Ian will be taking his first TAKS test next week. Don't ask me what TAKS means. I have too many acronyms in my head and not enough brain power to remember what they stand for. This one is the state-mandated reading assessment test.
Ian hates tests. He does better when he can say the answers aloud. When he has to write his answers, he stresses about the challenges he has with handwriting and makes mistakes. We have put in place some accommodations for him that should make the process easier so the knowledge will flow freely from his big, brilliant brain to his hand.
Ian also thinks he knows everything already, which is why school is such "a waste of time" [his words, not mine]. Whenever he finds a way to solve a problem or answer a question in a manner he is comfortable with, he insists that any other way is wrong. Unfortunately, he prefers not to accept other people's assessment of his work when they explain his answer is incorrect. Because, after all, he knows everything already.
For example, when answering questions about a reading passage, Ian is supposed to prove his answers. In other words, he is to refer back to the passage and underline the information that contains the answer or an inference to it. Ian believes this is "a waste of time", even though he gets the answer correct when he does it and often misses the answer when he does not.
Last night we worked on this test taking method at home. He was not thrilled to be doing it, but he did it nonetheless. I said, "Ian, I have no way of checking your homework to see if you are correct unless you underline where you found the answers. Please do that so I don't have to read the entire passage too. You can play with your Nintendo once I finish checking your work." (ding-ding-ding-ding! The winning outcome!)
He was eager to show me how he found his answers and even corrected two that he had marked erroneously. "Oh! I didn't mean to mark that one!" he said, erasing quickly to make his correction. He flew through an assignment that normally would have taken an hour of arguing just to get him to start working on it.
"Ian, this is awesome! I am so proud of how quickly you finished your assignment. You did a great job!"
"I know that I did," he said calmly, but with a smile. "Can I play with my Nintendo now?"
I smiled back, handing his NintendoDS to him and kissing the top of his head.
This morning we talked about the test taking process again. I reminded him that even though this test is not for a grade, it is still very important that he do his best. I wanted to make a deal with him. If he will prove all of his answers on the test and try to do the best he can, I will take him to the toy store to buy Legos next Tuesday after school. His eyes lit up, his smile widened, and he said, "It's a deal!"
He has the knowledge. He has the confidence. Now he has an incentive.
For more stories like this one, see my blog on Trusera.com
No comments:
Post a Comment