Greetings,
GreenMount Community,
I would like to start today with
singing the praises of our eighth grade students. On Thursday and Friday, they took the
Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS), which is required as part of the
admissions process to high school. Our
students know the importance of this test for them, and I must say how well
they “tested”. I’ll have the results in
a week or so, but the one thing I can guarantee is that they did their very
best. Their test-taking behaviors were
excellent. For most, a standardized test
is something new and could be intimidating, but I am proud to say that our
eighth graders focused, persisted, and used every minute allotted to stay on
task and perform at their best.
The test consisted of two parts. The first part, the reading and language arts
section, involved 100 minutes of responding to passages for comprehension and
language skills. Each section was
divided into 50-minute tests, and every student finished with time to spare - some
with as much as 20 minutes left. But did
they stop to rest? Did they put their
tired heads down for a nap? No, they
immediately went back to check their work and persisted in that effort until
time was called. The next day, during
their math test, I saw the same behaviors.
This kind of dedication and attention to task is typical of our eighth
graders and I marvel at how they “attack” the challenges that come before them. These students are our end product, so-to-speak,
and are proof of the work that our teachers do at every level to come to this
place in the learning process. And it’s
only December 3!
Last week, I also had the
privilege of working with the 7/8 homeroom as we discussed some of the workings
of their brains. That’s right, we were discussing
the adolescent brain! I know that many
of you would consider this very scary territory, but actually, it was great
fun. Kids at this age are especially
amazing. Their brains have great
plasticity and are capable of many surprising feats.
Just for fun, I introduced them to a mental exercise
of memorization and some strategies for memorizing a long passage, most of
which was nonsense. I was very surprised
when, after only 20 minutes or so, nearly every student could recite the
passage. I have used this passage many
times in the past, but never have so many been able to memorize it so quickly.
Afterwards, we analyzed why they had been so
successful with this new learning.
Basically, it boiled down to the fact that the learning was unique and
challenging. The passage had a rhythm,
which is something that the brain - especially the adolescent brain - likes. Also, these students have been taught to
persist, to accomplish seemingly difficult tasks. Finally, the new learning was
fun!
Yes, learning can be fun. And when it is fun,
challenging, and interesting, students like ours will gobble it up. This somewhat silly exercise is a lesson for
all of us who are learners and teachers.
Make learning fun and students will accept any challenge that goes along
with it.
So, I guess you now want to know
what the passage is. Okay, but remember,
your brains lack the plasticity of an adolescent. It is just the simple act of counting to ten:
1
hen
2
ducks
3
squawking geese
4
limerick oysters
5
corpulent porpoises
6
pairs of Donald L. Verzo’s tweezers
7
thousand Macedonians in full battle array
8
brass monkeys from the ancient, sacred crypts of Egypt
9
sympathetic, apathetic, diabetic professors on roller skates with a marked
propensity toward procrastination and sloth
10
jolly blue denizens of the deep who haul and stall around the corner of 5th
and Main quibblying and quabbling all at the same time
Try to memorize this in 20
minutes. By the way, the record for
reciting this stands at 16 seconds!
Cheers,
Steve
