https://padlet.com/michaelswortham/dqf0y9aq9jp2qfzz Made with whimsy en-us 2021-02-28 13:15:42 UTC 2026-04-08 01:16:29 UTC hello@padlet.com michaelswortham https://padlet.com/michaelswortham/dqf0y9aq9jp2qfzz/wish/1249975466 This journal/blog can be viewed as my stream of consciousness on this inquiry journey. ]]> 2021-02-28 13:16:37 UTC https://padlet.com/michaelswortham/dqf0y9aq9jp2qfzz/wish/1249975466 michaelswortham https://padlet.com/michaelswortham/dqf0y9aq9jp2qfzz/wish/1250006514 A few weeks ago, the education department under President Biden announced that states would be required to administer standardized tests. Although he and his department claim that there would be some flexibility in how the tests would be administered and the use of the results, it begs to question WHY?!?!? Our students and teachers have gone through enough over this past year with the pandemic and how it has disrupted education as we know it. Teachers are already having a hard enough time trying to keep our students engaged in classes while making sure they’re social emotional needs are met. Conducting these standardized tests won’t fairly assess where our students are and truly serve no purpose at this time. Since the onset of the pandemic, the hope for many is to “go back to normal.” But maybe there are some things we don’t need to go back to with standardized tests being one of them. This news brought me to a larger question I have been asking prior to but even more since the onset of the pandemic, “What is the purpose education?” I will explore this question in another post. ]]> 2021-02-28 13:35:11 UTC https://padlet.com/michaelswortham/dqf0y9aq9jp2qfzz/wish/1250006514 michaelswortham https://padlet.com/michaelswortham/dqf0y9aq9jp2qfzz/wish/1250050819 The COVID-19 pandemic has been a disruptor of massive proportion. We are coming upon a year since teachers and students were at full capacity in our school buildings. Last March we thought we were going to be out for a few weeks. A few weeks turned into months. A few months has turned into a year of teaching from a computer on my couch. This disruption has curtailed one of the major focal points of education in our time: high stakes standardized tests. Once the powers that be realized that the were in thick of an international health crisis, standardized tests were suspended. The suspension of these tests provided an opportunity for teachers to explore pedagogical and content options in their classroom. Much of our life as teachers revolve around preparing students for the Regents. We can get creative and sprinkle in other lessons but at the end of the day, all roads point towards the Regents. And so much is on the line. As teachers we can do our best to prepare students for this test but we can’t control what happens when the student is in front of that test. We know that students can be great in the classroom but have test anxiety because they know that passing this test determines if they graduate from high school. Teachers can be great in the classroom but be deemed ineffective if the testing numbers don’t come back as expected. They are called “high stakes” for a reason. Education might as well be a casino because we are placing too much of our bets on these tests. 

The suspension of these tests during the pandemic begs to ask the question are they even necessary. Would the educational experience be more fruitful if the pressure of these tests didn’t exist. It leads me to this big question, “What is the purpose of education?” Why is education important? What type of education? Whose education? Cause right now it seems like education revolves around these tests. But now that it appears that they are not necessary, we have to go back to the basics. Why do kids need schooling? It’s time to revisit the why of education. ]]> 2021-02-28 14:00:46 UTC https://padlet.com/michaelswortham/dqf0y9aq9jp2qfzz/wish/1250050819 michaelswortham https://padlet.com/michaelswortham/dqf0y9aq9jp2qfzz/wish/1256038846 “You can’t build a revolution with no education...”]]> 2021-03-02 00:44:52 UTC https://padlet.com/michaelswortham/dqf0y9aq9jp2qfzz/wish/1256038846 michaelswortham https://padlet.com/michaelswortham/dqf0y9aq9jp2qfzz/wish/1259422856 - 10 minutes of every day reflecting/writing about my classroom
- Asking the “right” or a “good” question. That has been my difficulty. Trying to find the right question for my inquiry. Good questions use simple, everyday words. (P. 5)
- Exercise for self: make a list of topics and questions that I have about my classroom and/or teaching 
- Data collection is an area of concern. Making sure that I am use solid data 
- I like what action research has to offer. It actually made the research process not seem as daunting. It’s like research for the common person. ]]> 2021-03-02 16:51:55 UTC https://padlet.com/michaelswortham/dqf0y9aq9jp2qfzz/wish/1259422856 michaelswortham https://padlet.com/michaelswortham/dqf0y9aq9jp2qfzz/wish/1264277120 I don’t want my students to view learning as a punishment. I’m thinking about assessments. How can a bad grade not be translated as the end of the world but an opportunity to grow. What is a classroom without grades? What is our goal with assessment? Is it to help or to punish?]]> 2021-03-03 15:26:55 UTC https://padlet.com/michaelswortham/dqf0y9aq9jp2qfzz/wish/1264277120