The Fat Lady Isn't Singin' kiddos!

Today we finished the last, the very last, part of the Really Big Deal State Mandated Tests.

It has been a long, dreadfully dull, week. The kids, for the most part, did great when it came to being quiet, bringing in their #2 pencils, and remembering their calculators for the math section. Granted, the last five minutes you could see them start twitching and wiggling a bit, but honestly, I'd be doing the same if I was in their shoes. Asking a bunch of 13 year olds to sit quietly for nearly three hours is asking a lot.

Of course, Pout Boy had to act like an idiot in Mr. Social Studies' class which I suppose is to be expected. He decided when he finished his test that he was going to lay down on the floor and take a nap. Not a smart move on his part. Mr. Social Studies got him back in his seat without a major disruption (thank goodness since he was one of the first done, having simply breezed through the reading and language arts test without doing any reading and simply coloring in bubbles). However, Mr. Social Studies was worried as he could be disruptive to the point where we'd have a serious "test irregularity" to report to the State. Mr. Enforcer was told and he yanked Pout Boy in, rattled his cage, and today he was forced to cool his jets in guidance all morning then take the test in a small group setting with the kids who had been absent, along with his own personal baby sitter to make sure he didn't act like an idiot again. He won't be attending the reward party either which will also make him angry and cause, yet again, one of his pouting scenes.

One of the unfortunate side effects of taking the Really Big Deal State Mandated Test so freaking' early in the year (hello, would May have killed anyone?) is that the kids think they are done with school and that the remainder of the year is play time.

Think again.

I spent most of today reminding them of this fact, and reinforcing it with three behavior notes for students who could not stop talking to save their lives. Of course, these three were from my Fifth Period Class From the Very Depths of Hell Itself (remember, the class with a 69% average). I requested another student desk as I have run out of "isolation island" desks for this crew (including Pout Boy who is incapable of sitting anywhere near anyone else).

We still have five weeks left, and those five weeks can be make or break for some of these kids. Hopefully they'll figure this out.

But I won't bet on it.