Death to TAKS'es!

At the end of the Fall semester last year, I had my students write an anonymous letter to me telling me what they liked, disliked, hated or just wanted to change. Overwhelmingly I heard that they didn't want me to mention the word TAKS again. They were right. I realized that I had begun prefacing many lessons with the admonition that "You will see this on the TAKS exam." What was I teaching them? Information on the test? How to bubble within an oval? I love teaching history because it is about people and the decisions made right or wrong. I hope my kids examine their lives and see themelves in some of these past events. I didn't go to school to learn how to proctor an exam. Who wants to retire with a plaque that reads, "Her students bubbled in the correct answers!!" I love what Alone on a Limb had to say about what we are teaching our kids. Death to TAKS'es!!!!