It is said that play is the highest form of research. As testing season starts, the process and environment of high stakes standardized testing is the opposite of play. This makes the time following completion of testing important.

Teachers plan active learning experiences away from the computer. My plans include robots, circuits, and maker challenges.

Every year, I feel the tension between testing and after testing learning activities. We plan these active, hands-on, engaging fun learning activities for the afternoons when testing is complete. Then, when testing is completely over, we include similar tasks as part of our end of the year activities. Why aren’t we doing these things every day? If play really is the highest form of research there needs to be more opportunities throughout the school year.