Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

SITBB Vault: Using time wisely, coloring well, and general deportment...

Today my mind has drifted to my daughters and their school day. Not the usual pleasant thought about how excited they were about turning in their letter "I" homework, or fleeting worry about whether or not they both had hats in their backbacks. These thoughts were of the "test anxiety" kind: mine, not theirs. Today is the day they have taken the first of a long line of standardized tests--the Naglieri Non-Verbal Ability Test, used in our school system to screen kids who might be eligible for gifted and talented programs. Now, I could go on about my scholarly-based opinions on this type of "intelligence test," or the notion of intelligence as a concept generally, or the validity of this type of testing and young children, or standardized tests and race, or any number of similar topics. But, bottom line: These are my kids. And you better believe I got them up in plenty of time this morning and cooked them a good, hot breakfast, and told them to be sure to go urinate before testing time, and gave them an extra big hug on their way in this morning. Other than that, I just did everything I could to appear to my daughters as if this was not a very big deal, when it actually is. Anyway, this got me thinking again to my own kindergarten year. No standardized tests for me. Instead, my requirements for displaying any early giftedness were quite basic, as my kindergarten report card below demonstrates. (Originally posted May 17, 2005.)

I have been reflecting a lot lately about my own achievements, work style, etc. Perhaps I am feeling a little anxious as I enter this next stage of my graduate school career. I feel like I must quickly learn to STOP PROCRASTINATING NOW! SEEK OUT INPUT EARLY AND OFTEN! STOP BEING SUCH A PERFECTIONIST! STOP BITING OFF MORE THAN I CAN CHEW! etc. etc.

Well, in the midst of all this attempt at work-habit makeover, my mother sent me a box of my childhood keepsakes. One hilarious thing in this package was the following:

YES. Here is my very first report card--What started it all, my amazing march to scholarly greatness! Opening it up, however, reveals that I was not the perfect 5-year-old scholar that I imagined I must have been:

Note that in all areas, I had to work my way up from "S-Satisfactory" to "G-Good." In fact, in the area of "General Deportment" I appeared to suffer a second session slump ("S-") before righting myself the final session. Next page:

Oh, the shame. I began the year "Needing Improvement" in two areas. (I guess I'll ease off stressing about my own daughters' current difficulties with the whole shoe lace tying thing.) Good to know, though, that my patriotism was apparently well achieved.

ANYway. What lessons should I take away from this?

Well, this school thing is all still a process. And that's OK. There is always an allowance for lack of initial competence and room for ongoing improvement.

I should not allow my life to be defined by my academic successes--or my academic disappointments. I remember around the time I got this report card my parents bought me my first "big girl" bed which I helped to pick out: That is one of my earliest memories of one of my greatest joys. So, there will always be more to life than whether or not I've mastered letter sounds or structural equation modeling.

And if all else fails, there are always colors. ("Knows Colors"=straight G's--Yeah, baby!)

Posted by perry032 at January 9, 2006 02:26 PM | TrackBack
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