Three teachers answer questions submitted by Slate readers. Today’s big question: How do you maintain your integrity as a teacher, guide, and mentor while trying to accommodate the testing and standardization required of most public institutions? Do you teach to the test? Why, or why not?

Our teachers:

- Matt Dicks … a fifth grade teacher at Wolcott School in West Hartford, CT. He’s also an author and storyteller. If you’re a fan of The Moth, you might like to know that he’s a 17-time Moth StorySLAM champion and two-time GrandSLAM champion. You can read his blog at www.matthewdicks.com.  

- Valerie Lake, an 8th grade English teacher and literacy coach at Lower Manhattan Community Middle School here in New York.  

- Zach Parker teaches history at an International Baccalaureate charter high school in Boise, Idaho. He was also featured in a recent post on Slate’s Schooled blog about a four-day school week.

This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses, offering over 500 lecture series taught by top professors and experts, available in audio and video formats. Go to thegreatcourses.com/teacher for a special, limited time offer.

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