It’s Testing Time at school. Georgia Milestones. Honestly, I have not really given much thought to testing until now–now that I am smack dab in the middle of it, proctoring a classroom and seeing how it all goes down. My school has it down to fine art–like a well oiled machine (for the most part). Our principal has mad skills in organization. Of course things have gotten, well, a little…um…testy…here and there, but that’s to be expected. Testing is stressful for everyone!
These kids don’t have a clue how good they have it. They are taking their tests on computers! We, oh MY GOD, WE had to use PENCILS!!! Pencils and SCANTRON SHEETS!
And the instructions for the damn Scantron sheets were heinous!!! The teacher had to read them EVERY time we started a new section! Carefully fill in the bubble. Do not darken outside the bubble. Be sure to darken the bubble completely or the Scantron reader will not be able to read your answer. Make sure that you are on the same line with your question…..OMG. If you managed to get off line, you were totally screwed. These kids are only taking a section or two, two days a week! We, oh MY GOD, WE tested ALL DAY!!! Our little hands were cramped up and exhausted from filling in all of those damned BUBBLES! These kids get to…wait for it… EAT a snack between sections! YES, a SNACK!!! Now here is where I just really take offense. Back in the day, nobody gave rat’s ass whether WE needed a SNACK or not! There we were-little, tiny students….YES, we were a lot smaller than students are today! I know this to be true because I found a dress that I wore all the time in 5th grade and I held it up to The Baby about two months ago. It was way too small for him and he is in 3rd Grade. Granted, he is slightly tall for his age, but only slightly. Where was I??? Oh yes, there we were-little, tiny students, testing all day, filling in Scantron bubbles in hot classrooms (because back in the day a lot of schools did not have AC) SANS SNACK until lunchtime. Now, what kind of sadistic world were we living in?! It’s all coming back now–like PTSD…the abuse we suffered during ITBS Week. I may have to seek therapy…..Don’t come crying to me about how hard your baby has it for GA Milestones… 😉