FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.COURIERSUN.COM OCTOBER 2, 2014 • THE COURIER SUN 37 SNAPS QUEENS St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church on 30th Avenue in Astoria Photo by The Queens Courier Staff Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us via our Facebook page, tweeting @queenscourier or by emailing [email protected]. Should students be allowed to have cellphones “No, depends on what they’re doing with them. Yes, they should have it if there is an emergency but no, if they’re going to play with them.” Alba Woodard “No, it’s a distraction and takes away from the learning experience. If they do bring it there should be certain conditions.” Jerome Collymore “Yes, they should be allowed to bring their cellphones. They could text during lunchtime, and high school students should be able to do what they want.” C.J. Park “Yes. If something happened in school the students could have easy access to talk to their family. Everyone has a phone so it is a good way of communication.” Violeta Nisonov “Yes, for safety in case of an emergency but the students should leave it in their lockers.” John Baselice “No, depending on if it’s a distraction. As long as the phones are turned off in class.” Sam Moustafa in public school? oped street talk “Yes. It is a way of communication if anything happened. For example, a fi re.” Karla Alvarado “Yes. An emergency can happen anytime and the students can call their family members to let them know.” Devin Rampersaud VISIT QueensCourier.com FOR MORE STORIES BY PAULINA TAM & ASHA MAHADEVAN TEST LESS, TEACH MORE BY U.S. REP. STEVE ISRAEL Last week I announced a way to reduce excessive standardized tests as part of Common Core while preserving the quality of learning and teaching in our classrooms. My proposal was developed over the course of several months by school superintendents and educators throughout our communities. I believe we are testing our kids to extremes and robbing them of their creativity and curiosity. Classrooms are meant to be challenging incubators for learning and expression, not test-taking factories. Unfortunately, many classrooms today are void of teaching innovation and critical thinking because teachers and students are burdened by preparing for excessive standardized tests that promote learning through retention rather than learning by experience. A common-sense pace of testing is essential to ensure that our students are learning what is being taught and that schools are effectively educating. But we cannot designate standardized test scores as the one predictor of future success for our students, teachers and school districts. Learning is a deeply personal experience, and we should be giving our teachers and students the classroom time they need in order to facilitate experiential learning. That is why, with the help of Long Island superintendents, I am introducing the Tackling Excessive Standardized Testing (TEST) Act that allows states to choose an alternative testing schedule for students in grades 3 through 8. The TEST Act reduces the number of tests students must take each year and ultimately gives time back to educators to teach science, social studies, art, music and other subjects whose lessons are being cut short in order to prepare for testing. Allotting the necessary time to foster a classroom atmosphere more conducive to creativity and collaboration will help relieve some of the stress that testing places on students and teachers. It is simply common sense to allow states to be able to choose an alternative testing schedule for students that curbs the amount of tests they have to take while still refl ecting their abilities and the effectiveness of school districts. I have two adult daughters. One is involved in marketing for the pharmaceutical industry. The other is pursuing a career in sustainable agriculture. In other words, one is in pharma and the other a farmer. Excessive standardized tests could not possibly measure the potential and the needs that each had in pursuing their dreams. We should test less and enrich more.
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