Day 1 of Hell

It was day one of a TAKS that doesn't really matter. Well, I'll change my wording...it matters for the state, it matters for our school, but it means nothing to whether or not the kids pass 4th grade. We've been reviewing our math strategies and operations for the past 2 weeks in hopes that all the kiddos would be prepared for today and for the most part, I feel it was helpful in one way or another.

For one particular child, it doesn't matter what we teach...she's not going to apply it to the test. The rules are very strict in regards to the administering of the test, but within the rules, I observed this child take her test. She didn't turn from the sample page for about 2 hours and when she finally did, she was flipping rapidly through every page. For those 2 hours, she sat staring at the wall, playing with her fingers on her desk, laying her head down, and looking for things to play with (that I kept taking from her). When she finally decided she wanted to do her test, she filled in bubbles on her answer document and never looked back. She didn't write a single thing down and finished her test within a matter of seconds. This is when I know that it doesn't matter what I teach...if it's not applied when needed, it's useless.

For my other kiddos who appeared to take their time on the test, they quickly became bored after finishing. Their options upon turning in their test was to read or sleep. Some chose sleep and other chose to read. Both choices didn't last for long...they became anxious within a matter of minutes. While I was "actively monitoring", a group of students began to mock me. Any movements I made, they made. Any whispering I did, they pretended to do as well. It broke the monotony of the day and gave us all a laugh, but it got close to a test "abnormality". I know exactly how those poor children felt sitting in their desks all day, not being able to talk or get up (except bathroom and lunch) and mocking me just made it more enjoyable. They did it multiple times throughout the day and it was funny to see how more kids caught on to the mockery each time. I was in the same boat as them as far as the boredom factor, although I was able to move around. It's hard knowing how much I need to do and not being able to touch a single bit of it. And I have another day of it tomorrow...can you sense the joy in my voice?