It's TAKS time in Texas! Imagine it if you can, over the next four days, for 3.5 hours/day, the students at BMS, all 1200 of them, will do nothing but test. They aren't allowed to get out of their seats, except to go to the bathroom, or to talk. They get one 15-minute break and then it's back to testing. Most will finish the test in under 2 hours, and then sit there with nothing to do for the remainder of the time. Once testing is done, teachers will walk them down to lunch and then, THEN, they will continue on a convoluted and confusing schedule for the rest of the day.
It's a brutal schedule and, personally, I feel it interrupts the flow of the school year. But what do I know, I'm a new teacher. I'll do whatever they tell me to do and just try to keep my kids on track as best I can. It's amazing how stressed out everyone has become though. The kids, the administrators, me. TAKS is such a big deal that everyone's kinda panicky about getting it right and making sure our scores aren't invalidated by something as silly as a kid talking during the testing.
At least we'll get snacks and a chance to catch up on our reading. Teachers aren't supposed to even grade during the testing time, so I'm going to lesson plan and read. A masterful use of my time, don't you agree.
About Me
- Rosalyn K. Mack
- Rosalyn K. Mack has over twelve years of experience teaching both secondary and post-secondary English and Literature. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English, and two Master’s degrees in Literature and Humanities, specializing in modern American literature, women writers, and African American history. She currently lives in Mesquite, TX and teaches composition and rhetoric locally. She loves reading, travel, history podcasts, and very large dogs.