Finals week

This week is semester finals week here at the high school. We're on a different schedule; the students have two finals each morning lasting one hour and 45 minutes. Then they go home for the afternoon. It's that way all week.

It fascinates me how kids' demeanor changes when the pressure of tests are upon them. As a Resource teacher, I don't give a final exam for my class, but I provide help on exams for all my Resource students who want their exams read/interpreted to them. I don't give them answers or even hints, but I read the questions aloud and help them understand what they mean.

One of my students needed to take his Freshman Science final with me. I had explained to all my students that I would be in a different location during Finals, not in my classroom, and I had explained several times which room they were to report to. This kid, being a Freshman and one of my behavior-disorder guys, got extremely nervous and could not find where to come. Instead of going straight to the main office and waiting for me there, he went outside and attempted to catch a city bus back home. Thankfully I saw him out the front door of the school and dashed out to retrieve him. He's normally an extremely loud, mouthy, belligerent kid, and I don't think I heard him say two words today. His face was ashen and shapeless, and his eyes had panic in them. I've never seen a worse case of test anxiety.

After the two finals for today were done, I came back up to my own classroom to gather up a few things before lunch, and the art teacher across the hall was having a rather heated altercation with another of my Resource students. This kid is NOT a behavior-disorder guy, but is always smiling and extremely cheerful and polite. Today he was all but swearing at the other teacher, and behaving in a very uncharacteristic way. We finally got him calmed down and helped him resolve the issue, which was just a misunderstanding. Another case of test anxiety, the other teacher and I determined, because this kid has never once given either of us a smidgen of attitude or trouble the entire semester. It pays to be a good kid, because if you do have one bad day, the teachers will give you the benefit of the doubt and try to help you work through it instead of immediately sending you out. I noticed a difference in this kid's face, too... it was dark and sullen and dull, where it's normally bright and full of humor.

I'm guessing that most of my Resource students have had horrible experiences with tests in the past, causing them to panic and become agitated when faced with similar circumstances. The fight-or-flight syndrome, perhaps.

I love my kids to pieces and it distresses me to see them upset like this. I may see about doing an in-class movie next week or something, which I have not done ONCE this year. I'm not a big fan of showing movies, as a rule, but what I'm seeing in these guys makes me think maybe I should reward them a little. I'm also not supposed to bring home-made treats, either, but I may bend THAT rule as well. A pan of brownies or chocolate chip cookie bars might be rather well-received.