Autumn Leaves (or Cactus Needles) & How to Last Through an Endless Test

Is it Fall yet? Although I have lived in Arizona for a while now, I still am having some difficulty remembering the timing of events in my recent past because seasons here are so subtle. I can’t even use the startup of school as a familiar marker because our kids go back to school weeks earlier than I am used to; some of them start back in mid-summer. On the whole, I think this sort of schedule is fine, but it throws off my sense of time and seasons. As a native of Wisconsin, I found the idea of attending football games in blazing heat odd enough in Virginia. I can’t even imagine a football game here on a scorching October day. Lucky for me I am a basketball fan. (GO SUNS!)

Anyway, it is Fall and kids are again taking PSAT and SAT tests and making up or retaking AIMS tests, and there are a lot of complaints about tests that take hours (the SAT lasts almost four hours). How do kids keep from fading in the stretch? I tell my students to eat a good solid breakfast (including some protein and complex carbohydrates rather than sugar) and take a snack. Be sure you get plenty of sleep the night before. (Believe me, cramming at the last minute is less helpful than getting enough sleep.) And don’t sign up for the test on Homecoming Weekend if you can possibly avoid it.