Wednesday, February 18, 2009

practice testing

this week our school is doing the practice state standardized tests so we've changed schedules around, cancelled recess so their shouts of fun don't distract test-takers, and re-arranged our building so we have rooms for all of our small groups. as organized as it is, it turns the school into chaos.

i am lucky enough to get to test my smart cookie who was in my class 2 years ago. i realized at the end of the test my face hurt from smiling/trying not to laugh the entire 2 hours we were in the room together. giving the test is actually a fairly painful experience, much like watching paint dry, or grass grow, especially if you are only giving it to one child. you can read the problems over their shoulder to answer them yourself (while making them paranoid) but there really isn't much else to do.

luckily i get to test my smart cookie, who i feel may appreciate my boredom and goes out of her way to keep me entertained. i'd love for the state to put a tape recorder in her testing room when they give her the final test.

"i know, i know, you have to read those directions every time even though i know them. i don't have to listen though"

"how the hell am i suppose to know this?"

"who names their kid _____?"

"hey! remember two years ago when i was in your class and you had that ugly doll on your desk?"

"why would anyone split their pizza this way?"

"hey! we both have glasses. we're a pair!"

"opps i farted"

"opps i burped"

"opps i farted again"

along with the small pictures she draws in her testing booklet to just add detail to the boring drawings already there.

i've found it's best if i don't really acknowledge her randomness but just let it spill out as she tests because she'll usually shrug her shoulders and get back to work. thank goodness there is no one else in the room though.

when she finished we made cootie-catchers (she'd taught herself to do them that morning from a model) but turned them into dragons instead of fortune-telling devices. dragons are so much more fun than predicting who you're going to marry.

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