Mrs. Catoe’s Chronicles

Radio playing, phone ringing, copy machine sorting and stapling, fax machine ringing, and receptionist placing her lunch order….Does this sound like a very conducive place for one to take a test?  I don’t think so.  This setting, however, is what happened to me last week when I went to take a test for my Statistics class.  As I sat there listening to all of these surrounding noises, I began to watch the clock tick and became even more frantic that I couldn’t concentrate on the task at hand…which just happened to be a test on which I needed to do well.  I have been working diligently to maintain an A average in this statistics class, but this ONE test alone did me in.  I had inquired to my professor about taking this test early since we were on Spring Break last week.  He obliged, but placed me in a GA’s office to take the test.  With 30 minutes left to concentrate, I politely asked the GA to turn off the radio and commenced to try to complete the test.  When my time was up, I packed up my belongings and left the college…..basically with my tail tucked between my legs. 

As I drove home to begin my Spring Break trip to Williamsburg, VA, and Washington, DC, I pondered our upcoming PACT tests.  What type of setting do we need to provide for our students to do their best work?  Obviously, not the one in which I encountered.  All week long, I thought about this test and was disappointed in my situation.  However, I need to make sure that this type of setting doesn’t occur for students at our school.  Knowing my teachers….this would never happen - whether it was a quiz, Brainpop, or a test.  We just don’t do business that way.  Having students do well and feeling good about themselves are top priorities.  I didn’t do well on the test; I didn’t feel good about myself all week.  Now tomorrow, it’s back to class to face my professor.  I guess - if there is anything good that comes from this experience….it’s a reminder of what SETTING can do for a person when they are being asked to perform and elicit responses from memory in a test situation.  Believe me, I may not remember what a z score or a t score is in 10 years, but I will NEVER forget how I felt when I walked out of the College of Education on March 21.  That is ONE feeling that I hope my students at DME never experience!