Hear This Rebel Yell, "Joy, Joy, Joy!"

Today fellow educators have been encouraged to blog about the current crisis in American education and what we think would fix the problem.  Everyone in the education field is up in arms about the film, "Waiting For Superman,"  as if teachers and unions were the only problems in our educational system.  We educators know that there are many problems that are out of our control, but no one seems to want to listen about societal issues right now.   No, the problems are too many to list, but I will try my best to focus on one of them, and that is that all too often, joy is taken out of our classrooms.

I choose to focus on this because this is the one thing we CAN control.  As a principal, I am all for accountability measures and making sure that all children learn.  NCLB has certainly made schools focus on those two things, but what has simultaneously occurred is that joy has been sapped out of the classrooms. 

Teachers are so driven to make sure that they teach specific skills, and are constantly worried about state tests.  Principals (including me) put standardized test scores in front of the teachers, along with pacing guides, and GLE's.  Our focus has become those scores, not what it will take to light the spark in each and every child.

I work with the most talented group of teachers.  They work so hard.  They care and love these children and would do anything for them, but I'm afraid that with all of these accountability measures and focusing on scores, I have contributed to the "joy sapping."  I am the mosquito sucking the blood right out of them. 

At our school, we are going to get back to making sure that joy is in every classroom.  Our focus will be on lighting the learning spark for every child and making sure that children have an enjoyable learning experience.  I don't want my teacher's first thought to be author's purpose, context clues, predicting, summarizing, sequence, and cause and effect.  Instead, how can we instill the joy of reading?  How can we help children be the most effective communicators that they can be?

If we focus on the joy, on lighting that spark, then we will be a successful school.  Yes, author's purpose is important, but it is more important to instill joy.  I must help my teachers maintain the balance between the two:  focusing on accountability and maintain joy and happiness for each of our students.  I am a rebel and I say that instead of more tests we need more joy, joy, joy!  I hope I never forget that............