teaching

i am trying to align my assessments with district and state assessments right now and seriously....it's not easy. i love it that i can grapple with this stuff, though. it's so exciting and satisfying. it also reminds me how far i have to go. i wonder if the experienced, successful teachers do this kind of stuff, or if they are just so good at teaching reading comprehension and analysis that it doesn't matter. i don't know--i think at least looking at how they are being assessed is a really important step in designing my lessons and assessments. the standards can be interpreted so many different ways--why not play the game so that my kids can know how the world expects them to interpret the standards? it's the same as playing the life game, right? you have to know what people expect in order to be successful. otherwise, how is it fair?