Opening day

I sat through two "official" days of training this week. We won't see kids until Wednesday the 17th but I am past the point of no return. I am at a new school so I have a bit of deer in the headlights feel right now.

My new Principal unknowingly helped me continue my never ending rant against stadardized testing with an email and a speech.
The email: Sent before opening day she congratulated all returning teachers in the building for raising their state test scores.
The Speech: While attempting to rally the troops on Friday she mentioned that school ACT scores dropped last year.

I'm sure more evidence against standardized testing will poor in this year as teachers and administrators bend over backwards to accomodate state testing and the students continue to suffer for it.