If you've worked in education long enough, you've probably noticed that we spend quite a bit of time collecting data. Test scores, student engagement, intervention logs, behavior reports, assessments, and just about everything else you can think of.
Now, don't get me wrong. Data is important. It helps us understand where students are struggling and what we can do to help them improve.
But sometimes I wonder if we've reached the point where we're spending more time documenting what we're doing than actually doing it.
In this episode of Bear With Me, Commander Kuma is simply trying to teach his class when he's introduced to another wonderful initiative: more data collection.
And, of course, there's a new list of things teachers need to track.
Two weeks later, Kuma is surrounded by paperwork, the students are still waiting to finish their lesson, and administration is celebrating a 100% data completion rate.
Technically, everything looks great on paper.
The actual learning? Well, that's another conversation.
I wanted this comic to poke a little fun at something many educators can probably relate to. Sometimes we introduce new systems with good intentions, but we forget that teachers only have so many hours in the day.
I'm certainly not against collecting data or holding ourselves accountable. I just believe there needs to be a balance between measuring student learning and giving teachers the time to actually teach.
Anyway, I hope this one gives a few educators a good laugh.
And if you've ever spent your planning period filling out a spreadsheet about a lesson you haven't had time to teach yet, Commander Kuma understands.
Bear With Me is an original comic series from New To Education, using a little humor to explore the everyday experiences, challenges, and occasional absurdities of working in education.
What do you think? Are schools collecting too much data, or have we found the right balance?
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