Praxis III

Tomorrow I take my Praxis III performance assessment. For those who aren't familiar with this process, here it goes:

Praxis I - computer-based test covering the general education requirements of college. This test must be passed before a student can gain admittance into a teacher education program.

Praxis II - paper-based test (or group of tests) that relate to a pre-service teacher's area of interest. For example, I took three English-based tests that assessed my ability to read, evaluate, and teach all areas of Language Arts. This test must be passed before a student can graduate from a college teacher education program.

Praxis III - performance based test completed in the first year of teaching. This test is three-fold. First, on the day of the assessment, teachers must provide the assessor with evidence of teacher collaboration and parent communication (usually in the form of emails or memos). Second, the teacher must complete two interviews - one before the assessment and one after. Third, the teacher must teach one lesson relating to their field of education. That lesson must have several elements, such as student communication, hands-on activities, objectives, evaluations, etc. This test must be passed before a teacher is officially certified by the state.

Tomorrow is my final evaluation. I go in at 7am to get ready for my pre-observation interview. Then I teach a lesson to my 2nd period class, which will be about paragraph structure. It's a really cute process where the students build a hamburger out of sentences, so they can see how a good paragraph is "tasty" and "satisfying." After the lesson, I go back into the interview room for another hour of questions about how my lesson went and what I might do differently. And the frustrating part is that I won't know anything about the results for at least 4 weeks.

I am so very, very nervous. It's a long, grueling process that will drain me physically and emotionally within a few short hours. I want to do my mentor, my parents, my teachers, and my students proud. I want to pass with flying colors and make a name for myself among the state administration and the local school boards. And I want to prove to myself that I am capable of maintaining a career that requires constant reflection, evaluation, and modification. Maybe this is a way for me to feel worthy. Of what, though?

With all that said, I am anxiously awaiting my return to my apartment tomorrow afternoon. Why? Because by then all this will be over, and I can go back to planning lessons that I enjoy teaching. Speaking of which...I need to start researching how to teach research papers. Yes, smell the irony.