Today was the state math test for sixth graders and the luck of the draw had me proctoring a group of kids I did not know. At this point in the year, that situation could go either way. Either the students will be quiet, because they are unsure of me, or they will consider me a glorified substitute and challenge me. I can certainly handle either, but who wants to spend almost 5 hours locked in a room with a bunch of antagonistic tweens?
As I took attendance, I made note of a few of the last names. "Do you have a brother in 8th grade named Max?" I asked one student. "Do you have a sister in high school named Ava?" I asked another. "And your sister is out of college, right?" I said to a third.
By this time, the group was pretty impressed. Even if I didn't know them personally, I had some juice through my connections. That's when I got to the last kid. "Do you have an aunt named Tasha?" I asked him.
"She's my mom!" he said. There was a low suspiration of approbation from the crowd, and the testing continued without a hitch from there.
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