Week 8 Blog:  a few favorite quotes:

“Let’s all break out the rainbow parachute, hide under piles of leaves, and howl like wolves more often.”  Quote from Laura Warner in “You’re It!” Thoughts on Play and Learning in Schools from Horace Summer 2008 Vol. 24 No. 2

One Hundred Years from now: an excerpt form "Within My Power" by Forest Witcraft

One Hundred Years from now, It will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money was in my bank account nor what my clothes looked like.  But the world may be a better place because I was important in the life of a child.

I find the topic of assessment very important as a teacher and as a mother.  I am frustrated by the amount of standardized testing and assessment done that does not take individuality into account.  When my oldest child started school, he was scoring below average in the standardized testing they use.  We struggled with this year after year; we would work with him all night at home, drilling, doing extra work with him and he just wasn't making progress. This was effecting my son's overall experience in school and how he felt about himself, he was starting to give up.  Luckily  his 5th grade teacher recommended a charter school for him.  That was the best decision we ever made for our son.  He was finally looked at as the whole child, where they built on his strengths, gave him extra support in his areas of weakness; they did not see him as being behind but a different learner.  He is now doing absolutely amazing in school and is deciding where to go to college!  I looked into the assessment practices of Canada since it is so close to our state.  Like the United States, Canada is increasing their focus on early childhood programs and centers to nurture the aspects of early development.  They are beginning to focus on a child's individuality and supporting an early identification or screening movement.  While staying accountable for educational excellence, the goal is to evaluate the child while respecting their individual differences.  That is what I want for our community and school system as well; assessment that is authentic and trully represents the individuals we work with!

Source: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/