Friday, July 12, 2019

Will This Be On The Test? | gadflyonthewallblog

Will This Be On The Test? | gadflyonthewallblog

Will This Be On The Test?
As a public school teacher, I’m confronted with an awful lot of urgent questions.
Sometimes all at once and in rapid fire succession.
But perhaps the most frequent one I get is this:
“Mr. Singer, will this be on the test?”
Seriously?
Will this be on the test?
In 8th grade Language Arts, we’re discussing the relative merits of the death penalty vs. life imprisonment – or the history behind the Nazi invasion of Holland – or the origin of Dill Harris’ obsession with Boo Radley — and this little kid wants to know if any of it is going to be on the test!?
What in the almighty universe does he think we’re doing here!?
I pause, take a deep breath and reflect.
After all, it could be worse. The kiddo could have interrupted the flow just to ask to CONTINUE READING: