Testing, testing yee-haw!

Today was the last day of the dreaded Stanford test. This is a test that my whole school district takes every January. It covers all the subjects and all the grade levels. It's supposed to calculate at which grade level a student is performing. It also compares their new score to their score from the past to see how much they've grown. Students' growth is how the district determines the teacher bonuses. The system is not entirely fair since the test is given in January and I have only had my current students for 4 and a half months. So, it really measures half of what I did with them so far this year with half of what their previous teacher taught them. It doesn't really seem fair to base our bonuses on only half a year's work. Oh well, I will certainly take whatever money they give me.

Testing week is super boring for the teachers. We have to walk around and make sure kids aren't cheating or sleeping. I used to look at what answers the students put but I got extremely frustrated by the dumb answers they put, so I had to stop. The best thing about Stanford testing week is that there are no after-school tutorials. Life just seems so much better and more productive when I get home at 4:00 instead of 5:30. Yesterday, I managed to take a nap, write emails, go to the gym, take a shower, watch The Bachelor, do a Chinese lesson on Rosetta Stone and have a little God time. Not too shabby! If only I could be that productive everyday...

I am trying to take advantage of this extra time I have before my 2-night a week Young Life commitment starts up full swing next week. February will be a bit crazy. The Reading TAKS test (the one I am responsible for) is March 3rd and the kids and I will be forced (against our will) to live and breathe that test until it happens. I am not looking forward to it but I know I can handle it. It's only a month, right?