When kids talk to their parents, parents will reminisce on all the fun they had in elementary schools, no standardized testing, and more time outside of school playing with their friends, rather than preparing for tests. A quote from this article that really stuck to me is, "lots of work, little play and test galore." This is really sad that this is how students/parents view elementary school. In some states kids are taking more than 30 tests in one grade year. Instead of teachers focusing on teaching the curriculum and bringing in their own ideas into the classroom they are now forced to prepare students for these tests that will determine their educational career at such a young age. Taking these tests creates so much test anxiety. "Heightened test anxiety may affect 20 percent of school-aged children and 18 percent may experience milder forms of it." At a young age these children are introduced to the feeling of anxiety, at a time they should be having fun and truly enjoy going to school. State testing and testing in general needs to be reduced if not completely eliminated. 

Math anxiety is more than just being nervous for class, it's more how kids feel; helpless while doing math, panicked at the sight of a math problem, and tension between themselves and math. Lots of research has shown that anxiety can "affect many things that are important for learning, such as attention, memory, and processing speed." If kids are facing anxiety while in math class how can teachers expect them to perform well when called upon, during a test/quiz, or when doing homework at home, when they might not have help. It is important for teachers to recognize students cry for help during class and make it their priority to spend more time with that student and fix that student's relationship with math. Some helpful options I want to implement into my math classroom are; displaying anchor charts, drawing and writing down helpful math facts/equations, giving the students the opportunity to orally or even write down the steps they should take, when they are stuck during an exam I want students to come to me and explain why they are stuck and I would ask them question to guide them to the correct answer, create fun ways for students to remember tricky math facts/equations. Reducing math anxiety and increasing children's love for math is my main goal for when I become a teacher. 

This research paper was written in 2013 however, it still is incredibly relevant. In this paper it discusses what people think the benefits of homework are and how people think it could be detrimental. It references how in the first few decades of the 20th century people felt as though homework helped "create disciplined minds" but then in the 1940s there began a growing concern "that homework interfered with other home activities" which caused people to speak out against the practice of homework. Seeing how these ideas of homework affect the child's life outside of school started in the 40s. Studies showed that students in elementary school who received homework versus those who didn't did not perform any better on testing. A quote that really resonated with me was "Homework Can Be Beneficial; Yet Nothing Replaces What is Learned in The Classroom" Yes, homework can possible strengthen the topics you learn in class, but if a student doesn't understand what is going in class how are they expected to do it at home on their own. Personally, I do not want to eliminate homework from my class but instead make it something worth the while of the children. There is no need for 20 questions a night or for the work to be graded for correctness but instead two to three problems just to jog their memory while away from the classroom. 

There is nothing I want more than to be the teacher that makes math fun and as least stressful as possible. I do not want to make students stress over not understanding something I have gone over. Giving hours of homework where it not only stresses out the student but then causes stress on the family because they are unsure how to help their child, is something I will never do. I understand tests are mandatory but I plan to change the traditional style of tests that are offered. Students shouldn't be graded solely on correctness rather I would like to present other options for tests that will best suit the child. I know I deal with a lot of test/math anxiety but I want something different for my children/students.

I interviewed two students Abigail (age 10) and Dominic (age 13). These two students are in 4th and 8th grade who are forced to take nearly two weeks of state testing this year. I ask them their opinions on state testing; Abigail said, "It's stupid. I don't get why the states needs to know how I'm doing in school." Dominic said, "I think it's a waste of time because it's just long and obnoxious." They also both agreed that it takes away time from learning valuable lessons from their teacher. When asked how they feel about math, they both said they don't get nervous for exams because personally math comes easy for them. When asked how other kids respond to exams they both quickly said that almost everyone else gets super anxious. However, Dominic suggested making the exams shorter and Abigail mentioned she thinks kids would do better if the exam was broken up into two days and only a couple of questions each day. Now, I know this is just two kids' feelings towards state testing and math exams but I do believe a lot of other kids will feel the same way.