Dear TSU followers–

I’ve been developing this website for nearly a year now. Lots of people tell me it’s great . However I haven’t seen it lead to many more teachers writing and publishing pieces that better inform the public about our work. Or if it has, then people aren’t telling me. Yes, I’ve shared lots of examples of the stories teachers have told, and I’m glad to do that — but those were already happening anyway.

So I think it’s now time for this site to find a new strategy for teacher voices. I believe the effort needs to focus more on a single issue that impacts teachers & kids, plus a specific place to gather teachers’ comments on it, and then some specific way to get the comments out into the wider world. I have some ideas, but I sure could use your input.

Here’s what I’m thinking. Focus on OVER-TESTING CHILDREN. Ask teachers to complete the following starter:

If we weren’t spending so much time prepping for and giving standardized tests, here’s what I’d be doing with kids, and what they’d be learning.

I’d ask that the writing focus on an especially powerful classroom activity or strategy & how it affected one student or class. Additional reflections on the limitations of the tests could be added — but this approach keeps the writing positive. Meanwhile, I’m working on finding a good media outlet for the pieces.

SO PLEASE RESPOND AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS STRATEGY AND WHAT YOU THINK WILL BE THE BEST ISSUE TO FOCUS ON.

(If you have any trouble entering a comment, you can also use the link to the TSU gmail account provided on the homepage.)