SOL Week

So today is SOL week at my high school and, boy, is it a sight to behold. I had heard that schools during SOL testing were crazy, but I have never been in such a stressed-out place in all my life! The kids are stressed out, the teachers are stressed out, the guidance counselors and administrators are stressed out, the computer tech and librarian are stressed out. Everyone is stressed out! The SOLS are the Standards of Learning state standardized tests that our school will be assessed on when the state and national government look at it.

My kids take their World History II test tomorrow. I truly think I am more nervous than my kids. The test covers EVERYTHING we have learned all year (from the Renaissance to the European Union) and is 70 questions long. Actually, it's really only 60 because 10 of those are 'field test questions' that aren't counted. I really hope those don't throw them off too badly when they see questions we haven't ever gone over before. The best they can get on the test is 600/600. Any score over 500 is an "Advanced Pass" and anything over 400 is just a plain old "pass". I would honestly love as many "Advanced Passes" as possible, but I just want all my kids to pass!! I would be thrilled if I could get a 90% pass rate, but would be content with anything over 85%. I really think I am way more nervous about this test than my kids are and that is saying something.

I guess it's mostly because by 10th grade these students are so used to standardized tests 'cos they've had them since elementary school this is nothing unusual. I honestly don't know how they do it and are not completely "tested out" by this point. We have been in SO review mode for 3 weeks now, which means for 3 weeks in all their core classes (math, science and history in grade 10) they have been taking practice tests and drilling and going over test-taking strategies. The life has literally been sucked out of them! This = most of my kids after the past 2 weeks:

It is really sad, in my opinion, that 3 weeks of instruction are used to review this material and prep the kids for this exam. Some of my kids have an SOL every day this week! They had biology or chemistry Monday, they had geometry or algebra II today and they have mine tomorrow. It's just testing overload! I don't understand how they aren't about to explode right now. Most of my kids are pretty motivated and will study tonight. The ones who don't care think if they fail then it is no big deal and it is all "on them", but they have no idea that it really is a reflection of us as teachers and is one of the ways that we are assessed by the school and the state. The US History SOL was Monday and they had a 94% pass so now I feel pressured to match that, which I know is silly but I can't help but feel it. All the U.S teacher does is get up there and lecture and have her kids read the book in class. Meanwhile, I spend hours putting together all kinds of PowerPoints with pictures and political cartoons and I do as many interactive activities as I can. I really just hate the fact that these tests will end up being the measurement that says whether I'm a "good teacher" or not. Ugh.

So at the moment, I am stressed out and so glad it will all be over soon. At this time tomorrow I will either be bouncing off the walls with joy or laying on my couch depressed at how dumb my kids are and how bad a teacher I am. I'm so tired of being exhausted all the time 'cos I'm spending all my energy getting my kids ready for this test. We're watching Hotel Rwanda after the test and using that as an opportunity to talk about individual and collective responsibility and to apply it to current genocides and conflicts in: Sudan, Uganda, Nigeria and Bostwana. I also have some lessons planned to teach them about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and what's going on in North Korea and Iran. I'm excited 'cos for the last 4 weeks of school I get to teach history the way I want to teach it. Not the way the government tells me I have to.