Sequestered

Let me take you to a special place. I would say close your eyes...but then you couldn't read...so...oh well...

Imagine a room...a fairly large room. Now imagine the rows of desks...the name plates...the pencils and erasers...and the test booklets...safely locked in a cabinet....so no one steals them...(side note...who in the world would actually WANT to steal a TAKS booklet? Not me...but I guess there are those who find the TAKS test compelling reading!)

Anyway...back to our imagining...

The bell rings...21 7th graders begin to arrive. They find their seats and resignedly sit down. The bell rings...I enter...pass out the granola bars (breakfast) to my waiting testers. No one is overly excited. They look tired...I probably look just as tired. We have been working towards this day all year. The FIRST day of TAKS.

We are sequestered. Sequestered for 7 long hours of testing. We stay in our testing room all day so that the kids won't rush. NO RUSHING! We are going to be here all day. They have heard those two statements for two weeks now. Of course...by test rules I can't say anything to encourage them to work or recheck answers. I can only answer questions about the test instructions...instructions they have probably memorized by this point.

So we begin...our long...long...long day. At the end of the day I still had 3 testing...so I escorted them off to the library to continue testing after hours. The TAKS is untimed and they have as long as they need...not to exceed a 24 hour period. Some kids could probably stretch the test out for a week if we let them.

Tomorrow is more of the same...the READING test.

It is hard for 12 year olds to sit all day...without talking...heck...it is hard for a 28 year old teacher to sit all day. Periodically strolling the isles to make sure they aren't text messaging answers to some other kid in school or secretly using the cell phone as a calculator does very little to keep you from a complete comatose state.

I feel bad for my kids. Most are stressed and worried about the test. If they don't pass...summer school. I will be glad when this week is over. Maybe we can actually have fun in school again...