Brennon and Tyson have state testing for the next two days. These tests were postponed from the end of last year due to covid. Since they're going to a public school online with another school district in the state, I was worried that we may need to drive to a testing site further away, so I was pleasantly surprised it was just 15 minutes away.
In the emails they sent, they made it very clear that we were not to check in early, so we arrived and waited in our car even though there were many parents and kids standing outside in the 46-degree weather. No thanks. I was a little peeved that they didn't even open the doors till 8:36am. It took us a while to get signed in and find our table. They'd had us download some special sites for the test, so we sat down, opened our computers, and waited. Only, Brennon's computer decided to give us a blank white screen. We turned it off and tried again three times. This is where my anxieties kicked into overdrive. I had done what they asked. I'd been there on time, with everything they asked me to bring, but the technology wasn't working. I don't do technology! I was relieved when they said they'd brought extra computers just in case.
Except, it wasn't charged. So instead of Tyson and Brennon sitting at the table together, they'd chosen way in the back corner, Brennon was now moved to a table near the wall outlet, surrounded by three other kids he didn't know, leaving Tyson isolated by himself. They'd been a bit nervous, to begin with, knowing it was an important state test, but being separated like that boosted their nerves. Right before I left, I asked where I needed to leave the information they'd told me to bring about an ID#. The woman said, "Oh, that's weird, I check your child in. I don't know why they sent that." I thanked her, wished my boys well, and walked out. The original time of the test was from 8:30am-10:30am. It was 9:14am.
As I drove home, talking with Randy about how stressful it had been, I contemplated what time I should head back to pick them up. They hadn't even started 45-minutes later and were nowhere near ready, so should I push back the pickup time or just show up at 10:30am? In the end, I chose to sit in the waiting area so my boys could have me near as soon as they were finished. I'll always choose being bored in a waiting room or car if it means my kids have me close by for anything. It ended up being the best decision.
The second my boys saw me, they grabbed their stuff and hurried over to me. "Mom, we didn't even start!" I thought they were joking. Nope! The internet hadn't worked for them, so they sat the entire time as their screens were loading. That was what had been the trouble with Brennon's white screen-- it was loading! Three women from WAVA, all teachers that were sitting in to monitor the test in a place unfamiliar to them as it was to us, were in charge of 50 kids for state testing, and not a single child was able to finish. When Brennon said, "That was just so stressful for me," I told him I heard him, but consider how it felt for the women! "There will be time to work on ELA tomorrow after you've finished your Math. If you need more time, Brennon come with Tyson when he takes his Science on Wednesday." I sure hope they figure out the internet!
You know how we say "S, as in Stephanie," to help those hard of hearing know which letter to put? Well, Brennon, wanting to do everything perfectly despite his hearing disability. After all, it is Brennon that hears "extra fries" when someone says "exercise." So he listened intently as she told him the testing name to put in, but was confused when it was much longer than was allowed. "Mom, she kept saying F for Frank, but it wasn't fitting!! She asked me if Caps was on-- they weren't. She asked me if I was certain I was listening. Another boy helped me. I was just confused whether she meant for me to put 'for,' 'four,' or the actual number 4!" It hit me. He still didn't know what he was doing wrong as he told me the story, because the other kid had fixed the problem for him. He didn't realize that she meant just the F and was differentiating it from S, which would have been what his true problem would have been. But she was saying F FOR Frank, not F, AS IN Frank. He took that very literally in his fight for perfection. That's how Brennon has to think every single time someone speaks. His brain hears things wrong nearly every word, so he needs to work fast to understand context, vocabulary, and figure everything out in a breath. Poor kid!
Here's to hoping they figure out this internet before we go tomorrow!
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