Fried Day

Today is finally, yes finally, the last day of the TAKS tests, concluding with the ever-popular Social Studies exam. It's also Friday. With three hours allotted for this short exam, we're all but guaranteed enough time during advisory class to take in a good G-rated animated flick afterwards. What will the students choose? Bee Movie, The Wild, Curious George, Family Guy's Blue Harvest? It doesn't matter. Which ever movie is showing, it will not compare to the entertainment from watching teachers and students dancing and singing from the pure joy of concluding these beastly, bludgeoning tests.

With all the attention given to TAKS, it will be interesting next week to see how quickly and willingly students and most teachers adjust to learning and teaching the actual curriculum. We have place so much emphasis on Tsar TAKS, that we have been sending the message to students that not only is TAKS important, but that it is the ONLY thing that matters right now. It will be very hard next week to address a student comment, "Why do we have to keep learning? TAKS is over?"

With 4 weeks of school left to go after this broken up by two weeks of AP exams, followed by final exam reviews the next week, then final exams the last week, the circumstances favor the students' opinion of "shutting 'er down" for the rest of the year. Everyone is tired and cranky. Our brains are fried. The homework that I have been assigning in between TAKS lessons is not being turned in record quantities. In fact, I have more "missing" entries in my grade book than the Dallas Mavericks had in their offense.

But I guess I shouldn't complain. It's not all bad. The sun is coming up through my windows even as I type, my favorite music is playing through my speakers, the air is cool and the fan is blowing on me just like I like, I just read an email from a former student, now university student, who gave a full pizza (leftover from a student function) to a homeless man near her apartment, it's Friday all day long, and . . . . the TAKS testing materials pick-up station opens in 5 minutes.