SMS Principal Blog

"Time moves slowly but passes quickly." -Alice Walker Perhaps there is no better time than this past week to point out how complicated human beings can be. In the same week that we are grumbling about how hard it is to adjust to jumping forward one hour, I know most of us are quietly-- or not so quietly-- wishing we could just set our clocks forward one full week to get to spring break. Either way, it will be here before we know it, and like always, it will be over even quicker than that. There is no doubt that time will continue to fly over the final weeks of school, and I know all of you are going to be feeling the pressure of making sure we have our students as prepared as possible for next year, but don't stress too much. You've all had a great year, and our students are making great progress toward our goals for them. Keep up the good work. We have just one short week before we get a little rest to help us get through the final sprint of this school year.

"Standardized testing is at cross purposes with many of the most important purposes of public education. It doesn't measure big-picture learning, critical thinking, perseverance, problem solving, creativity or curiosity, yet those are the qualities great teaching brings out in a student." -Randi Weingarten Here is a humorous look at standardized testing as we kick off PARCC testing: I think there are some who believe this is the approach we have or should have toward standardized testing. I believe that if we focus on real teaching and learning, standardized testing will take care of itself, and as far as I am concerned, you have done some great teaching, so it stands to reason that our students have done some great learning. For that reason, my only goal through this PARCC testing experience to simply ensure that we administer the test with fidelity. I believe our results will speak for themselves.