Why 1/5 Americans can't Find the US on a Map: Miss South Carolina Reveals All

Test Practice needs to include practice with oral answers, as well as filling in paper and pencil bubble sheets.

And, math, geography and current events should be a part of every Test Practice session.

Other Test Practice should include practical skills, such as reading a map.

Recent Geography Polls

Recent polls indicate that 1/5 of Americans can't locate the US on a map.

This demonstrates Test Practice at it's worst.

No Joke

No, this is not a "blond Joke."

Listen to Miss South Carolina's response to this statement.

Miss South Carolina's Answer to Flagging US Geography Skills…

And, listen to the applause.

How well do you think that Miss South Carolina answered the question? What university does she attend? Is she legally blond?

Positive Spin

On the positive side, 4/5 Americans were able to find the US on the map. This gives our schools and our Test Practice a "B" which isn't so bad.

Of course, we can do better, and our Test Practice efforts might pay off with better publicity for the success of our school systems.

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Test Practice Joins the BlogRush Service

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Wasting money on BlackLine Test Practice Books

Test Practice stress pushes us to do strange things.

The lure of plopping down your money for BlackLine Master Books to enable our Test Practice efforts is great.

It is psychologically inviting and mentally comforting to just pick up something that will save you hours of work for only $12.95, or $14.95, or $16.95.

But, this is strange solace.

The reason that these BlackLine Master practice tests fail to drive your Test Practice success is that the tests never cover what you are teaching.

This causes a break from what you were teaching to what is in the BlackLine practice book. What a "bummer."

Worse, students get the idea (and you don't have to tell them either) that testing is something apart from real learning.

Besides, students know about the stress that teachers are under about "raising test scores." They feel the pressure, too.

So, Test Practice suffers when you "slap a BlackLine master test practice activity on students because their stress levels jump..."You are testing your students on something that you haven't taught."

So, Test Practice has to be a "Something else kind of thing" than BlackLine master practice book activities to be successful.

Just what that is, we'll cover in subsequent posting of this blog.

If you have invested in BlackLine master Test Practice books, don't throw them away. But, be prepared to use them in more useful ways than photocopying class sets and sitting students quietly at their desks for hours while you administer them in "test-like" settings.

You can do better, and we'll reveal how.


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First Day of School: Your Test Practice is Already Behind!

First Day of School: Your Test Practice is Already Behind!

You already have a late start for building your Test Practice strategies.

What? How can you be behind on the first day of school?

Easy! Your Test Practice planning should have started weeks ago.

When you were decorating your room, office, or teaching space (some of you don't have real rooms), you spent too much time worrying about how the learning environment would look on the outside.

But it is the "inside the head" space of your students, and the inside the bubble sheet circles or ovals that really count in this modern, media-driven test craze.

Spend more time planning your Test Practice strategies, and less time on decorating. After all, if you have a principal, administrator or supervisor that is "test-scared" for their job; you have to hold a likewise concern for your job.

Start planning your Test Practice strategy by listing the weeks that you have before the high-stakes test. (These schedules are published already.)

Then, develop a weekly plan for exactly what you will do in your Test Practice efforts.

Do not "slack off" on this. Write everything down, put these items on your calendar. Create "tickler files." Do anything to ensure that you spend time each day furthering your students testable abilities.

Test Practice is not a one shot deal. It is an every day affair.

Think of your Test Practice obligation as something like "doing the dishes."

What happens if you "slack off for a few days" and don't wash the dishes?

Bad smells are bug magnets. And do you want company to visit and see the mess that your kitchen is in? What do the stacks of messy dishes tell about you.

In the same way, failing in your daily Test Practice chores is like sweeping dirt under the rug.

So get your Test Practice program in place.

And, be sure to tell your friends and colleagues about this blog.

Test Practice

NCLB Rachets up Test Practice Pressure

Test Practice is driven by The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and the is up for renewal.

And while we thing that Test Practice is important, we don't believe that the NCLB has played a beneficial role in educating our children. In fact, the NCLB has created a negative impact on Test Practice efforts.

Here is what really happens:

* Teachers are pressured by principals, so the curriculum focuses upon the high-stakes test

* Students are bored, so the teacher "puts more pressure on the kids"

* Practice Tests are expensive, so teachers buy "Black Line Master" test books at the teacher supply store

* The "Black Line Master" books are not related to the curriculum, but students sit for hours practicing these tests to "get test-taking" skills

* Students are restless, so teachers put more pressure on them

* The pressure that teachers put on students concerning the practice tests causes students to associate "TESTS" with "PAIN."

This cycle is all wrong!

In fact Test Practice should be and can be engaging, fun, exciting, interesting, rewarding and full of solid curricular learning.

What is needed is for teachers to make their own tests for Test Practice. This is easy with your own templates.

We are developing a new template that is based upon state standards, but you can create your own right now with a word processor.

Then, just copy some curriculum materials into the "selection" area, and fill out the questions.

But, there is one other key to Test Practice. That is...

Use all sorts of...

* Engaging

* Hands-on

* Individual or Group

* Learning Projects

* Take Home Assignments

* Debates

* Contests

* Games

to Test Practice.

Forcing students to sit quietly and struggle with boring copies of Black Line Master test books is "cruel and unusual punishment," but unfortunately, "business as usual" for an unenlightened Test Practice effort.

Do Test Practice the right way, and your students learn.

And you benefit by building a climate for learning in your classroom.

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Test Practice Benefits

Test Practice does not have to mean stepping out of the K12 curriculum to practice on unrelated materials.

Test Practice can be done using teacher-made tests that focus upon exactly what you are teaching.

The process is easy, and the opportunities for creative strategies such as group projects, debates, voting on the answers, take-home test, etc.

All you need is a template.

You can find a sample template at:

Test Practice Template

Employing creative Test Practice strategies means tht your principal will commend your lesson planning.


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Test Practice

Test Practice

Test Practice means that students practicing for tests so that they can graduate, getting a competitive job, or get accepted at an accredited college or university.

For teachers, Test Practice means keeping your job, and keeping "off the radar screen" and off the "chopping block" of a worried and over-stressed principal.

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Test Practice