What are we really learning?

As we sit here in finals week stressed as can be, what do finals really prove? Is it measuring how much we learned over the semester or is it what we can cram into a weeks worth of studying. More importantly, of the information we may or may not have learned, what are we going to take with us into the future? As teachers, we need to be aware of this, especially with reading. When students are reading, how are we assessing them and measuring what they are learning. While a student may read if they know there will be a test or a book report, will they learn the information just for the test and then forget it? Or will they really start to understand how to read and comprehending text? Although grades are important, it is also important to remember that getting a grade is not necessarily a reflection of knowledge learned!