Our standardized testing isn't until late April, but we are already getting flyers home about it. I refuse to do additional prep with mac. Like he needs another thing to be wound-up about.

Yikes, ChiKat! That's totally the kind of thing I wouldn't go to the doctor for....

Plus, it's not like I am covering the reference desk in SF this morning or anything.

I'm going to say you're not, apparently.

My 6 year old is being taught to "bubble in." It's damn hard to stay calm about reading comprehension tests when your kid can't really read yet. (Most states start standardized testing in 3rd grade. But in GA, we strive for excellence! Which means 6 year olds taking all-day bubble tests, le sigh.)

Funny t-shirt: Mug Shot

Popular Science Puts Entire Scanned Archive Online, Free

Gadget nerds: Prepare to lose the rest of your day to awesomeness. PopSci, the web-wing of Popular Science magazine, has scanned its entire 137-year archive and put it online for you to read, absolutely free. The archive, made available in partnership with Google Books, even has the original period advertisements.

Head over to the site and you’ll see a simple search box. Of course, the first thing I typed in was “jet pack”. This, naturally enough, returned plenty of results, including a rather dangerous-looking hydrogen peroxide powered contraption with a belt-mounted controller. The article was printed in the December 1962 issue.

I remember standardized testing starting in first grade, but it wasn't a state-mandated test. Our school used the California Achievement Test, but other schools in the area used an Iowa test, and I think that some others didn't start standardized tests until third grade.

My 6 year old is being taught to "bubble in."

It's interesting. We've been having to review how to do that because the big move in education is to get away from testing that has answers that you can bubble in and go to answers that show deeper thinking. Most teachers don't test with scantron sheets, so our kids forget how to do it. And I teach middle school, not the little ones.

I am really having a hard time not replying to an email from a professor with "Fuck You!".

I emailed her for something she has been stalling on, and at the dean's request, copied in the Dean.

She replied to me copying in the Dean and saying "Sorry, Dean, for copying you in on this totally unnecessary email."

I hate that. We spend 20 minutes every other Friday doing Reading and Math skills which is basically test prep, but that's it. And, that's enough. They should be getting the content as part of the curriculum.

The Missouri tests are very high stake, so the schools don't mess around.

I'd be worried about the ability of J. Average 6YO to concentrate long enough to fill in bubble tests. Kids with more concentration abilities are going to test better, which... isn't a test of learning, per se.