Chpt. 15: Testing and failure

By Tiffany

We have been discussing the WASL in a couple of the classes we are in and I just thought this chapter was incredibly insightful with respect to that. You cannot judge a person based on how well they do on a test; it is not only inaccurate, but it also can be a way to discriminate. The author said that retained students were more likely to be members of a minority group or living in poverty. Of course this would be the case because tests are reflective of the WASP society and they are not differentiated. It is inaccurate to assume these students would benefit from the same teaching strategies as upper-middle class students do. I think this is why differentiated lesson plans fascinate me; I really hope to be able to incorporate it into my own classroom because it appears to benefit all students involved.

The author discussed the effects of failure on students. It was discussed that you “must encourage students to reach beyond their intellectual grasp and allow them the privilege of learning from mistakes.” This made me think back to the Zone of Proximal Development; the area between the student’s current level of development and the potential that they could achieve. It is something I think we really need to focus on as teachers, it is essential for us to find this zone. It concerns me because I am not sure how to find this zone exactly; I worry whether or not I will push my students to hard or not hard enough. I think the key is to not let them see their failure as negative. We can all learn from mistakes made by ourselves or even by others so teachers should that the opportunity to make a lesson out of a mistake. I thought it was helpful to read that we need to help students fail successfully. I know I have failed many times, but it was the times in which I reflected on my mistakes and learned from them that make me feel my failures did not define me. My hope is to guide all of my students through their failures and let something positive come out of it so as not to impact their self-efficacy.

My final thought was is that the author discussed feedback in this chapter and I think this has a lot to do with failures. If we want students to learn from their mistakes, we have to give them the opportunity to do so. A smiley face or a frowning face does not provide adequate feedback, so to make a point in explaining ways or opportunities for a student to improve is important. It is important to have high standards set in your classroom for everyone, but it is important that these standards can be reached, by everyone.