Yesterday was blissfully quiet in my house. Andy took the kids to the Discover Center...without me. It was not so that I could stay home and sleep, relax, shave or paint my nails. I did not read a magazine, the newspaper, or a book. I did not pay bills, clean out cupboards or work on projects. I did not do anything fun. I ... took a test. NOT a pregnancy test.... a REAL test, well a practice of the real test. It was a computer generated and scored practice test of the CBEST.
I am going back to school. I haven't really discussed it much (um...at all?) on my blog because I have been unclear as to how it will all unfold and I am not into speculation. Just give me the plan. This year, I will be challenged with the notion of "going with the flow" and letting my life "unfold" as Spirit intends it to. I am going to attend Whittier College and will be completing my Teaching Credential and Masters in Education. I have also applied for a Graduate Teaching Fellowship at Broadoaks which is the demonstration school attached to the college. They have preschool through 6th grade and if I am accepted into the program I will be working there as an intern next school year. The second year of the program, I would most likely be offered a full time teaching position. All the while I will be taking classes at night toward my degree. It will be a year of new challenges and changes in our household as I would be working full time for the first time since having children! I have no idea if I will get the Fellowship, if I don't...I will be really .... well, bummed. But I also know that if I do not get it, there is a reason and a plan and I will accept that (after I eat a big giant hot fudge brownie sundae to drown my sadness).
Anyway... the test. One of the first things that I need to do to be fully admitted is to pass the CBEST. Everyone that I talk to says that this test is really easy...but it is a TEST and it has MATH on it, so ...I was really nervous! On the website for the test, they have a practice test that you can take to see where you stand so that you can figure out what you need to study. Well, Andy and the kids cleared out, so that I could think. I had 4 hours to complete the test and I sat down to the computer after about 1/2 hour of procrastinating with little chores around the house.
The first section was Reading Comprehension...no problem for me, right? Ugh.. I realized that I have not used my brain in that way for a while and I felt the cogs grinding in my rusty brain as I started to read the sections and try to answer the questions. "Ugh", I thought, "if THIS is hard, the math is going to be REALLY bad." I finished the 50 questions in a little less than 45 minutes and when I scored it, I was surprised that I missed 5! One of the questions was a little "iffy", Andy agreed on that. But it is definitely a passing score! On to the math!
The first 20 questions or so were so easy that I was a little bit worried that I was just not understanding it and getting them all wrong. Then they hit... the hard ones, the ones that I did not understand...the ones with ....dumm dumm dumm dumm... FRACTIONS! Not easy fractions, like in cooking... but hard ones... confusing fractions and some of them had letters! Yikes! I muddled my way through the questions and found my own way to figure out the answers. There were times I was confused and wasn't sure of what to do, but kept working at it until finally I was done. I had a full two pages of calculations and computations, tables, diagrams and whatever else I could do to help myself and after 2 hours and another 50 questions, I finished and closed my eyes as I hit "score the test". I peeked open one eye...then the other. I could not BELIEVE what my score said! I missed FIVE! FIVE!!!! That's it! I couldn't believe it...wow, I guess I am not as bad at math as I thought and when I reviewed my answers I discovered that one of the errors was a "mis-click" and the other was the right answer minus a couple of zeros where I just got a little confused! I felt very, very proud of myself!
There is an essay section of the test that I am not worried about in the least and since the computer cannot score an essay, I will work on that tomorrow during Ella's nap and have Andy read it. I think that I could have done better on the Reading section...but my brain felt unaccustomed to thinking that way. If I could take it again with different questions I would score higher, I am sure. So, now ... instead of spending the next two weeks studying my brains out and worrying about my performance on this test, I am going to review the types of problems that I don't understand and then I am going to spend a fun weekend with my family. The test date is February 9th, 8 a.m. and I am looking forward to taking it, passing it and moving on with this new endeavor. Wish me luck!
3 comments:
Best wishes to you as you begin this new chapter! Sounds like you're ready though, and that's a good start! I know it won't be easy and much will change b/c of it, but I have a feeling you will find it all worth while in the end. Keep us posted on this journey as it develops! :-)
GOOD LUCK! There, you are wished. I'm positive you'll do fabulous!
Sounds like you and Matt will have your masters very soon. Both of our families are going back to school. Does it ever end?????
Congratulations on the CBEST parts. I think that you will be an excellent teacher.
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