When, in your life, are you told "You have 45 minutes, begin!" Only in school. In the world of work, time is your own, each of us have our strengths and weaknesses. We work towards deadlines, but at a pace that works for us. Think about your colleagues; the one who takes a little longer to process, the one who is filled with anxiety due to pressure, the one who cannot finish a project in one sitting. Our students are no different. We are each designed in a special way. We each have gifts that lend themselves to benefit the community in one way or another. Does a time limit squash the strengths because it lends itself to the weaknesses instead?
How do we accommodate for the differences when testing? Do we say you all must finish in this amount of time? Do we send home tests every once and a while? Do we give computerized tests? Do we differentiate? The hardest part as an educator is typically classroom management and that, unfortunately, doesn't always lend itself to extended testing periods. In what ways are you meeting the needs of your students to show learning? In what ways do you test; projects, reports, verbal assessments? What about those students who have technology, how is the school accommodating to allow the use of technology? How is the teacher accommodating technology? School is a way to educate youth and ready them for the world, whether it be more school or work.
Think about how the world operates; interview, survey, collaborate with the community to truly get a picture of what it is like. Just as we used to say of our college professors, "You haven't been in the classroom in years, how can you tell me how to teach!" The same applies for K-12 teachers. We live in a world where everything revolves around our classroom. How many times do you stop to think how does this apply in the real world? How can students make the connection between what I am teaching and what they will need to use?
What about the question of how many other classes a student has? Most schools have seven hours a day. If every teacher gave homework on the same day, how do you think that student will feel? Of course, rarely does this happen, but I will say on most days the four core classes assign homework.
There are many questions asked in this blog, the answers are up to each individual. It is the responsibility of the teacher to become the best at what they do by reaching out, researching best practices, meeting the needs of students in any way possible, and knowing what works with their students.
The sole purpose of this writing was to discuss what benefit or hindrance time constraints have on testing and if they are needed. However, the more processing that took place, the more questions that arose regarding how you work as a teacher to benefit the student. The next time a test comes up, think about how an alternative assessment can take place. A project showing understanding, check points, study groups, etc. The list is only as confined as your thoughts!
Off the Clock: Giving Students More Time to Demonstrate Learning
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