This week our school district is doing it’s Standardized Testing. Oh, thrill, oh, joy. I’ve got my issues with these things; the performance of the students determines a lot of funding issues for the district, and the individual schools, but the tests results have very little impact on the students themselves. That means that the schools all have to teach the kids to do well on the tests, instead of being able to concentrate on teaching the kids to do their best as individuals. Not that the two are mutually exclusive, but where money is involved, guess which one has to take a bit of a back seat?
I believe strongly that a child will learn more and perform better in life (including on tests) if their parents show at least some interest in their education; the more interest and concern and cooperation a parent gives their kids schooling, the more likely the kids are to do well in school and in life. This isn’t an earth-shaking revelation, of course, it’s a pretty commonly-known fact. My point is that I’m not as concerned with my kids performance on these tests, since it doesn’t affect their grades. I am far more concerned with them acquiring the skills it takes to excel in life, including life within academia.
As a somewhat-involved parent, I volunteered to proctor some of the tests. This means that I show up and wander watchfully through the room, making sure kids are filling in the right bubbles, staying on the right pages, not looking around at others work (though the format makes cheating very difficult), and generally staying on track. It involves encouraging smiles, warning looks, and, unfortunately, absolutely no smacking of hands with wooden rulers.
This morning, as I was proctoring in a 5th-grade class, I gave in to the diversion of trying to guess which kids would finish first, and which ones would be falling asleep. It was interesting to see how wrong I was in some respects. I was looking at the kids from the front of the room, and I was suddenly struck by the fact that they were all so focused and intent on their tests. There was very little staring around the room blankly. They were quiet and ready to work, and did a very good job of working their way through the material. Out of 26 kids, only 4 needed a little more than the allotted time to finish.
Then I got to thinking about the potential of these kids, the possibilities that will they will have available to them. Some will be able to take advantage of the opportunities that come their way, and some won’t. Some will work hard, and some won’t. Some will succeed, and some will fail, and some won’t care.
I suddenly found myself praying for them. “Lord, bless these kids with Your presence. Give them opportunities to do great things. Help them to overcome anything that gets in their way. Give them courage for difficult times, and make them generous when times are easy. Send Your people to encourage them and bless them, and help them to see You all around them. Give their parents extra wisdom to guide them in the right direction. I know that some of them are in bad situations now, or will be someday; people will hurt them, people will abuse them, people will push them down. Lord, lift them up and keep them whole, so that they can find their way to You and be healed.”
I prayed in this way for a good part of the test, wondering what God would do with each of them. Some of them, I know, will never give themselves to God -- some will never have the chance, and others will run away from God. I don’t know what good my prayers will do, but I just figured it was important to give them whatever I could, aside from the encouraging smiles and warning looks.
If you have a chance, find a school that needs volunteers. Go in and ask if there’s anything you can do for them. They may look at you funny if you don’t have a kid going to that school. They have to be careful, of course. Perhaps, though, you can find a way to be a blessing, anyway. Be persistent in offering your help. And pray for the school, for its students, and its staff. Ask God to let you become a blessing to them, and watch what He does with you.
I believe strongly that a child will learn more and perform better in life (including on tests) if their parents show at least some interest in their education; the more interest and concern and cooperation a parent gives their kids schooling, the more likely the kids are to do well in school and in life. This isn’t an earth-shaking revelation, of course, it’s a pretty commonly-known fact. My point is that I’m not as concerned with my kids performance on these tests, since it doesn’t affect their grades. I am far more concerned with them acquiring the skills it takes to excel in life, including life within academia.
As a somewhat-involved parent, I volunteered to proctor some of the tests. This means that I show up and wander watchfully through the room, making sure kids are filling in the right bubbles, staying on the right pages, not looking around at others work (though the format makes cheating very difficult), and generally staying on track. It involves encouraging smiles, warning looks, and, unfortunately, absolutely no smacking of hands with wooden rulers.
This morning, as I was proctoring in a 5th-grade class, I gave in to the diversion of trying to guess which kids would finish first, and which ones would be falling asleep. It was interesting to see how wrong I was in some respects. I was looking at the kids from the front of the room, and I was suddenly struck by the fact that they were all so focused and intent on their tests. There was very little staring around the room blankly. They were quiet and ready to work, and did a very good job of working their way through the material. Out of 26 kids, only 4 needed a little more than the allotted time to finish.
Then I got to thinking about the potential of these kids, the possibilities that will they will have available to them. Some will be able to take advantage of the opportunities that come their way, and some won’t. Some will work hard, and some won’t. Some will succeed, and some will fail, and some won’t care.
I suddenly found myself praying for them. “Lord, bless these kids with Your presence. Give them opportunities to do great things. Help them to overcome anything that gets in their way. Give them courage for difficult times, and make them generous when times are easy. Send Your people to encourage them and bless them, and help them to see You all around them. Give their parents extra wisdom to guide them in the right direction. I know that some of them are in bad situations now, or will be someday; people will hurt them, people will abuse them, people will push them down. Lord, lift them up and keep them whole, so that they can find their way to You and be healed.”
I prayed in this way for a good part of the test, wondering what God would do with each of them. Some of them, I know, will never give themselves to God -- some will never have the chance, and others will run away from God. I don’t know what good my prayers will do, but I just figured it was important to give them whatever I could, aside from the encouraging smiles and warning looks.
If you have a chance, find a school that needs volunteers. Go in and ask if there’s anything you can do for them. They may look at you funny if you don’t have a kid going to that school. They have to be careful, of course. Perhaps, though, you can find a way to be a blessing, anyway. Be persistent in offering your help. And pray for the school, for its students, and its staff. Ask God to let you become a blessing to them, and watch what He does with you.
2 comments:
Hi Tim,
I have just joined the blogging world and was reading your archives. I knew a Bud Watson who was a preacher in southern Ca. Was that your grandpa?
Vonnie,
Yes, that was my granddad. He was mostly in San Diego for his whole preaching career, except for a short stint in Yuma, AZ in the mid '60's and in Garden Grove and Corona in the late '70's.
Did you go to one of the churches Granddad preached at?
We're headed down to San Diego tomorrow; my grandmother, Charlene, just turned 90 this week, and is doing pretty well, all things considered!
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