids relax and destress a bit.

Kids need a chance to be kids.

No, stressing students out does not make them test better. It actually does the opposite. Instead, using engaging and fun activities that make learning more enjoyable will be of much greater benefit as the students will be less stressed and more confident in their own learning.



A few other events of the week:
-I passed my edTPA! Wahoo!
-We had Wednesday off because of Muhammed's Ascension (and Islamic holiday).
-A student had a meltdown (partly because of this upcoming testing) which meant I taught the entire day while my CT sat with him. It was a good experience to solo teach and also see how this type of situation is to be handled.



Classroom Confidential: Chapter 10
Social justice is a topic that can often get overlooked in the classroom, yet it is something that can be so easily woven into instruction. It is also a topic that is vital to be part of instruction. In definition, social justice is "justice in terms of distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society." It is a big deal, and students need to know about it because without the knowledge of social justice issues around them, they living inside of a bubble, and a selfish one at that. America has many social justice issues of its own, and teaching overseas, I have gotten to experience first-hand and see the social justice issues around the world. This has opened up my worldview to see people differently, open me up to different perspectives, and love people better. By opening up students' eyes to different struggles and differing views, you open up their world, exposing them to real life. Page 216 says, "When you introduce your students to social justice education, you encourage them to look at the real world inquisitively, boldly, and from various points of view to observe how other people, particularly children, exist." Through teaching social justice, students become better people. Chapter 10 introduces this idea of weaving social justice into the classroom and give a lot of resources for how to do this.

As Christians, social justice should inevitably be part of our lives through the way we love and the way we serve. As Christian teachers, it should inevitably part of the way we teach. Throughout scripture, God commands us to seek justice. For example, Isaiah 1:17 says "Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." This is just one example of where the Lord tells us to help his children who need justice. In my current placement, the students to Mission of Service Learning, which is when they go on a field trip in which they can take part in serving others as well as have their eyes opened to injustices right in their city. When I was in high school, we always set one week aside from school for Service Week. Each year you would serve in a particular community, and each year, you would get a little farther from home. I feel that all of these experiences greatly contributed to my expanded worldview, and overall taught me a new aspect of the character of God, in which I should strive to be like. I would love my future students to experience these same things, whether it is something I teach in or out of the classroom.