A Farewell to TAKS

Ah, the final year of TAKS. Next year, we will have the new, the improved, the probably-not-that-different STAAR. (The extra A is for Anyone's Guess)

Tomorrow and Wednesday are the 3rd grade math and reading TAKS, respectively. Today, I tried to relax and encourage the kids and to instill in them the belief that they could all pass. My morning class was their usual zombie selves.

Me: "Are we going to pass tomorrow?"
One student mumbles, "Yes," while nobody else says a word. OK then, thanks for coming everyone, turn off the lights on your way out.

In both classes, I told the kids I would buy them all pizza IF everyone in the class scored an 80 or better on both tests. I told them I would buy them all pizza and ice cream if everyone in the class scored a 90 or better on both tests. I told them I would buy them all pizza and ice cream AND everyone would get two orange tickets (gold) if everyone in the class scored a 100.

To this, one girl replied, "Awww, I was hoping you'd get us all lasagna."

Thank you, Garfield.

Now I can just hope and pray that my kids take their time, use their brains, and do what we've practiced all year. Oh, and I can be thankful that I don't work in a state where tomorrow will count for 50% of my yearly evaluation.

Quirky teachers

Happy Monday, everyone. This week's INTERACTIVE MONDAY question is, What unique quirks do you have as a teacher?

I got the idea for this last week, when I had a brief flash of alarm after school was over. I had reached into my right pocket, and I hadn't found the two pens that I ALWAYS keep there -- one red, one black. My eyes darted around the room before finally spying the pens on my desk.

Once my heart went back to normal speed, it occurred to me that most people probably don't worry so much about where their pens are. This would definitely be a quirk of mine. When I'm not at school, I don't ever carry pens around in my pocket. Not ever. However, once my school day starts, I truly feel naked without those 2 pens in my pocket. When somebody asks if they can borrow a pen, I probably come across as a jerk because of my hesitance. Even more so when I make a point of asking for the pen back before I leave the room.

Every day as I'm leaving school, I take both pens out, place them on one of the desks, and leave them behind. Once I'm out the classroom door, I don't even think about them until I return the next morning. But then, it's obsession on again.

I can't exactly provide a rationale for this quirk, I can only describe it.

Anybody else care to share their quirks?