This is the view out of my car window shortly after I left at the dark hour of 4:45:
And no, nothing’s wrong with your eyes. The picture is a little blurry. My hand shook a bit.
Why was I up so early?
Because I’m dumb sometimes. Ok. I’m dumb a lot of the times.
I don’t know if you remember, but I’ve been studying for my English 6-12 certification exam. Today was THE day.
The test is not administered in my city, and the closest location is two hours away.
Lucky me.
The first stupid thing I did was scheduling myself for the 8am slot.
Apparently I have some inner drive that leads me to believe that I must excel at everything I do, which includes poor planning, because the site I selected was in a different time zone.
Yes, folks, Florida does have two time zones.
What that meant is that I had to do everything an hour earlier…including waking up at the ridiculous hour of 4am.
I triple-checked my alarm and made the wise decision not to hit the snooze button. And yes, I even managed to grab a shower before I left. I made it with 15 minutes to spare.
The test was difficult. I was grilled on teaching methodology as well as plain old literature and grammar. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve taken a literature course? I had no idea which authors match up with various works. I Christmas-treed a few of the answers, hoping for the best.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, I had to write an essay.
Now, I consider myself adept at writing, but when I took my practice exams at home, I quickly realized that I was in trouble.
I would be required to write about a piece of literature, explaining how the author used literary devices, rhyme, and rhythm to convey a message.
Oh
My
Goodness
Fear and dread set in. The essay counts for 30% of the exam’s grade.
The practice tests I had taken put the essay at the end of the session.
A surprise was in store for me today, though. The essay was the first component! Ugh.
Here’s where God stepped in.
I read the first prompt. It was a poem. Oh boy. That would not be easy.
I glanced at the second prompt. It looked more like a regular passage from a book, so I investigated further.
Folks…it was an excerpt about a woman who loses a son and finds comfort from a blanket…and in doing so, remembers a time when her mother and grandmother dyed, spun, and wove their own yarn!!!!!
How FANTASTIC was this?!
It was something I could identify with and actually enjoy analyzing.
Don’t you just love when God does stuff like this? It makes me feel as if He is personally reaching out to me, wiping away the worry lines, and giving me the hug I need.
All in all, I have no idea how I fared on the exam. Unlike last year’s test, when I received my results immediately, I’ll have to wait for this one because the essay has to be graded by hand. I should know within a few weeks.
I am not going to worry though. It’s all in God’s hands.
Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: english 6-12, teaching | 2 Comments »
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