Hoffer took her grade book and left the room, I heard her tell Ms. Hennessey, "I'll pray for her; it'll be all right." She touched Ms. Hennessey's arm lightly. I couldn't help but wonder if somebody in Ms. Hennessey's family was sick.
Ms. Hennessey asked Faye to pass out the papers. As Faye walked by she gave me a quick pat on the back. I must have been looking pretty scared.
I eyed the test. It was three pages long, handwritten. I hate when teachers don't type their tests. Most of them have pretty decent writing, but it's confusing enough without adding handwriting to the problem.
I didn't look up again until Ms. Hennessey said, "Okay guys, put down your pencils."
It was funny. I felt like I was floating or in a time warp or something. The light in the room even looked brighter.
"That was quick, wasn't it?" Ms. Hennessey asked the class. I think she was being sarcastic, but to me it did feel quick. Most of the kids
moaned or mumbled under their breath. Ms. Hennessey laughed.
But in spite of the time warp problem, I was sure I'd passed. It was a new feeling. Sometimes I'd hear Tommy, Faye, and Angela talking about tests: "I aced it," they would tell each other. I always envied their confidence, but now I was having that same feeling. It wasâwhatâkind of scary?
During the test, I did some things my mother and Mrs. Norville showed me. At one point when the question didn't make any sense, I turned the test paper upside down and read it that way. It forces you to see each word. I talked to myself quite a bit, too. I'd say things like,"Okay, Judge, why don't you eliminate the answers that don't work." One of the multiple choice questions was: "The formation of sedimentary rocks is closely associated withââ." The choices were: a) water, b) lava, c) sand and d) chemicals. I asked myself, "What is the definition of sedimentary rock?" Of the four choices, only water came up in the definition. I asked myself a few more questions, and again, only water came up in the answer. I chose water. The whole thing took all of two or three seconds, and for all I know that could be the way normal people think anyway, but it was new for
me. Over time, facts have proven to be unreliable for meâat test time, all of a sudden I didn't know the stuff I thought I knew. I was sure about an answer only when the question was almost identical to the fact as I learned it. In other words, the only way I could have been sure about my water answer was if the question was asked using the definition I learned.
"How'cha do?" Jury asked during the first recess.
"I actually think I did all right."
"Yeah, it wasn't as hard as I expected. I think your stupid recording helped."
"Is that a thank you?"
"Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?"
"What?"
Instead of explaining, he ran off to start a game.
After our last class, we went to the roof and I got some good newsâour container finally survived three drops in a row. We're using the plastic egg container, wrapped in three layers of bubble wrap and then jam-packed with Jury's confetti. An engineer from the air force came to speak to us about impact and aerodynamics. Miss Bailey was concerned that we were losing sight of the science aspect of the egg drop. Actually,
the engineer's lecture was all right. On the walk home that day, I pictured myself in an air force uniform teaching kids how to gauge the force of an impact. It was something I would not have imagined prior to my feeling confident that I passed my science test.
Every other Friday night is our eat-out night. It used to be on Saturday, but that day was crowded with other stuff. Sometimes we eat in and have pizzas delivered. When my mother was still dating her old (in actual years) boyfriend Frank, he managed to convince her that eating out two or three days a month was too expensive for a single mom. I know she's lonely and she worries that she's too fat to meet another boyfriend, but I sure am glad Frank is
Ms. Hennessey asked Faye to pass out the papers. As Faye walked by she gave me a quick pat on the back. I must have been looking pretty scared.
I eyed the test. It was three pages long, handwritten. I hate when teachers don't type their tests. Most of them have pretty decent writing, but it's confusing enough without adding handwriting to the problem.
I didn't look up again until Ms. Hennessey said, "Okay guys, put down your pencils."
It was funny. I felt like I was floating or in a time warp or something. The light in the room even looked brighter.
"That was quick, wasn't it?" Ms. Hennessey asked the class. I think she was being sarcastic, but to me it did feel quick. Most of the kids
moaned or mumbled under their breath. Ms. Hennessey laughed.
But in spite of the time warp problem, I was sure I'd passed. It was a new feeling. Sometimes I'd hear Tommy, Faye, and Angela talking about tests: "I aced it," they would tell each other. I always envied their confidence, but now I was having that same feeling. It wasâwhatâkind of scary?
During the test, I did some things my mother and Mrs. Norville showed me. At one point when the question didn't make any sense, I turned the test paper upside down and read it that way. It forces you to see each word. I talked to myself quite a bit, too. I'd say things like,"Okay, Judge, why don't you eliminate the answers that don't work." One of the multiple choice questions was: "The formation of sedimentary rocks is closely associated withââ." The choices were: a) water, b) lava, c) sand and d) chemicals. I asked myself, "What is the definition of sedimentary rock?" Of the four choices, only water came up in the definition. I asked myself a few more questions, and again, only water came up in the answer. I chose water. The whole thing took all of two or three seconds, and for all I know that could be the way normal people think anyway, but it was new for
me. Over time, facts have proven to be unreliable for meâat test time, all of a sudden I didn't know the stuff I thought I knew. I was sure about an answer only when the question was almost identical to the fact as I learned it. In other words, the only way I could have been sure about my water answer was if the question was asked using the definition I learned.
"How'cha do?" Jury asked during the first recess.
"I actually think I did all right."
"Yeah, it wasn't as hard as I expected. I think your stupid recording helped."
"Is that a thank you?"
"Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?"
"What?"
Instead of explaining, he ran off to start a game.
After our last class, we went to the roof and I got some good newsâour container finally survived three drops in a row. We're using the plastic egg container, wrapped in three layers of bubble wrap and then jam-packed with Jury's confetti. An engineer from the air force came to speak to us about impact and aerodynamics. Miss Bailey was concerned that we were losing sight of the science aspect of the egg drop. Actually,
the engineer's lecture was all right. On the walk home that day, I pictured myself in an air force uniform teaching kids how to gauge the force of an impact. It was something I would not have imagined prior to my feeling confident that I passed my science test.
Every other Friday night is our eat-out night. It used to be on Saturday, but that day was crowded with other stuff. Sometimes we eat in and have pizzas delivered. When my mother was still dating her old (in actual years) boyfriend Frank, he managed to convince her that eating out two or three days a month was too expensive for a single mom. I know she's lonely and she worries that she's too fat to meet another boyfriend, but I sure am glad Frank is
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