[no subject]

[Robert Morse <Robert_Morse@CATHEDRAL.ORG>]

I am in the same postion as Digby Willard ( see below) and agree with him.
I prefer to think of myself not as teaching TO the test, but as teaching
BETOND the test- my objectives include preparing students to take the AP
test, but go well beyond that-  I also recognize that my students will
continue to face tests in their academic pursuits, and therefore I try to
teach them the metaskills that make for good test taking-just some of the
set of thinking and reasoning skills that I try to inculcate-not the be all
and end all of my objectives.

Bob Morse, St. Albans School, Washington, DC


        Digby Willard wrote
> I prep students for both IB and AP tests.  I don't particularly like
> teaching to the test, but it comes with the job I have, and I do
> particularly like the kids I get.
>
> The tests do have value in several ways.
>
> -The tests are beyond my control.  This is not completely a good thing, of
> course, because it means I make a lot of choices on what to cover based on
> what's on the test as opposed to what I think my students would really
> benefit from.  But the the external aspect of the test removes a lot of
> the
> game-playing that can go on when the teacher is the one who writes the
> test, and gets through to a lot of students that they have to actually
> study the material and understand it.
>
> -Students who review for the tests understand many things better than they
> did the first time through, and start to see connections they didn't see
> before.  This is probably the most valuable benefit from teaching toward
> an
> external test.
>
> -Students get a sense from their test score a sense of how good they are
> at
> physics in relation to to other high school students.  This is more true
> of
> the AP test than the IB test.
>
> I find that I enjoy teaching most when I just take a "the hell with the
> test" attitude most of the year, and then deal with the test in late April
> and early May, rather than focus on test prep throughout the year.  My
> students also enjoy it quite a bit more, from what I can tell.