By Bethany Petty
I know Grumpy Cat speaks for many teachers when it comes to standardized testing season. Most (if not all) teachers hate testing season with a firey passion. Why?
Is it because teachers feel as though they should not be held accountable for their teaching? Absolutely not!
Rather, us teachers become frustrated and frazzled during standardized testing season because of the pressures we’re put under to make sure students perform well.
More: 15 Feelings Every Teacher Has About Testing
Many teachers see that students are being seen as a test score—a mere reflection of information they’re able to recall from throughout the year.
This harsh truth in and of itself is disheartening and frustrating for teachers, who no doubt joined this noble profession to help students learn and become passionate contributive members of society.
Rest assured that our students are less than enthusiastic about standardized testing season, as well. It seems that student perspectives on standardized tests fall into one of two extremes:
- They stress for weeks, if not months, about their performance on these tests.
- They shut down because they already feel defeated.
So, how can we as teachers relieve some of the stress and burden placed upon us and our students by these standardized tests? By having fun!
Try these fun, yet simple, ideas in your classroom:
- Instead of assigning students burdensome worksheets during testing season, encourage them to create their own reviews, giving them ownership in the process of reviewing for state tests. Give them access to sites like IMGflip.com to make memes that help them remember course information.
- Create review games that are actually fun for students by using tools like Kahoot!, Quizizz, Quizalize, and even Heads Up.
- Create a Padlet wall for students to list course concepts they have struggled with and then use Screencastify to create an instructional review lesson helping students review that tricky information.
- Shed your shame and create crazy YouTube videos singing—or rapping, if you’re especially gutsy—lesson or course content.
For examples and instructions on how to use these tools in your classroom, please access Bethany Petty’s edtech blog, Teaching with Technology.
Most important of all is remember that testing season is not a fun time for teachers or students. We are all stressed by the pressure, and are quite ready for that summer break that looms just beyond these lovely standardized tests!
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