A bad seed?

Yesterday, for my science test, I gave the kids a blank sheet of notebook paper and asked them to write down the answers for five review questions at the end of the chapter we had read this week. The chapter was mostly about seeds -- what they contain and how they are spread.

Most of my kids did not understand the whole concept of an open book test. I told them that they could use their book to find the answers by looking back in the chapter we read. While some began flipping back pages to look for the answers, I saw one little girl looking forward into the chapter about lizards and birds. I'm pretty sure that chapter doesn't contain any information about germination or seedlings.

Yet I still saw many of them just making completely random guesses at the answers without using the book. Often, what they wrote didn't even make any sense or did not answer the question. For example, question one was, "What is a seedling?" Roughly twelve kids wrote, "A seedling lives inside every seed." That's nice, but it doesn't tell me what a seedling IS. Just finding a sentence with the word in it does not always answer the question. If I ask someone, "Did the Cowboys win this weekend?" hopefully they will not respond, "The Dallas Cowboys are a professional football organization, located in Irving, Texas."

But my favorite part of grading the tests came with question 3. The question was, "What are some ways that seeds can be spread from one place to another?" Some of the answers to this one really showed that the kids were listening when we were talking about this part. A lot of them copied the caption from the book about cockleburrs latching onto a dogs fur. But one girl took the idea of an animal carrying seeds, and applied it to an animal that isn't listed anywhere in our science book.

"If a jaguar finds an apple and he does not know what it is and he carries it to somewhere else."

Helpful jaguar!!

Another girl wrote, "Some animals can help people carry things." I went ahead and gave her credit for this answer, assuming that by "things," she meant "seeds."

But the best answers came from the kids who remembers our discussion of how birds help spread seeds. There was a picture of a bird standing on a branch that ended in a group of berries. The caption explained that birds eat the berries, swallow the seeds, and the seeds passed through the digestive system unharmed. And thus the bird drops the seeds in a faraway location.

So I got a couple of priceless answers to question 3:

"A bird can eat the seed and can poopoo in another place."

and

"A bird eats the seed and they did their business and the seed falls."

These kids clearly understood the concept! Mr. Bloom, you might need to add another level to your Taxonomy, because these kids are marching up the ladder!

He chose... Poorly.

There was an article in the Dallas Morning News yesterday about several of the local school districts using an online test produced by Gallup Corp. to screen potential teaching applicants at their schools. Using what is called the TeacherInsight test, employers are turning away many candidates because of their scores.

The article states:
“Unlike state-required certification exams, TeacherInsight measures values and behavior -- not subject knowledge. Gallup says the questions gauge natural talent based on 30 years of researching top-performing teachers."

According to Gallup officials, even though some of the questions might seem a bit subjective, top-quality teachers select the same answers, thus proving their worth.

They didn't list any of the actual test questions in the article, but I think I can imagine what the questions might look like.



#1 You have given an assessment. What do you do for your Talented and Gifted student, to ensure that he does not get bored when he is done?
A) Provide him with a choice of stimulating books to read when he is finished.
B) Ask him to write his own creative story on the back of the test.
C) Give him a 3-star crossword puzzle to work.
D) Buy him fireworks and chewing tobacco.


#2 You are participating in a fire drill exercise when you notice that one of your students is missing. What do you do?
A) Call the administrator and advise him or her of the situation.
B) Ask another teacher to watch your class while you go to look for the child.
C) Tell your other kids that you will give a reward to whoever runs back into the building and finds the missing child.
D) Use this as a teaching opportunity to explain that 95% out of 100 is still pretty high.


#3 You are having a phone conference with an irate parent, and some hurtful things have been said. How do you end the call?
A) “Thank you very much for your time. I look forward to seeing little Billy tomorrow morning.”
B) “I'm sorry that emotions are running so high, but I think we made some progress here today."
C) “I don't want to argue anymore, I'll have my principal gave you a call."
D) “Smell ya later, Beee-yotch!”



So perhaps it's true, perhaps a large portion of candidates CAN be screened out based on the answers they select on an online test. All I can say is, if you take something like this, be sure to choose your answers carefully…