The Little Things Matter
http://goo.gl/t6QgJ This past spring, I prepared my first group of students for the Missouri End of Course exam, and I have a confession to make: I taught to the test. That's right, I did it. I was that teacher that all the good teachers complain about. Now that testing season is over and I've had the summer to reflect on my last school year, I feel like I'm on a perpetual walk of shame. Did I let my students down by focusing too much on test preparation and not enough on what really matters in education? Was I focused too much on the big picture and not enough on the little things that make up a school day? Of course none of these thoughts crossed my mind while I was worried about 3s and 4s, but the day after my testing sessions ended, something amazing happened... My first child, Giuliana, was born April 26th, the day after my students finished testing. The birth of my first child has helped to put a lot into perspective for me; mostly, that the lit