Latest Tip of the Week

Snapshots

I love a beautiful sunrise, sunset, or night sky that makes you stop and say, “Wow!” You want to capture it—so you grab your phone, snap a picture . . . and somehow it looks like a pale imitation of what you actually saw. The colors are off, the clouds are in the wrong place, and the magic? Gone. You try to describe it: “There was pink . . . and gold . . . and a tiny sliver of orange over there . . .” But really, nothing beats being there in the moment.

That’s often how I feel about student assessments. We teach day in and day out, witness those “aha” moments, celebrate growth, and experience all the little wins that don’t make it onto a test. Then comes the official paperwork: the test, the rubric, the score. Sometimes it lines up beautifully with what we’ve seen. Other times . . . well, it’s like that blurry sunset photo. We look at it and think, Wait a minute . . . There’s more here than this piece of paper shows!

One assessment is like a photo of that sunset: It captures some important details but can’t reflect the full picture—the effort, creativity, persistence, or curiosity the student shows every day. Those things often exist only in our observations, reflections, and interactions.

As teachers, we need to remember that our professional insights are powerful. The daily moments of learning—the questions, the lightbulb realizations, the peer-to-peer problem-solving—tell a story that no single assessment ever can. Assessments are useful tools, but they are just one piece of the puzzle.

So next time a test or assignment doesn’t fully capture what a student knows, remember this: Your observations and reflections, and the moments you witness firsthand, are just as vital. Trust your eye, celebrate the growth you see daily, and remember that teaching—and learning—is lived, not just measured. Sometimes the real magic isn’t in the snapshot—it’s in being there to experience it.

Featured This Week