E. None of the Above...
A month ago, back when I was unemployed and freaking out about it, I registered for the California Basic Education Skills Test (CBEST), which is a requirement for obtaining a California teaching license and substitute-teaching license. Test day was today, test locale was the Sacramento suburb of Rosemont (approx. 100 miles away), and even though I am now working I figured that I might as well get my $41 worth and have a little backup plan in the unlikely event that my whole life changes.
Actually what really influenced the decision to go ahead and take it was A. there is a nice outdoor pool near the test site, in Folsom and B. lucky for me, Greg seems to think it's really fun to do decidedly un-fun things with me, for example sitting in transition for 50 minutes in order to run a half-marathon with me, and for example getting up at 5:20 a.m. on a Saturday to drive me through snow flurries in the dark down to one of the less-exciting state capitals around.
I had been warned that the test would be easy but it felt downright ridiculous, particularly the math section. Some samples:
I dunno. 5?
I have never heard of a girl named Ronnie. And of course they had to send a boy to the fabric store.
Sheesh.
By the time I got to the two essay questions ("describe a challenge facing today's adolescents and how adults and society can help fix it" and "what do you think is the most admirable trait a person can have"), I was so underwhelmed by California's expectations of its teachers' basic skills (not to say the TEACHERS are underwhelming, because they aren't, just the test!) that I am sure whatever I wrote was complete hogwash.
After that we went for a lovely outdoor SEA LEVEL (!!) swim and then drove home via route 50 and South Lake Tahoe. I have never been that way, it was gorgeous!
Oh and kitty is doing well. He still loves us despite all the bathing, I kind of think he must be nuts but I am not complaining!
Actually what really influenced the decision to go ahead and take it was A. there is a nice outdoor pool near the test site, in Folsom and B. lucky for me, Greg seems to think it's really fun to do decidedly un-fun things with me, for example sitting in transition for 50 minutes in order to run a half-marathon with me, and for example getting up at 5:20 a.m. on a Saturday to drive me through snow flurries in the dark down to one of the less-exciting state capitals around.
I had been warned that the test would be easy but it felt downright ridiculous, particularly the math section. Some samples:
"Chris went to the fabric store and bought 24 1/6 yards of red fabric and 16 2/3 of black fabric. How much fabric did he buy in total?"
I dunno. 5?
"Ronnie did her homework for 3 hours and blah blah blah"
I have never heard of a girl named Ronnie. And of course they had to send a boy to the fabric store.
"Jason, Manuel, and Harold did a swimming race. Jason finished in 53.137 seconds, Manuel finished in 51.865 seconds, and Harold finished between Manuel and Jason. Which of the following are possible times for Harold? A. 46.234 B. 50.189 C. 52.397 D. 60.539 or E. 1 hour."
Sheesh.
By the time I got to the two essay questions ("describe a challenge facing today's adolescents and how adults and society can help fix it" and "what do you think is the most admirable trait a person can have"), I was so underwhelmed by California's expectations of its teachers' basic skills (not to say the TEACHERS are underwhelming, because they aren't, just the test!) that I am sure whatever I wrote was complete hogwash.
After that we went for a lovely outdoor SEA LEVEL (!!) swim and then drove home via route 50 and South Lake Tahoe. I have never been that way, it was gorgeous!
Oh and kitty is doing well. He still loves us despite all the bathing, I kind of think he must be nuts but I am not complaining!
Labels: enjoy the blog, random
posted by Courtenay at 12/01/2007
1 Comments:
Oh the CBEST! The bane of many a teacher. Glad to hear you found it easy. You'd be surprised to find how many find the math hard.
Your underwhelming comment is felt. But we need teachers and subs so bad it is sad. We have entire weeks in my district that are blacked out to get subs. We are literally not allowed to get sick. No biggie though! Everyone knows sick days are for riding and skiing. If you're really sick, you might as well go to work.
With all the problems we face in public education, its still the best job goin'.
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