I wrote this several years ago now, when I had tried a blog but wasn’t really sure what I always wanted to say. The blog withered and I moved on. But I just re-read this and I am startled by how much things change and, how often, they remain the same. The daughter I spoke about in this piece just graduated high school and will be going to college farther away from my classroom than I ever imagined she would. But in my classroom, I still deal with standardized tests — and I still think we need to hone that reflective piece. One more thing, though . . . Now that we’re fully into implementing the Common Core, I no longer stress and worry about one test, one moment in time. It’s the collective and cumulative picture I try to focus on now.  That’s so much more hopeful.