california basic egregious skills travesty
I took the CBEST test today in the first step to becoming a credentialed substitute teacher in California (and Oregon!). That was some embarrassingly easy shit, I tell you what. Though I did enjoy the essay question on “the little everyday things that make [me] happy.” Indoor plumbing! I also finished the test in two hours and ten minutes, which is a little more than half of the time allotted; I was the first person finished in a room of about 30.
My favorite question, though, was in the reading comprehension section. There was a little anecdote about why teachers should dress nicely for work, because if they show up in “dirty jeans and sloppy T-shirts” then students won’t respect them. One of the questions asked what the article’s author had intended for this sloppy teacher example to indicate. One of the options? “That the teacher is a dangerous extremist.” That was hardly the only time I was nearly persuaded to answer jokingly. The Magpie and the Fox fable was simarily enticing. I’m going to make a terrible teacher. I can’t wait!!
Kim wrote:
I think you will make a very dangerous extremist! I mean a very good teacher.
Posted on 06-Dec-09 at 1:58 pm | Permalink
Erin wrote:
I took that last year, and then somehow scraped a job, so never did classroom stuff. I remember the hardest part was long division. I hadn’t done long division since 5th grade. That was hard.
Posted on 15-Dec-09 at 4:43 pm | Permalink