In a state of shock....

As you know, I'm presently getting myself ready to become certified as a teacher in the State of Georgia. I've enrolled in classes at UGA and will be starting the beginning of June. (Yikes!) I have applied for several jobs in multiple counties, but have not received any calls. I have been substitute teaching for 18 months...and have been trying to rub elbows with all the right people, so that when jobs become available, they think of me first.

I've taken, and passed, the State Certification exam for Special Education and decided that I would go ahead and take a couple of Middle Grades Content Exams so that I would look a little better on paper than I do now. Right now, on paper, I'm almost useless as a teacher. Nothing on my resume indicates I should be standing in front of kids teaching them Math, Language Arts, or Reading. It's all ministry or retail work. Nothing in the way of education.

So, last month, I took the Middle Grades Math and the Middle Grades Language Arts tests. I prepared. I studied. I did Math problems. I graphed. I solved equations. I read stories. I studied grammar. I perused vocabulary and spelling words. I brushed up on angles, the Pythagorean Theorem, and exponents. I felt like I did all I could to be ready for these tests.

When I sat down to begin, I decided to take the Math test first. I wanted to give myself ample time to work each problem...making sure I didn't make any dumb mistakes. About halfway through the test, I found myself relaxing....and actually feeling good about what I was doing. The vast majority of the problems made sense. I was able to figure out the answers. And I answered with confidence. The Essay question.........not so much, but I decided I wasn't going to stress over that.

Because I spent so much time on the Math test.... I left myself only about 90 or so minutes for the Language Arts test. And when I began to read the test, I almost couldn't focus. I realized I'd spent too much time on Math...and had nothing left for Language Arts. Oh well. No biggie. I don't have to be Highly Qualified (High Q'd) in content classes yet anyway. So, I walked out---almost laughing at the fact that I actually sat for two Middle Grades Tests. What was I thinking?

So, when people asked me how it went, my answer was pretty standard. "I doubt I did well. (Yes, I'm a realistic pessimist)...but that I would be surprised if I didn't pass the Math test....for no other reason than the fact that I spent so much time on it....being oh so careful with each operation. Language Arts. No way I passed. My brain was fried."

Now here we are today. April 28. The day the Scores are released. According to the website, scores are released after 5 pm. I am not that patient and decided I would log-on and see if they happened to post them early. 8 am. No. 8:15. Nope. 9:00. 10:00. 10:42. 11:48. 12:16. Still nothing. 12:45. I try again. And sure enough. There it is. The log-on window...asking me for my ID#. My hands nervously begin to type. Then it asks me to verify that I am me. I do. And in front of me are the two test scores I can verify. I click on Language Arts first.

And it says........

PASSED.

Huh? You must be joking. I hit the back button and started again. Sure enough, I passed the Language Arts test. Unbelievable. And all that's left is my Math score. I click the button. It flashes to the screen.

Did Not Pass.

My heart sank. I couldn't believe it. The test I spent so much time preparing for. The test I spent so much time taking. I didn't pass. I stared at the screen thinking that maybe I had accidentally infiltrated someone else's test scores. But, No. I hadn't. I just plain didn't pass. I missed the passing score by 13 points...and frankly, I can't imagine what I messed up on. After much thinking and much consternation, though, I've come to the conclusion that the essay question was what did me in.

So, now I'm High Q'd to teach Language Arts...but not Math. Whooda thunk it?

So, on June 14...I'll be taking that goofy test again. And hopefully this time....I'll pass.