How one teacher told her students that they're worth more than their test scores.
Gah, teachers!
Check out this letter from a teacher to her students. She wrote it to remind them that a test does not determine their self worth.
Every spring, students across America take standardized tests to determine if they are ready to move on to the next grade. Of course, you and I know that one test can't actually determine the full scope of someone's intellectual strength or creative talent — and thankfully this teacher knows it, too.
For a moment, let's put aside our opinions of standardized testing (and the fact this is written in Comic Sans font) and celebrate the teachers who "get it."
Many tests celebrate only one type of learning: how to take a test well.
There are a lot of
pros and cons
to consider when it comes to standardized testing, especially during our national debate of Common Core techniques
. Although these tests can tell us some things, they don't give the full holistic picture of kids' aptitude — and certainly not their worth.
Regardless of how we all feel about tests, the one thing that unites us is the commitment to bringing out the best in our kids and finding the hidden talents in each of them. As educators, mentors, and parents, our job may be to teach, but more importantly, it's also to find the thing that inspires a student to want to learn on their own.