Podcast

Teachers in Texas are expected to teach towards state testing, with the Texas standards known as TEKS. The Teacher Resource System helps teachers cover all the TEKS without lesson plans. The STAR test is the Texas State Assessment Test taken by third to eleventh graders. There is a growing demand for student-centered curriculum and more hands-on learning in Texas schools. The TEKS are changing to include an engineering component, promoting STEM education. Teachers need to encourage students to think creatively and problem-solve. Adding this to the TEKS will ensure more STEM time for students. And my name is Kathy. Welcome to Science Teachers Rock podcast. As teachers, I think that we agree that we are often strongly encouraged to teach towards state testing. Like Oklahoma, the Texas standards are written so that the teacher will need the whole year to cover everything. Our standards are referred to as TEKS or the Texas Essentials Knowledge and Skills. Our district uses TRS or the Teacher Resource System to help teachers to keep everything flowing and to make sure that all the TEKS are covered. There are no lesson plans involved, just a year at a glance, vertical alignment, and other resources. I like the verification documents best. This will help plan out your whole year in detail. It will show you when in the year you can work on certain TEKS and how long to teach them based on how they will be tested at the end of the year. All Texas students in third through eleventh grade participate in some form of the STAR test, which is the Texas State Assessment Test. Like Tammy said, the call for relevant or student-centered curriculum is on the rise. Students in Texas are having... Like Tammy said, the call for relevant or student-centered curriculum is on the rise. Students in Texas are having to up the game. Even though testing should not be the end game, in Texas schools there's a lot riding on the outcome of STAR tests for the students, the teachers, and the districts. There's been a big push in the past ten years or so to have more deep thinking questions and activities for students. Gone are the times of listening to lectures and taking notes. Students need to do something with the information instead of just spitting it back out to the teachers. Like I said, there's a big push this year for students to do more hands-on in science and to take ideas to the next level. Our TEKS are changing and adding an engineering component that is basically another way of adding STEM into the classroom. Too many teachers are relying on just pencil and paper and not getting or promoting students to experiment in class. They need to have time to think outside the box and come up with different ways to solve the problem. By adding this part to our TEKS, more teachers will be forced to add it to their curriculum, ensuring that students get more STEM time.