*this is only a test*this is only a test*this is only a test*this is only a test*this is only a test*
I am a hallway monitor. My job is to collect attendance sheets, walk the 6A hall, and walk kids to the bathroom or nurse in case of an emergency. I give teachers bathroom/snack breaks during the test. I check for start and end times written on the board. I make sure the 'shhh...testing' and 'no electronics' signs are up. I stare off into the abyss of the hallway and listen to the humming of the vending machines and air conditioning units fill the air in the unusually quiet building. I have counted the floor tiles- twice. I notice that the tiles were put down so the speckles were going in different directions. I have counted the lockers. I have counted the lights in the ceiling and how many steps it takes to get from one side of the hall to the other. I count my steps again, slower this time, one foot in front of the other. I pick trash up off the floor and examine the posters on the walls. I drink my water and fill it up again. I look out the window and watch the trees move in the wind. The morning sun tumbles out of the canopies of the trees and leaves a dappling of sunlight in the street behind the school. I think about the 200 unfinished artworks in my classroom. I think about the earth day mural we plan on doing and the digital portfolios that need to be updated possibilities of what those works of art could become once finished. I cringe at the time lost. Things I do in my own head: Plan my next lesson Plan my dinner Redecorate my living room Think about a mural I want to paint in my daughter’s new room Plan out the landscaping in my new house Count how many weeks left until summer I peek into the windows of the classrooms and see the students bent over bubbles on a sheet. The most gregarious children I teach look absolutely miserable. The teachers walk around the rooms checking page numbers and making sure students are doing what they have been trained to do- read a question, fill in a bubble, repeat. They look as miserable as the students. *this is only a test*this is only a test*this is only a test*this is only a test*this is only a test* I tell students that it is important to do their -but- I make sure to remind them that it is ONLY a test. Our students are more than a score on a page.
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AuthorArtist living and teaching in Georgia. Archives
March 2019
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