Thursday, December 20, 2018

Scenes from a Math Test


Integrated math 1. (Read: algebra 1.) It was test day.

I had my little clock out. But then I got a look at the seating chart. Lots of faces looked familiar... So, I put my little clock away.

A girl walked into the room, saw me, and walked back out again, cursing under her breath.

"What did I do?" I asked her when she returned.

"I was in the class where your clock went missing."

Uh huh. I knew that much. That's why I put my clock away. (I made it out of this day with my clock still in my possession.)

But not everyone was upset to see me. One boy told me that I had written a good note for his class.

Yes, I remembered covering Ms. G's class the previous week. I had asked them to work quietly. They worked quietly. I gave them credit for this in my note.

Apparently, their reward for a good sub note was a movie day.

The last two periods of the day I had a co-teacher. Normally, he'd take over the group. But as it was a test, he would take "his" kids out to another room for the test. (His kids were the special ed. kids who need a different testing environment plus extra time. Some of them get to use notes. It's in their IEPs.)

However, the last time they had a sub and a test, things didn't go well. (He told me the students "ran over" the other sub.) So, he was planning on remaining in class.

But then he saw it was me. (Mr. D and I have worked together before.)

I didn't have any issues during the test. It's a pretty simple lesson. They must remain quiet until all the tests are returned. As they cooperated with this (mostly), it was a pretty boring day.

16 comments:

  1. Getting that student to appreciate you was an academy award!

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  2. Hm, sounds like someone was feeling guilty when she walked into the classroom and saw you.

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  3. Nothing wrong with a boring day, eh?

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  4. every body likes rewards, especially students.
    have a great day

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  5. I wonder if the girl cursed because she didn't want to see the theft happen again. lol

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  6. Boring days can be good ones :)

    betty

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  7. My boyfriend is a retired special ed teacher, now working as a permanent sub, teachers request that he take their class if they’re giving a test while they’re out. Because, like your coworker, they know thetestwill be done without drama.

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    1. Yup. There are some subs that just have no idea what they're doing. And then there are the professionals like your boyfriend. Luckily, there are quite a few professionals in our district, too.

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  8. How rewarding when a good reputation precedes you. You've earned it. ~nods~ Be well!

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    1. I've worked with Mr. D before. Not so much reputation as first hand experience.

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  9. Though it was "boring", in a way it was good the test passed off uneventfully. Having issues with students during examinations can be quite messy.

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    1. Yeah, I look for "boring" in my job because that means I'm doing it right. It's murder on the blog, though.

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  10. LOL and then he saw it was you. Not a bad rep to have.

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