S is for.....

So after a mind numbing three days of SAT- which those of you in education know stands for Suck out your soul Asinine Testing- I have come up with a plethora of uses for a number two pencils-- none of which include the filling in of bubbles. I am now questioning the education system in our country. Anyone who thinks that submitting out children to that torture session-(the inquisition is not dead- it has merely evolved) is beneficial in any way, needs to come and spend a little time with my students. Forty minutes of fill in the bubbles in silence would cause anyone to submit to the demons and score low!!
Day one of testing began in such a manner.
I have a student that struggles with attention (I'm minimizing here) we'll call him Curly. At 8:02 his classmates are all seated silently working on their morning work. Curly is standing 3 desks away from his own, trying to explain to his classmate why his pencil sharpening technique is superior. At 8:08- Curly has managed to lose his lunch ticket in the 10 feet from his desk to mine. We still haven't discovered how this is even possible. At 8:20 I have finished explaining the testing procedures and have uttered the words " You may begin". At 8:25 Curly raises his hand and explains that he has managed to break all three of his superiorly sharpened pencils- since the test began- 5 MINUTES AGO.
Three days of testing later I am home--looking forward to more than just a few of the adult beverages in our house- and a brand new episode of the Office.
Hopefully I can find my will to teach before the bell rings at 7:50 tomorrow morning. Otherwise you may very well be hearing about me on CNN- me and all of those uses I've discovered for the left over number two pencils!!