Unintended consequences

I've been finding all kinds of nifty teacher-blogs out there. The "bald worm's blog" has podcasts about "comprehension." Inference: folks across the pond have been putting up with Test Frenzy for a long time and have learned to make good of it (at least bald worms have). The kids' strategies include reading once *penciling* (yeehaw!) - which is tracking under the words with your pencil, as in making sure you're following, and a strictly enforced practice of readers at The New Community School where I taught for five years. The second reading you are supposed to mouth the words - basically, subvocalize. I'll have to hear the rest of it soon :)
Then over to Mrs. Elliott's Fabulous Fourth Graders. I love the eight times tables rap. This is the stuff that's not making the technology more important than the learning, but enabling learning with the technology. Ask any of my folks doing factoring in college algebra - it doesn't*matter* how well you "understand the concepts," if you don't know the times tables, there are great chunks of higher math that are a real bunbite.