Reading Rainbow

Reading Rainbow is going off the air. This makes me both sad and angry. Sad, because I have very fond memories of Reading Rainbow, and I always figured my kids would watch it. Angry, because of the reasons given for the show ending.
"According to research," what kids really need is to learn phonics. But as I recall, Sesame Street does a pretty good job of at least starting that process. My mom told me that when I was very small, I pointed to her "Hershey Chocolate" pillow case and said, "R." She looked, and I was indeed pointing to the letter R. Excited, she ran downstairs and gathered all the alphabet magnets from the fridge and brought them back to me. "Do you recognize any others?" she asked. I knew R, S, and W.
She hadn't started teaching me the alphabet yet (I was really young), but I knew a few letters from Sesame Street.

But Reading Rainbow filled a different void. It inspired a love of reading. Even the opening sequence was thrilling. Open a book and become an astronaut! An explorer! Open a book and open your imagination!
When I was a kid, the local library had a display in the children's section for "Books Recently Featured on Reading Rainbow." It was the first place to go every time we went to the library.
It seems that these days there's so much focus on standardized tests. When I was in school, we'd have a standardized test maybe every three years, and the test would last one or two days, maximum. And it wouldn't take up the whole day - just one or two periods. Now, it seems like there's a test every year, and they can take an entire week. All day, every day.
I understand that there's a need to measure students' learning, and that we need to make sure kids attain a certain level of aptitude. But I think all the additional focus on testing is superfluous. Teachers can't do anything but prepare students for the next test, and there's no time to instill a love of learning.
I don't really know if there's a solution to this. Can we measure student performance while still leaving room for inspired tangents in the classroom? Leave your thoughts in the comments (as well as your favorite Reading Rainbow memories).

Happiness Happens Month

Happy Happiness Happens Month, everyone!

Yup, I'm a member of the Secret Society of Happy People. Wishing you all a very happy August.

To celebrate the beginning of Happiness Happens Month, I did something that makes both me and someone else happy - I cut my hair and donated it to Locks of Love. So I get a cute new haircut, and a child fighting cancer gets new hair!

Spread the cheer...