The Dreaded Week is Coming

We must travel to Williamsport this coming week so JT can take the all-important PSSAs. We signed a contract when we enrolled with PA Cyber that we would do this. I have been dreading it most of the year.

Williamsport is approximately a one hour drive from our home. That is the closest test site available. We need to be there at 8:45 am. We are NOT morning people. SO, I decided to book a hotel room to keep from needing to drive there both mornings. We are staying in the same hotel the testing is taking place. We will stay Sunday and Monday evening. I am NOT thrilled that I am shelling out the money to do this. What else can I do? We did manage to get them to cut JT's test days down to 2 instead of 3. They are setting up a private room for him both afternoons to take an extra test. The other kids will be there 3 days. I guess they figure he is advanced and can handle the extra test each day. I understand there isn't much they can do to make this situation any better. I feel a little bad for having to be assertive and insist that they bend the rules for us.

The real problem here is that I am now getting nervous JT won't do well on the tests. I have been giving him practice work off and on throughout the year to get him ready. Most of the math is well below where he is currently working. The reading multiple choice questions are usually a breeze (except when they throw in some off the wall question that even I can't answer)! Yesterday I sat him down to do the long answer reading questions and he totally choked. He was asked to read two poems, find 2 things alike and 1 thing that was different. He wrote the two things that were the same (in sentence fragments) and claimed to be done. When I told him to read the directions again to see if he had done all they asked, he claimed to be happy with his answer. Complete panic ensued! I hope by reviewing the "make sure you read all the directions" rule enough over the weekend, we may still pull this off.

I know ultimately to me, it doesn't really matter what kind of score he gets on these tests. They are not a good tool for measuring his progress for the year. What I am really concerned about would be what the school will think after they bend over backwards to accomodate my needs expecting him to score advanced and he doesn't. Could be a tough sell next year.....