Who would have noticed that the yearly summative California Standards Test (CST) would bump into Teacher Appreciation Week?

My high-achieving fourth graders spent 2 ½ mornings last week taking the practice exam and the English/Language Arts tests. The sections cover vocabulary, grammar, spelling rules, reading comprehension passages, and choosing correctly written passages. They often combine all of the separate skills in the questions for a reading passage. Enough to give anyone a headache, but my class gamely pushed through the sections.

At the end, the majority claimed “it was easy.” I looked at some of the passages, and for most of these students it was easy. I already know they are all proficient at reading books with lexiles (reading levels) established at 4^th grade level. In fact, many read books that I didn’t care for until middle school. On the other hand, I know that some teachers in my Master’s classes are teaching students with far different backgrounds. For those students, the test is grueling.

This week we’ll spend two days traversing the mathematics sections of the yearly exam. For most of my students, many of whom are from Asian backgrounds whose parents value strong math skills, they will easily perform at a proficient or advanced level.

Still, I was confounded last week when we did find time for math: how to figure out surface area for a three-dimensional object. Something about looking at all those sides disturbed the students’ understanding of the question. It’s really easy to find the area of a surface, but finding the areas of multiple surfaces and adding up the sums was difficult for some. They just couldn’t see in their heads what a visual of the figure told them, especially if all sides weren’t visible.

By the fourth day of review, most finally had the concept, but a few continued to ask what to do. I never say ‘just do this;’ I ask the student to think back and tell me what to do. It was hard to believe that some looked at me with dismay. Just shows that not all students grasp ideas at the same rate. Like me as a student; I was a terrible speller until one day in middle school I suddenly knew the rules.

Now, other than intense effort to complete the tests, the week during lunch and after school will be a joy. Parents bring wonderful breakfast and lunch buffets. Students bring little handmade cards and gifts. The community loves us and doesn’t want anything to happen to the benefits for their children. I know we’re lucky, but in most communities, parents are protective of their schools.

I read a teacher appreciation letter from Arne Duncan, Secretary of the U. S. Department of Education, in Edweek, my on-line resource for what’s going on outside of my classroom. He wrote what the parents in my school feel, I think. “You rightfully believe that responsibility for educational quality should be shared by administrators, community, parents, and even students themselves.”

Completely different from the articles in newspapers and on blogs where teachers are blamed for everything. Duncan also said we “are frustrated when teachers alone are blamed for educational failures that have roots in broken families, unsafe communities, misguided reforms, and underfunded school systems.”

It certainly frustrates me that legislators conclude ‘collective bargaining’ or ‘benefits’ explains why states are short of money.  Our district is in the middle of a special election to extend the parcel tax used to keep the schools going. This is no frivolous venture. It will be a teacher appreciation gift if the parcel tax bill passes. Maybe we’ll keep our jobs.