A few years ago Briar made this in class:

It absolutely delighted us. Watching her blossom and gain confidence at school as she became a big girl was inspiring. This year she is in 3rd grade. She is still inspiring, but I find myself feeling less like she is experiencing the learning process and more like she is being forced into a very dark and hopeless box. I wrote a little bit about how our first experience with testing has been. I hope that you will visit the New York State United Teachers site to read the post and, hopefully, to leave your comments about your own experience with testing.

I understand that there may be many viewpoints on this subject, but I think we owe it to our kids and the future of our state to talk openly about this as parents, educators, tax payers and, honestly, as former elementary school students.

Head on over.