What happens after the test?

My mental reaction to that question always follows the poetic paradoxes presented in a poem by Tom Wayman, capturing the disconnect between student and teacher perception of what's important. For teachers, the course is about so much more than the test!

To the question “Did I Miss Anything?” asked by a student who has missed a class, the teacher in the poem offers a series of “nothing/ everything” responses that include:

Nothing. None of the content of

this course has value or meaning…

Everything. Contained in this

classroom is a microcosm of 

human existence

Assembled for you to query

and examine and ponder

This is not the only place such an

opportunity has been gathered

but it was one place

and you weren't here 

(Wayman, 1994)

Like this teacher, I find myself wanting to tell students, “No —we are doing nothing after the test — if you define this course in terms of that three hour goal.”

But simultaneously, I want to tell them, “Yes — we will continue to look at language as a mirror reflecting man's humanity, and think of this class as a lens through which to understand others, and appreciate their efforts to communicate.”

But I do not say any of the above. Instead, I mumble something about doing “fun things” that won't seem too painful for seniors about to graduate.

I can see them mentally yawn.

What does happen after the test? The absentee rate, steadily climbing throughout the year, continues to climb. Students fall asleep during the day because they are staying up later, often chatting online with friends about college or summer plans.

Occasionally, I can coax students into doing some real thinking: placing their educations in a larger context, and predicting what skills will be useful to them in college and the workplace.

Often those contemplative meditations on their learning are quite revealing and moving. Sometimes, they are burnt-out and cynical. Either way, students gain a valuable perspective on how school might move beyond the four walls of the classroom.

But most of the time, teachers give into the cynical end-of-the-year blahs, and think of the last several weeks as redundant to the heart of the course.

Do students understand the larger message you hope your course conveys? Do they see that what you are doing in reading, social studies, physics, or math class is really about the world and not about textbooks and quizzes? And that doing “fun things” is not the goal of the course?

Perhaps some do. Meanwhile, I want my students to know that after the test, we will be doing nothing and everything — so don't tune out yet.