We’ve been fans of Jere Chang, aka @MsChangGifted, for a while now. Her energy, honesty, and optimism are contagious (and honestly, we wish her accent was too). We loved her at the beginning of the year talking about this back-to-school gift from her administrators. And now, as we approach the end of the school year, we are loving her take on—what else?—monitoring a standardized test.
What’s so bad about monitoring a standardized test?
Ms. Chang knows teachers dread standardized testing season, and for good reason. The tests and their high-stakes results put a ton of pressure on educators as well as students. Class time is lost both prepping for and administering standardized testing. But most of what she focuses on in this video is the stringent monitoring process. Walking. Watching. In silence. For hours. (It looks like Ms. Chang hasn’t seen our list of things you can do while monitoring a standardized test, but we won’t hold that against her.)
Let’s take a look at what Ms. Chang says teachers are thinking while students test:
What we love about this TikTok
- The Eminem reference at the beginning. Ms. Chang, your Gen X audience appreciates you using your platform to bring awareness to artists of generations past.
- Steven, the child who finished far too early. My stomach dropped simply watching this. Dangit, Steven!
- Wistful reflections on not being a bathroom runner. Way better than being a classroom proctor, definitely. (Not to brag, but one time when I was 7 months pregnant I got to be the hallway monitor.)
- The constant temptation to look at the test. SO TRUE. We don’t even want to read it—we just need somewhere else for our eyes to land!
- Doing “the robot” as an alternative to panicking. I should try this!
- She says what we’re all thinking. It’s truly maddening out there on standardized testing days. Ms. Chang gets it.
What others are saying about it
Comments sections of any content can be hit-or-miss. But with a creator like Ms. Chang, most people come to respond with pure admiration. With over 323,000 likes on this TikTok, we expected to read all love in the comments … and we weren’t disappointed!
Most of the responses landed in one of three categories:
1. Solidarity and commiseration
By far, most of the comments praised Ms. Chang’s accuracy in how teachers feel while monitoring a standardized test.
2. Valid questions
Some teachers responded with questions. Not about the accuracy of Ms. Chang’s performance, but about the logic (or lack of) in rules for standardized testing.
Great point!
We don’t know, either.
3. Ideas and suggestions for monitoring a standardized test
Finally, many teachers weighed in with recommendations for what to do while proctoring.
Brilliant!
While we can’t advocate the use of earbuds during state testing, we applaud the creativity!
Many thanks to @MsChangGifted for making us laugh, feel seen, and ask important questions during this trying season full of Scantrons, sadness, and psychosis. For more content, follow her on TikTok!
