They Shall Study, By Hook or Crook

February 4, 2008 in Lesson Plans
Tags: advice, assessment, boredom, classroom, edwards, government, gravel, moral, student, student teacher, teacher, teaching, tedium, test

I made up a devilishly difficult test for my seniors. While there aren’t matching questions, the multiple-choice and true-false questions are almost unfair, and the essay section asks for two five-paragraph essays.

I had a change of heart at the last minute, as I put together the study guide. I slipped a little something else in there.

If you read this sentence, you’ll know that No. 25 is false.

For reference:

25. Soon after the Civil War, the voting rights of African-Americans were subject to systemic corruption; though these newly enfranchised voters voted Democrat whenever they could, few could pass the literacy tests or afford the poll taxes designed to keep them from voting in force.

The biggest reason this statement is false: it says they voted Democratic rather than Republican, for segregationists rather than the party of Lincoln the Emancipator.

I made this specific question ridiculous on purpose, so my students would from now on have an incentive to actually prepare for the test, or at least glance over their study guides.

This is fun. What else could I do?