The End (of Course Assessment) Is Near!

First semester ends next week, which means one thing: End of Course Assessments!

Visitors to my classroom don't need a district calendar to tell them that finals week is nearly upon us. The signs of the testing season are everywhere.

My  bulletin  board is decked out with study guide propaganda. 

The ginormous testing schedule is posted.

My desk is overflowing with practice tests, study guides, study cards, and pre-assessment data analysis forms. 

And the notes have started to appear.

You know the notes I am talking about, right?

Those sweet, Crayola marker saturated hail Mary passes made by kidlets who are hoping that a little public relations work in the 11th hour will make up for a few academic hiccups earlier in the semester. 

I love those notes, and not just because I like it when people tell me I'm awesome. 

Yes, the papers aren't drenched in sincerity, but who cares?

I mean, who doesn't enjoy being the target of a little brown nosing every now and then?

But the main reason I enjoy those notes so much is because they are proof that my kids are still kidlets. Sure, they try to dress like big kids and talk like big kids, but as long as they still want to draw pictures for the nice teacher lady, they aren't as big as they think they are.

Of course, rumor has it that high school kids try to bribe their teachers with chocolate, so having a few big kids around might not be such a bad thing either...