I might as well have not gone to school on Thursday. I had a doctor's appointment, so I missed the first hour-and-a-half of the school day, so I missed drama; the only class I would've done anything in all day. After first period, we were supposed to go to 8th period (the schedule has been completely messed with because of SOL testing). So, I went to 8th period. I had forgotten 8th period was the testing period for Math 7 and pre-algebra. But not for algebra.

There are nine 7th graders in Algebra. We were told to go to our math class. There was a substitute teacher there, but no lesson plans, nothing. We talked, played cards, made snow-cones, talked some more... Finally, we moved to our next class. Gym. There weren't enough kids finished testing to dress out, so we sat in the bleachers and talked some more. We had lunch. Then we went to PACE, a forty-five minute period where we are technically supposed to be reading, but no one does. We talked some more.

Finally, we got to the last period of the day. Math. We thought we would do a practice SOL or math review. It turns out, the 8th graders had an SOL. Our class is comprised of nine 7th graders (including me) and sixteen 8th graders. Technically, our teacher is an 8th grade teacher, so she had to take the 8th graders up to the third floor to be their test monitor. That left us 7th graders for another two-and-a-half hours to kill off. Only, this time, we didn't have a substitute teacher so a hall monitor stood just outside our classroom all period. How did we kill off the time? We talked, played cards, drew on the whiteboard, talked some more...

What I Learned on Thursday

-The latest gossip

-How to work a snow-cone machine

-As much as administrators like to lecture about time; 

It's not about the amount of time you have, but how you use it.

SOL

Standards of Learning

The tests that decide what kind of a learning experience we receive the next year. If we do well, the school is allowed to have fun, the teachers are allowed to make their own lesson plans. If we don't, then the reformers come. The think of more 'creative' ways to get kids to pass their SOL's.

Student's Definition of 'Creative Learning'

Games, going outdoors, field trips, labs, meaningful creative projects, edible projects, songs...

Reformer's Definition of 'Creative Learning'

Worksheets, reading practice, slogans, campaigns with cheesy titles, encouraging posters, flashcards, cutting and pasting little definitions next to pictures, outlines...

Today, to get us pumped for SOL's, we had our annual SOL pep rally. It began with face-painted, flag bedecked students spilling into the gym to our jazz band (really good jazz band) playing 

'tonight's going to be a good night, tonight's gonna be a good, good, night..." Everyone sand along.

Then, one of our drama teacher's took the microphone. Our choir sang the national anthem, but the mics weren't working, so we watched them instead of hearing them. Then the two cheer-leading teams came out. They were obviously not very well thought out as a public image; one was entirely made up of whites, and the other entirely made up of blacks. It's not like nobody noticed, either. 

There was a competition with an obstacle course and SOL questions, and a tug-o-war championship. Overall, the entire thing was a bit lame. Oh, and, of course the two SOL teams ended up tying. Of course. 

The SOL's aren't a big deal for students like me. We don't even really study. But for some students, the SOL's are a big deal. These students sometimes know the exact same amount as I do. The difference is: I naturally process information; for some people it's much harder. 

My language arts teacher has devoted her class periods to test-taking skills instead of language arts review. Many kids have found it useful, though they would never fully admit it. 

So, what do you do as a teacher? You have a student who doesn't process information very well. Do you try to use creative teaching techniques to teach this student the key information, or do you teach this student from the text book in hope that they will do well on the SOL's? 

Or say you have a student who knows a lot about history. That student knows every leader of the suffragette movement, and every battle of World War II. Are you supposed to narrow that student's knowledge? Just for the SOL's? And who is to say that Susan B. Anthony is more important than Elizabeth Cady Stanton? 

"Don't think outside the box," my language arts teacher tells us. "Think inside the lines when you take the SOL's."