Teach to the Test?

Okay, sorry I haven't been here in a while. I need to take a minute to explain something to everyone - and by everyone I mean my one true fan Rob - about the end of the school year.

Well, first of all, in middle school in North Carolina we give what are called End of Grade tests. We give every grade Math and Reading EOG's, and 5th and 8th grades get an extra dose of Science EOG's. These tests take up a good chunk of the morning at school and make everyone tired, from the kids taking them to the teachers administering them.

Well, I have administered, in the last month, the Reading EOG once. The Math EOG's (one calculator inactive and one calculator active) twice, because if you fail it, you have the chance to take it again. I have also been the proctor for an EOC, which is an End of Course test because it is a high school level test we give our 8th graders smart enough to be in Algebra class.

And this makes you tired, and you don't get as much done, which is a serious problem when you have 8000 books to get straight along with computers, overheads, calculators, blah, blah, blah.

So, I have been coming home and napping. And then I get up and Brent has dinner ready, so we eat. And then I watch some mind-numbing television. And then? Well, then I go to sleep.

Now, besides testing, we have had other things going on.

My fifth graders went to the county Battle of the Books competition and beat two 7th grade teams and one 8th grade team by a bunch of points, which makes me want to holler every time I think about it. So there were days when I spent a couple of hours practicing with the kids to get them ready. And let me tell you something. These fifth graders - they are going to rule the world - they are supersmart - seriously.

And then there was a Character Education celebration, and the yearbooks had to be handed out, and a dance, and athletic physicals (I do height and weight), and a meeting I got to take off half a day for (YEAH!), and last but not least an EOG carnival where over 400 students were rewarded with rides and games outside in the hottest weather we have had in years in June. But they had a blast, and we got pictures, and it's done.

So I've been busy.

But I promise, Rob, to do better.