So, I wrote this thing over here.

The problem is that I feel like I have a lot more to say on the topic, but I am really tired making it difficult to control the ideas rushing through my head, or recall the thoughts that occurred over the last three days of driving.

Tonight as we made the final miles into San Antonio we were listiening the “Devil Went Down to Georgia” and I started thinking about how much a fiddle made of gold would weigh, and was prepared to write about that, but fortunately a simple query to the Google Gods revealed an existing answer of about 30lbs.

Back to business. There really is a joy to measurement. There is joy in the process itself, the discovery of new aspects of a thing along the way, and most especially in knowing something.  But, when this is done to people, measurement should serve a purpose and be organic to the activity of interest, not an add-on.

For example, in the blog post I referenced at the beginning, I mentioned that I am playing golf again, and letting my ADHD-guided OCD have free reign. I haven’t played for years, so starting up again minus a balance nerve is  a challenge. It is especially a challenge with all the cool apps available for tracking every shot, every aspect of the game. Exactly not what I need right now.

Right now I shouldn’t even be tracking my score. Regardless of my joy of measurement.

I need to focus on enjoying the game.

I need to stay in the moment while I am playing.  Each time I stop to record something, I am creating a distraction. Each time I am distracted, I run the risk of analysis – is this better, is this worse? How do I fix it? How do I fix it now? I’m not competing, I am playing a game for enjoyment. Generally I am spending time with my son – and there is NO good reason for distracting me from that.

So this is my concern with assessing and measuring everything that goes on in the classroom, at any level. Measurement of learning and learning progress is necessary, but it shouldn’t take the teacher or the student out of the moment. It should also not interfere with the joy of teaching or of learning. It should be organic and add value.

If only there were some standard, some quantifiable way to demonstrate some level of performance to a predetermined standard. It doesn’t have to be complex, perhaps five stars or ranked codes.