Chapter 6

I am a firm believer in getting to know your students as Wilhelm portrays himself to be as well. Chapter 6 deals with many aspects in the English classroom but the most intriguing area was when Wilhelm discusses testing situations. I was angered by the ending result of his staff meeting where they were discussing standardized student testing as a means for assessing students' knowledge. I have personally veered away from this aspect as a future educator feeling that this serves no purpose other than stressing out students. There are plenty of ways to test a students' knowledge and learning other than making a written examination. I do, however, think formative assessments like quizzes are good to maintain the students' comprehension as they read.
Tests also set the tone for a classroom. A classroom with tests may cause students to not take the class as seriously or become as motivated. Comparably, a classroom without tests there is less pressure on each student to answer a questions correctly when every person may have different interpretations of a specific text. Doing projects and hands on activities will release the anxiety of most students and create a real learning atmosphere for everyone. I know when I am teaching my classroom will not be filled with written examinations to simply test a students' learning process. That, to me, is a waste of time. Wilhelm showed great courage by standing up for what he believes in. The sad thing is that it did him or the students no good because the administrators were not willing to overlook standardized testing.