Transcending the Bubble

Bubble tests.  Bubbling.  Standardization.  Benchmark.  Quartile.  NCLB. AYP.

This is a list that the vast majority of American teachers are obsessed with, not because they believe in it as a means to improve the education of children, but because that is what the federal government requires.  I would rather the list that we were all consumed by read something more like this...

Think. Feel. Create. Collaborate. Help. Challenge. Innovate. Engage. Inspire.

I wish there were acronyms that rolled off the tips of every teachers tongue that spoke of inspiring the kids in our rooms to explore the world and opportunitites that exist outside the walls of the classroom.... I wish that the field that I worked in is concerned with more than the ability of a child to bubble.  The conversation in mass media education is too focused on hurdling a low bar of expectations, while we fail to see the potential of all kids to transcend not only the bar.. but also the bubble.

What will it take to turn the conversation from one of certainty to one of untold possibility?