Excuse me while I rearrange my paper clips.

Two days down, two days to go of the Very Big Deal State Mandated Tests.

There truly is nothing more boring than three hours of watching kids take a test. Honestly. I'd almost rather watch paint dry. After all, paint does change colors as it dries. These kids just look more cranky as time goes by.

For some of our kids, namely the ones diagnosed with ADHD, it's absolute torture to have to sit still and quiet for the time it takes to administer these tests. You can almost see their skin crawl as they wiggle and squirm and try to be as quiet as they can without losing their minds. I wonder if it's something like watching a drug addict go through withdrawals. I suspect it is.

At least I can walk around, hand out a tissue here and there, pass out a newly sharpened pencil, and check my email once in a while. But still, jeez, there's only so much you can do and still keep on eye on these critters.

So by the time first period actually rolled around and we were through with the test, I was ready to get out of the classroom.

Consequently, I did an outside activity where the kids had to be water molecules and move through 9 stations - clouds, plants, rivers, groundwater, etc. - which got us all outside, got them running, and actually worked as a review for their science portion of the test tomorrow. Even the kids who normally don't do much except suck in air were participating, but hey, we were outside, we had a chance to run off some pent-up energy, and it didn't bother anyone. It was a nice change of pace.

Mr. Enforcer came by while we were running around in the courtyard area behind my room and shook his head. "Okay, what are they doing?" he asked.

"They're water molecules moving through the water cycle," I say as several kids squeal, roll the dice at their station, write down their destination, and trot off to the next station. "Or, to be more specific, I'm trying to burn off their extra energy so they don't drive us crazy all week."

"Good move," he said.

I'll say. On Thursday Mrs. Eagle and I are taking them out with frisbees. Our lesson plan states that we'll be preparing them for 8th grade science by introducing them to velocity and motion.

Yeah, whatever. As long as they're burning off energy, I'll find a way to justify it.