Llamas in Scarves

(Olive Press/Phoenicia Times May 6, 2010)

Test, tests, tests… Last week we had the English Language Arts test (ELA). We have math tests coming up too. That equals 6 days and 58 minutes of tests. That’s a lot of tests. I don’t exactly think I learn anything from all these tests. They are definitely not my idea of fun. I think they have all these tests to see where kids are in subjects. My teacher, Ms. Heppner, usually knows if kids are good at subjects, and I don’t think she needs tests. A lot of people were scared going into the ELA. My mom and dad gave me lots of eggs in the morning. Some other kids maybe had different rituals before the tests, like taking showers, having special drinks, or wearing special items of clothing. We got the ELA test, and Ms. Heppner told us not to open it. The atmosphere was nervous. Then, she passed out the Ticonderoga #2 pencils. I was actually feeling pretty good when Ms. Heppner said, “Open your tests,” but other kids had uncomfortable faces. After I finished the first day of ELA, I felt strong, confident—like I could do anything. On the second day I wasn’t so bold. I was a little sick and the essay we did was really hard because it had to be three paragraphs. The third day, I was upbeat: one because the testing was over and, two because the longest thing I had to write was two paragraphs. Next week is the math test. I’m not going to have piles of eggs this time. I don’t feel like I need any special routines. I’m going to go in there and be indivisible in math. Good luck to all you kids in the U.S. taking tests. If you feel nervous, twiddle your thumbs, or deep breath, but don’t eat eggs.