ASSESSMENT!!! AHHHHHH!!!

The first thing that comes to my mind when you bring up assessment is tests, and I do not like tests. Considering I believe I kind of have a little bit of test anxiety, I really do not like tests. I feel like naturally I don't really do as well on tests as others because I get very stressed out. I feel like I didn't do as well on the SAT because I was very stressed out right before I took it. I think I am better about tests than I used to be. I try to think to myself that if you don't do well on a test it doesn't mean you can't do well on the next test; it isn't the end of the world. My parents always told me, "Lori just try your best and study hard before hand and we will be proud of you." This still didn't always calm my nerves, especially before the SAT which determined what college I would get into. Now that I am in college though I am learning that I do worse on tests when I freak out about them before hand then if I just relax and study hard. If I freak out about the test, it is also harder for me to focus on studying for the test.

When I was younger, I was in the top class in school and many of my classmates were being pulled out for A.G. and I soon realized I was not being pulled out. I guess when they did the assesment at school, I did not demonstrate that I was smart enough to be in A.G. I was so distraught about this that I told my parents, and they took me to see a special psychologist who specialized in testing students for A.G. He determined that I was equipped to be in that class and I got pulled out like the other students. I probably got nervous while being tested and did not do as well as the others. I will never forget what happened to me because of testing. I felt very ostracized and lonely when almost my entire class went to A.G. and I did not because I did bad on one test one day!

Now I believe it is so hard for students and teachers, because so much emphasis is placed on the EOG's. Teachers have a hard time getting everything in before the EOG and are therefore mainly teaching what is going to be on the EOG. I believe students and teachers would rather be learning material they are interested in but instead have to focus more on the EOG. Even more emphasis is now placed on the EOG because of the No Child Left Behind Act. As a future teacher I know a lot of emphasis will have to be placed on the EOG's but I am going to make sure I still teach what students are interested in so that they will stay engaged in school. I think it is important to assess students to see where they are in their learning but there also can be too much assessment going on. I believe I will asess students when I need to and make sure they are learning the basic concepts I am teaching, but I will not over assess them. I also am not going to put pressure on them and make them feel like if they don't do well they are failures. Reality is that students have bad days and don't always do their best on tests and as teachers we need to be understanding of this. I know I will be understanding of my students so that they don't grow up to have testing anxiety and so that they are better equipped to handle the pressures of assessment.