Two days ago, I was trying to get my Year 3s (8-9 year olds) ready for the massive standardised test they're expected to take next week. We were revising how to write an argument genre, since looking at their work informed me that even after at least a term's work on it, they still have no clue. I had just finished reminding students that in paragraphs 2 and 3 they expand on the reasons they previewed in the introduction when I caught A and N exchanging a note. The note said:

Is this boring?


Yes [ X ]

No [ ]


I should have been annoyed, since I was only trying to help them, and it was really quite disrespectful. But actually, not only did I think it was an excellent example of how intelligent and creative my kids are, I was over the moon that everything had been correctly spelt.

In other news, NAPLAN is a waste of time and money and should go die in a fire. The results come too late to inform my teaching. Those results wouldn't highlight or tell me anything I wouldn't know even if they came in time. The test puts young children under undue pressure. And it's a fucking disgrace that funding is tied up in it.