If Your Tests Aren’t Too Hard, They’re Too Easy

April 30, 2008 in The Way It Were
Tags: teaching, student teaching, government, american government, high school, teacher, student, election 08, job, test, assessment, election, unit, unit test, exam, seniors, master teacher, job fair, master, edublogosphere, fair, choice, multiple

While I was at the job fair, my students took a multiple-choice test. My master teacher did not appreciate it. She doesn’t know how to assess my assessments.
Your test was too hard.
No, it wasn’t.
The average percentage was failing.
No, it wasn’t.
Confused readers: Let’s do the math. There were 30 multiple-choice questions on this test, each worth [...]

Choosing Field Workers’ Kids Over Posh City

April 29, 2008 in The Way It Were
Tags: achievers, answers, blog, classroom, edublogosphere, effective, failure, flawed, fundamentally, generalities, interview, job fair, kremen school of education, language, low, nostradamus, problem, questions, right, speak, teaching, time, waste

Paul Bogush knows whether I should choose the rich kid or the field worker district, but asks that I first answer his questions. As a courtesy to the pagan deities of depth and straightforwardness, I’ll answer the questions here.
Do you believe all kids can learn and are worthy of your time?
Nine out of 10 are worthy of [...]

Which Should I Choose?

April 28, 2008 in How to Get a Job
Tags: appointment, bfe, bfe-podunk joint unified, choice, classroom, clovis, college, commute, district, edublogosphere, education, fog, friday, job fair, joint, master, master teacher, podunk, school, student, student teacher, supportive, teacher, unified, white kids' unified

Let’s assume I have two choices. I have White Kids’ Unified, a mostly wealthy suburban district within spitting distance of my college and hasn’t yet offered me a contract. I also have BFE-Podunk Joint Unified, a very poor rural district that the administration in charge advertises as 95 percent Hispanic, and a district which has [...]