Scenes from the Testing Room

It's that time of year again. CAHSEE testing time!

*Crowd cheers.*

False Alarms

Cell phones are an issue, especially at the continuation high school. Before we started, I had one battle. ("If you insist on having that phone out, your test will be invalidated and you'll be kicked out.") I kept an eye peeled...  

Girl looking down at her lap. Fingers moving. I moved to a vantage point behind her...to find that she was picking at her nails.  

Boy had something in his lap. Just as I was ready to pounce, he brought the item up to his face. Lip balm.  

Bored

The students who finish session 1 quickly have to wait for the rest of the group before we start session 2. (After they finish session 2, they get to leave.) One boy asked for scratch paper--which I did not have.  

So, necessity and all, he rolled up his sleeve, exposing his arm. He got out a pen...  

Well, that's one solution.  

(About that time I realized that since the test booklet could be used as scratch paper for the test, there was no reason he couldn't draw all over it. Saved his arm, just in the nick of time.)  

Asleep

The CAHSEE is untimed. But that doesn't mean the students get to sleep when they should be working. (I don't get to go home until all tests are finished, so I watch out for sleepers.)  

His head wasn't down on the desk. He started off by staring into space. As sometimes the students do that (they then figure out whatever and get back to work), I moved on. I looked back at him later, and his eyes were closed.  

I walked over, and just before I reached him, he awoke. Apparently, he was just resting his eyes for a moment.  

A pretty sedate testing session. Not that I mind. It's certainly better than encountering a big freaking cockroach.  

Half a Story

"I was chewing gum, nothing unusual, when Mr. F said that there was no gum allowed in his room. He asked me to spit it out. I thought about spitting it at him, but then..."

And that's when the girl turned around in her chair to find me standing behind her.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked.

At this point, I wanted to hear the end of the story. Because I know Mr. F. He's not the sort of teacher who tolerates such misbehavior. And I wondered why she got so upset over so little.

And I wanted her to, oh, I don't know, perhaps...STOP CHATTING AND START WORKING!

Well, with me standing there, the story was at an end. Not that she got back to doing any work. No. She just started talking about something else.

It wasn't until I walked away that she went back to the story.

Alas, the reason I walked away was to assist another student, so I did not get the end of the story. Too bad. But that's usually how these things work out.

A Student's Worst Nightmare

"Can I print something on the computer?"

Last day of the semester. Minimum day. Seniors. Nothing on the agenda. I didn't see why the student couldn't print out her assignment for another class, so I allowed it.

It was taking too long. For some reason, the girl's assignment wouldn't come up. When it finally did, the girl learned the awful truth. While she had done the assignment, she hadn't saved it to her flash drive. Her completed assignment was at home.

I went into problem solving mode:

• Was someone at her home? Yes, her mother.
• Could her mother email her the completed assignment? No. No Internet access at home.
• Could her mother print out the assignment and bring it to her? No. No printer at home (which is why she needed to print it out at school).

The girl was practically in tears. She had half the assignment on her flash drive, and it was due the next period.  

There was no help for it. She just had to redo it.  

I gave her permission to sit in the next class and finish it. It wasn't like she'd be disrupting anything. It took her about a half hour. Then she went to print...and it wouldn't print. Sigh. 

(For some reason, you can't print from various computers if you have the wrong log in. My sub log in rarely lets me print, but the student log ins usually work, so I was stumped as to why it wouldn't let her print it then.)  

Ah well, she could print it out in the library.  

Technology. It creates as many problems as it solves.  

Our Prison

While looking for something else, I stumbled on a list of what if questions. Go me! Although, it would have been nice if I remembered that existed that week that I was completely blank. Ah well...

What if Earth was constructed as a prison of sorts? What if our ancestors were put here as a punishment or a way to isolate us from the rest of the intelligent species in the universe?

I'm In

I went and done it. I signed up for...


I sat back and watched it last year. My reasons for not jumping in... Well, I'm not much of a joiner, really. But it seems like everyone did it last year, and I spent all of April thinking, "What would I post today if I was doing the A to Z challenge?"

Last May, I started a plan. I set that plan aside and got on with the year. Then when January hit, I went looking for that plan... (I hid it from myself really well. I put it in the most obvious spot, but it took me 20 minutes of tearing everything apart before I remembered I left it in that obvious spot.)

Anyway, I dusted the plan off, and I thought, "Why not?"

Basically, nothing too unusual is going to happen around here. I'm going to go for business as usual, only using the correct letter for the day. Somehow, I'm going to keep up with my Thursday "What Ifs?" And I'll have to figure out what to do on Saturdays.

I'm number 525 on the list. (Yikes, everyone is doing it.) Are you?

The Off Game

Typing class at the continuation high school. After making sure the students were on the proper program, I went back to the front of the room and took a seat. Of course, the teacher's computer was open to the monitoring software.

I hadn't even had a chance to settle when I heard the loud protest: "He turned my computer off." Then seconds later, that student's computer also mysteriously powered off.

Oh no. Really?

Both students claimed innocence. "Diego did it." (Diego was seated two seats away from the both of them, and he was busy on his own computer.)

Time to move students.

Marcus, the one who supposedly started it all, moved to the new computer indicated with minimal protest. Jose, however, wasn't having it. He didn't do anything. Why was he being punished? (I was moving him to an on computer unlike the off one he was sitting in front of. He's lucky I wasn't passing out referrals.)

Eventually, Jose went to the computer indicated. I turned around for one minute...and Marcus glided across the aisle to turn off the computer of a girl who had nothing to do with any of this.

Okay, that one I saw. (The others I only saw the aftermath.)

You think they'd be done with this, but no. That's when Diego went over to "visit" Jose, and Jose's computer turned off.

Diego: "Jose turned it off himself."

Um, right. Sure.

At that point the period was over. It was time to log off computers and get ready to leave.

As they were going, from Jose: "It's no fair. You [referring to Marcus] got me three times, and I only got you once."

Jose, that is a confession. So much for your innocence.

Contrary

"Teachers, please excuse this interruption. At this time, we ask that you do not allow any students out of your classroom--not to the restroom or the office. We are not on lockdown, but please keep your students in class."

This announcement came about 20 minutes into first period. The students were semi settled, but this riled them up right fast. No one had asked to go anywhere, but then...

"I was just going to ask you for a restroom pass."

"Now, I've really got to go."

Three students. All with "dire emergencies". Another student "helpfully" suggested the corner of the room. And then all of them were at the room's windows, peering out.

(At least they didn't try to leave. One time on an actual lockdown with a room full of freshmen, I had to put myself between them and the door to keep them inside.)

From the windows they saw nothing. I reminded them that they had an assignment, but they weren't interested in that. Then, ten minutes later we got the all clear.

"I don't need to use the restroom anymore. Now that they said we can go, I don't want to."

Okay, then.