Why do we assume the worst?

Although I usually avoid the teacher's lounge at all costs, I found myself in there today and I had to jump into a conversation I overheard.  Our administration is strongly supporting online testing and we have shown teachers many options for doing so.  We have also shown them how quickly and easily these tests can be graded, but most are still fighting it.  Today a teacher said she was not going to give her final on iPads because it's too easy for the kids to cheat; all they have to do is take a screenshot and send it to everyone.

I had to step in at this point and I was glad another freshman teacher also spoke up.  I have given every test online this year using the Canvas LMS.  The first quiz was a short 10-question multiple choice test because I wasn't sure how my students would respond or how the test would work on the iPad.  I knew that my student's abilities overall went downhill throughout the day.  My first period is my honors class and my last period is extremely challenging with half a dozen resource students and a large number of struggling EL students.  I figured if there was cheating going on throughout the day, the scores would get better as the day progressed.  This did not happen.  I have now given both short quizzes and full exams that included multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions and every time I have felt confident that there was no cheating going on.  The other freshman teacher shared similar experiences.  

After leaving the lounge, I felt myself getting angry that teachers are assuming the worst about their students.  I am also wondering how much these negative assumptions or fears are holding teachers back from implementing the use of iPads in their classes.  What concerns me even more is that the students pick up on our feelings and expectations.  I believe they respond to us.  If we assume they are going to cheat and let them know we don't trust them, they will not respect us and will probably fulfill those negative expectations.  If they feel like we trust them and believe in their abilities, they will (usually) respect that trust and give their all. 

What Makes it all Worth It...

When people find out I teach high school, they usually have some sort of negative comment about teenagers, and how they can't imagine how hard my job must be.  I have been lucky that no one has treated me with the disrespect teachers in America are facing at this pivotal moment in (education) history.  I tell these people that yes, teenagers do suck sometimes, but most of the time they are really fun to be around.  Yes, they can be moody and disrespectful, but they can also be really sweet and caring.  Yes, I have had students cuss at me, but I have also had them bring me gifts from school field trips, or bring me ceramic frogs from their annual Christmas trips to Mexico to add to my classroom collection.  For each kid that's driven me crazy over the past 7 years, there are 10 who brought me to tears at graduation.

I work harder than almost anyone I know and leave work every day emotionally, mentally, and physically drained.  If someone asked me why I do it, this would be my reply:

I had a student who had to live alone his senior year because his parents had to work out of town all week.  He came into class worried about how he would eat because he didn't know how to cook anything.  We got online and found easy recipes he could handle.  Another day he came in angry that a teacher had accused him of smoking pot at school and he'd gotten in her face.  I just said, "I know it wasn't you, but you shouldn't have handled it like that.  You're better than that."  He looked me in the eye and said, "Thanks Miss, you're right, I am, but sometimes I need to come back and hear you say it." I bawled at his graduation like he was my own and when he introduced me to his mom, she hugged me crying and said, "Thank you for being his mom when I couldn't be there."  He sends me a texts regularly and I got one last week (two years after he graduated) to tell me he got a promotion at work and he wants to take me to lunch.

THAT'S why I do this. 

The only number that can measure my success as a teacher is the number of students who have touched my life and whose lives I've touched.  No test score can do that.