Over at the Teach Paperless blog, Shelly had a rough day with Internet connections and Twitter. Toward the end, he made a statement about what the whole point of teaching and learning is.
Plunge is jumping in and hoping to not sink. Process is taking swim lessons before you jump in and swim. (Sorry for the analogy, my 4 year-old is in the middle of swim lessons.)
This is the problem with standardized testing. It's all about plunging into a test. It's not about the process of learning and the accumulation of skills and knowledge throughout the school year and how each student did that.
At the end of 8 weeks of swim lessons, the instructors don't walk everyone to the deep end and throw them in. Can you imagine the lawsuits? No, we talk to the instructor and see what skills he has developed and what skills he still needs more help on.
Ian is afraid to put his head in the water. This is the second time he's taken the same class. He's not ready for the next one. He's in the process. He's not plunging. Process.
Process wins.
Except that it's not a plunge. It's all part of the process. Even the bit about the technology going haywire: that's part of the process.Plunge vs. Process
Plunge is jumping in and hoping to not sink. Process is taking swim lessons before you jump in and swim. (Sorry for the analogy, my 4 year-old is in the middle of swim lessons.)
This is the problem with standardized testing. It's all about plunging into a test. It's not about the process of learning and the accumulation of skills and knowledge throughout the school year and how each student did that.
At the end of 8 weeks of swim lessons, the instructors don't walk everyone to the deep end and throw them in. Can you imagine the lawsuits? No, we talk to the instructor and see what skills he has developed and what skills he still needs more help on.
Ian is afraid to put his head in the water. This is the second time he's taken the same class. He's not ready for the next one. He's in the process. He's not plunging. Process.
Process wins.
Thanks for your comment on my blog. I am glad to see your tech. ideas. Great job of going for it even though you don't have the ideal computer setup! I want to try Wordle in my class sometime.
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