The Post-PSAT Blues

Today we administered the PSATs to all of our sophomores and juniors. After most of the regular ed classrooms (the ones without extended time) were done, but before we could move into our post-testing schedule, a ballast blew somewhere in the building, there was smoke, and we had to evacuate into the drizzle. By the time we got back inside, we were an hour past the (overly optimistically) scheduled start of classes. Because of my screwy schedule, this meant that I had four consecutive classes after testing, and no lunch. Color me a sad puppy...

My first class after testing was a double period. They weren't interested in how to make something move with a constant velocity. They wanted to talk about the PSAT, the strategies they shouldn't use, and their worries about the testing (and their social lives, of course: they're teenagers). We discussed how the (P)SATs are different from regular tests, how it's okay (and even advisable for them) to leave blanks, and that the sophomore administration of the PSAT doesn't really count for anything. And then I tempted them with the hovercraft, we discussed a little bit of physics, decided that Newton's First Law is reasonable, and the double period was over. Teenagers who've had a standardized test instead enough food and exercise are not in the right frame of mind to learn anything academic. It felt like herding skittish cats...