By Derrick Brown (follow on Twitter @dbrowndbrown)
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“The Test Beyond ‘the test’” (582 Words)
By Derrick Brown (Join Our Mailing List!)
On the calendar, it was just another scheduled test day. Parallel line and coordinate proofs, “sparse” (and helpful) formula sheets, Desmos “coordinate proof” calculators, and Chromebooks. In “real life”, though, the room revealed much more than correct answers or incomplete study guides.
One student, PC, quietly discovered a “shortcut” … using Desmos to graphically solve equations. Her “low-key brilliant” idea was neither written nor spoken … but it showed me something more valuable … she trusted her own instincts and reasoning.
She modeled what it looks like when students “think” instead of “tweak” … “innovate” instead of “imitate” … “make moves” instead of “mimic” … “stand” instead of “sway” … and “become” instead of “blame.”
Another, MG, seemed to convince herself she could not do coordinate proofs because she had “never been taught.” When pressed, though, she did one perfectly.
She did not need new teaching … she just needed to trust what she already knew … and use what she had (that helpful formula sheet). She used it to write a “back-door” coordinate proof by “reading” the logic (and language) it presented. Sometimes the teacher’s job is less about “filling gaps” and more about gently “confronting delusions”.
IM came to test … and came to “win” (like he usually does) … despite suffering a recent family loss. His steady presence was a reminder that resilience sometimes whispers instead of shouts.
DDH laughed at one of my dead-serious jokes, showing how humor can lighten even the sobering weight of (re)setting teacher-student boundaries of mutual respect and accountability ...
OP had called me over … like I was his “waiter” … to request “a pencil and laptop charger” … while holding a bottle of milk. I smiled and asked if he also wanted ice. The room (including DDH) laughed. This was a “small” exchange, but enough to remind us that humanity (and the need for teacher-student boundaries of respect) does not disappear during assessments.
And yet … beneath those bright spots … I saw another story unfold.
Students checked their grades in the middle of the test. They whispered answers under the guise of “collaboration.” They probably were not trying to “cheat” … as much as they were trying to “cope” with the heavy anxiety that grades carry.
For them, the grade is the test … not the thinking, reasoning, problem solving, and growth.
The real “elephant in the room” was not dishonesty … it was fear.
That fear is not unique to students.
Adults in our building also mask insecurity with similar “shortcuts” (usually passive aggression, assumptions, stereotypes, “keyboard courage”, and “gossip”), “control scripts”, or impotent “power plays”.
Dishonesty (defined as a “lack of self-honesty”) is prevalent (everywhere) and pervasive (still spreading).
Still, the day left me hopeful.
PC’s ingenuity. MG’s persistence. IM’s quiet resilience. Even DDH’s laughter. These moments reminded me that real learning survives inside the cracks of a pressured system.
The true “test” is not only about parallel line and coordinate proofs.
It is about whether students … and teachers … can maintain sincerity … in an environment that often rewards performance over honesty.
I am in my “last days” as a high school teacher.
That phrase hovers over me with clarity … not despair.
Because the Test beyond ‘the test’ is this … can I keep telling the truth, planting seeds of dignity, and honoring the flashes of brilliance that surface in unexpected places?
If so, then even in a room clouded by anxiety and shortcuts, there is hope.
Hope is the ‘grade’ that matters most.
(The "Follow The Leader (changED - Volume 2)" Audio and Video Album / Mixtape is also available at TeachersPayTeachers.com)
(The "changED (Volume 1)" Audio and Video Album / Mixtape is also available at TeachersPayTeachers.com)
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I am a “standup storyteller.”
I fuse rap, spoken word (poetry), oration (traditional public speaking), singing, and teaching into messages of hope, healing, and change that I write, direct, and produce to help people who help people.
Everything must change - and stay changED.
Tradition begins and ends with change.
Change begins with me and the renewing of my mind ... then continues through efforts to effect small-group discipleship (equipping others to equip others) with audiences that respect and embrace mentoring, mediation, and problem solving as tools of change.
I am the product of my mentoring relationships, peacemaking (and peacekeeping), and problem-solving ability.
My education began when I finished school.
After school, I enrolled in a lifelong curriculum that includes classes in ministry, entrepreneurship, stewardship, literacy, numeracy, language, self-identity, self-expression, and analysis / synthesis.
My projects execute a ministry that has evolved from wisdom earned through lessons learned.
I want to share this wisdom to build teams of "triple threat" fellows - mentors, mediators, and problem solvers.
We will collaborate in simple, powerful ways that allow us to help people who help people.
I now know that power is work done efficiently (with wise and skillful use of resources, interests, communication, and expertise).
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