Many students across the grades are being assessed at this time of year in the areas of reading, writing, and math. Assessment takes place in the classroom throughout the year, but there are other kinds of assessments that take place, including standardized tests such as the ones my daughter is writing in grade 3 right now, that assess where a student’s learning is in relation to the curriculum taught.
As an educator I have been a part of the standardized testing process of students in many ways over the years in different locations and across the grades right up through to grade 12. But this is my first go at this experience in Ontario and as a parent.
Having recently read Stuart Shanker’s writing on rethinking IQ tests as stress tests and recognizing that, actually, all tests are stress tests, I focused my energy on what I as a parent could do to support my daughter’s Self-Reg (understanding of her own stress and management of her energy and tension) so that she could feel at her best during the testing and have a positive first experience of the process. Siena agreed to join me on video after day one of the three days of testing to share some of her insights.
