Teaching is like a Pinball Machine

      So...I was recently told that teaching is like a pinball machine you just bounce from one thing to the next.  Now, as much as I do not like that idea that we are constantly under pressure to produce kids who test well or have the weight of assessment on our shoulders, I can say that that simile completely describes this year! 
     We have longer meetings, more required of us, and less time to plan.  The frustrating part is how hard they make it on teachers to teach.  Teaching is a balance between art and science- but we are losing the artistry of teaching to the science that is assessment data, standards and all the other constraints out there.  I just want to TEACH!! I am so out of my element this year. I absolutely love love my children and having 10 less than last year is a huge difference! But, I am just beyond stressed to now teach all the GLEs in one maybe two 15 minute mini lesson. It's insane.  It's a disservice to our children.  I don't see it raising test scores (the ultimate goal), but I do see it causing a great amount of stress on the teachers that can trickle down to the children.
     So the pinball analogy may be spot on- if anything we are going to be bouncing around from one child to the next.  My hope is we stop this game long enough to teach the children we have-give them what they need.  And, to remember a test is just a test- we shouldn't let it control every aspect of our classrooms and our teaching.