Testing

One major part of my job as the ALP (Alternative Language Program) Lead at my school is to test ESL kids. We are 50% English Language Learners. For the past month, I've been testing ESL kids. It's a No Child Left Behind test. Thank you Pres. Bush. Wednesday is my 1/2 deadline, but I have to get as many done by Wednesday as possible so that we can get their test scores back for next year's registration. There are more than 400 students, and there are 4 parts to the test: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Needless to say, this has been very stressful and exhausting. I have to read the speaking and listening parts, which takes about 45 minutes. The speaking part has to be done individually, so it has taken a lot of time. It also has to be spread out over two days, about 45 minutes each day. I am anticipating tomorrow to be my last stressful day, and I'm excited. After that, it should be a breeze. I will only have about 35 more kids to test, not including new students (we get several a week). Most schools have several people testing, but my principal is so incompetent that he forgot to arrange for others to be trained to test. I'm just glad that it's almost over!