The season is upon us...Testing season. When we heard the news that this is the last year of the FSA, we cheered and then moaned, as we all know this is not the last of testing...now we just have to figure out a new format. The silver lining is maybe, just maybe the "higher-ups" might decide that measuring a student and a teacher, on one day's event or a limited number of minutes, is not fair or just. We are keeping our nose to the grinding stone though, and analyzing all the parts of the complicated questions and rigorous text. My students amaze me frequently that they arrive at the level that is expected and often times even surprise themselves. Today they were on day two of digging in and working in small groups to prove what they know... even with visitors in the classroom, they rose above. I loved hearing them stand up for what they thought was correct, and defend their answer and prove it with textual evidence. It is just one day in the last mile to get to the prize of the dreaded day, but we will endure. We will make it. We might even prove to ourselves that we know more than we think!!