Post date: Nov 3, 2017 6:10:22 PM
We’ve all had that Monday.
Fortunately, you do get up just slightly less sleep deprived than usual and feel like you are actually ready to tackle the day’s work. This is not just unusual, but particularly opportune, because you find out in second period that you have a chemistry test that Wednesday, and fourth period you find out you’ve got a Spanish quiz the period right before the chemistry test. You use the extra energy you have to prove to yourself that this is actually manageable – you’ve got two whole days and a morning to study, after all.
Trying to comfort yourself with this and the fact that you will be enjoying a cheeseburger and fries next period, your friend who sits behind you in Spanish pokes you on the shoulder and says, “Hey – did you hear Mr. Smith is letting us choose to have our history test on Wednesday or Thursday? I’m gonna choose Wednesday because I have two tests on Thursday…”
Realizing that you are the oddball in your history class schedule-wise, you start having a panic attack because you know the class will choose to take it on Wednesday. “Two big tests and a quiz now!?” you say to yourself. “I thought this whole “testing day” thing was supposed to stop this from happening…”
The concept of having “testing days” for specific subjects every Friday is indeed supposed to curb the number of such occurrences, and every so often, it does. I can remember a day when I had a math test and an English test scheduled, and the day before, one of the teachers, recognizing his subject was supposed to test on that Friday, kindly moved it for us.
Unfortunately, though I know our teachers are very accommodating people, they would need to sacrifice the class average on the exam by moving it ahead a few days to a Friday like my teacher did. We were ready for the exam the next day, but we had to wait a couple more days to be tested on it, and I’m sure I forgot some of the information in the interim. So this is largely just not an option.
Some of the other causes of the lack of success of the current system are that tests can be turned into “large quizzes” worth about the same amount as a regular test, and sometimes teachers simply need their grades in for a PlusPortals update and waiting isn’t an option either.
I think that the concept of “testing days” is a brilliant idea, but its full potential is not being reaped by having them only on Fridays. It is only ever the testing day for two subjects on Fridays, and I believe a step in the right direction would be to make testing days be every day on a set schedule.
See this sample schedule:
There would be exceptions in this schedule for snow days or other uncommon circumstances that result in a lost day of school, and foreign language and religion – as subjects that drop and have only one slot on the schedule – would have the option to test any day, should it be judicious or necessary.
All of the concerns mentioned above are also addressed by this new schedule. Tests could not be turned into “large quizzes” and still given on the day they shouldn’t be, for it would not be that subject’s exam day. In addition, provided official PlusPortal updates occur every other week, teachers would not have to worry about getting their grades in on time, because each teacher has two days of the week to give a test or quiz, and for that same reason, the class average shouldn’t tank because there are more of these opportunities, the amount of time in between them is then minimized, and the tests or quizzes could be scheduled the week before in anticipation of the testing day anyway.
The other benefit of having a set schedule such as this is that it would make “testing days” the new norm and so teachers would be more willing to follow the system, having the confidence that if they can’t get their class reviewed in time for the test on, say, Monday, it will absolutely be given that Wednesday.
So this schedule takes the guess work out of the current “testing day” system, eliminating the worries of teachers who wonder when they will have their grades, keeping students’ study time more balanced and focused, and eliminating the unnecessary stress and negative outcomes of students having three tests on one day.
I know full well that my imperfect schedule will probably not be implemented (certainly not in its current form), but it is my hope that changes to the “testing day” system will be considered for the benefit of teachers and students alike.
-Jack Kristensen 18’