Inside Four Walls: CSTs over & another Catch-22

So the CSTs for this year are done. This is my favorite part because the students complain about how I didn't teach them this or that. This always leads to another Catch-22 in teaching. We are supposed to cover the entire book by testing. If I go faster to finish the book, then the students will have only skimmed through the material, not really grasping all of it. If I go slower, then they won't be able to do some of the test because the won't be exposed to all of it.

I remember my first year of teaching Geometry at another school. We didn't even get to circles and those kids were blown away when they saw the test. They, of course, didn't do well because of it. So there is a fine balance somewhere...but where?