Sittin' and Thinkin', Part 2

Since I wrote the first part of these ideas, much has happened in our town and the nation.  Some of it seems to corroborate the thoughts I am thinking.

At school we are winding down the first semester.  Today is the first of two days of finals; three tests today and three more tomorrow.  Most of us have some memories of finals and they are usually not pleasant.  As a teacher, especially an former English teacher, I remember the essays that had to be graded.  They usually took on the taste of the same after reading a few, and for many of my students writing was difficult.  But the essay was the means we used to determine what the student learned for one. Secondly it was an assessment of the student's ability to communicate.  Thirdly, though, the finals were a rite of passage.  Don't we all have the memory of commiserating with our friends about how hard it was to prepare then finish the finals schedule? It was a shared experience across demographic lines.  In college, most students are fairly similar  but in high school the student population represents the last time there is a mandated collection of people that  mirrors demographically our community.  We are together with others we may never be associated with again.  Finals is a chance to bond over a common experience, like military service in the past. We gained from those struggles and exposures.

But mandated testing has changed the school culture and it seems the shared finals experience will be a victim.  As an English teacher I knew that part of Christmas break would be spent grading essays and tests. Some years it was more than others. Do the math.  150 students times 10 minutes per essay equals 1500 minutes divided by 60 minutes per hour equals 25 hours. We were thankful that we had the break to grade  papers, as grades were not required to be posted until we returned from break.  But under our school's new ideas, grades must be submitted before we leave for break. Finals have become less meaningful.  Some wayward teachers have parties, or the students show up with food and a party commences. I was one of the campus Scrooges that didn't party.  With the grades due so soon, essays must be assigned earlier or not at all.  And to top it off, the principal announced that next year they may not be a finals schedule.

That is a long winded way of saying I think our standards have been lowered again, and our shared community experience has gone the way of the dodo.  When people complain that we all seem to be isolating ourselves from each other and lament the loss of community, I would point to small examples like the finals as at least a symptom.  We used to make fun of a teacher that had his grades done early, and now we are all expected to be that teacher.

There was a thoughtful email sent out recently to our staff by another staff member.  It was observation of our staff and a question about how to create a community at the school.   It seemed to be a plea for the past.  Not a nostalgic cry for the Good Ole Days, but sincere questions about how to build a place where people felt at home with friends. I don't have any easy answers and I don't think there are quick answers.  I believe society has moved us past those thoughts of community.  We now seem to get our shared sense of togetherness from tragedies, whereas in the past the tragedy was the proof of the togetherness and the sense grew from everyday contact with others on a meaningful level.

I am as guilty as anyone.  It is so much easier to isolate ourselves and lock ourselves away in our rooms.  The old cliche of the teacher being the King/Queen of their castle-room never seemed more true to me than today.  When I look to the back of the room and see five adult administrators observing the class, I don't wonder any longer.  They are under pressure to raise test scores, and the natural response to to roll the pressure downhill to the teachers.  My response has been to hunker down and be as quiet as possible in staff meetings, further isolating myself from others. This makes community more difficult to achieve.  But community is what we need, now more than ever.