Blog #7

 

    When it comes to the standards and standardized testing, I was able to observe some of the impact it had made during my time observing Ms. Mitari's class. The way the class structured really showed how much emphasis the state feels what students are needing to learn more about by giving very specific time frames depending on the subject. For subjects such as math, science, writing, more time was allotted for these subjects with each subject having a 45 minute to 50 minute period. Other subjects such as social studies and art were given 25-30 minute time blocks. This structure of periods seemed odd to me as these were very specific set times for each subject that it seemed that Ms. Mitari was micro-managed by the state. I asked Ms. Mitari how she liked the structure of the class and she had expressed dislike with this way of scheduling as she truly felt like she was micro managed and never felt that she had had enough to cover each topic, or that she was scrambling to finish the topic in order to move onto the next subject. 

    With the time allotments given to each subject, its clear that english, math, and science are emphasized in this school's education system.  I feel as though I also observed a shift into STEM geared material as many of the students committed more of their time committing to their projects in science and math. These standards have given students the opportunity to explore stem-related fields but I had the opportunity to ask Ms. Mitari how she felt about standardized testing while we were doing sage practice, and she definitely had some misgivings of about standardized testing. As a teacher,  when it comes to standardized testing she feels that she us on a time crunch and because of that she feels she is needing to prepare the students for the state test rather than actually teaching. This has given Ms. Mitari not alot of flexibility which she'd like to have for her students but at times it can tend to be challenging. 

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