Minds at work

The room on the third floor is quiet. The blinds are pulled.

The mass communications class I teach at Georgia College & State University is usually full of life at 12:30 every Tuesday. They come to class and ask questions. They make comments.

But today they are quiet. I hear the air conditioner whistling through the vents. I hear them squirming in their seats. I hear their pens racing against the paper and, occasionally, an eraser trying to reverse those remarks.

There is a quiet cough, the rustling of the stapled pages and the tap, tap, tap of a nervous foot beneath a desk.

They are taking a test. My test.

I have taken tests all my life. English tests. Algebra tests (I hated those). I took a test to get my driver’s license. Personality profile tests. I took a battery of tests when I applied for my job. Now about the only test I take is a cholesterol test when I go to the doctor.

Yes, I have taken tests but never given one. Tuesday was my first.

I made some of the questions easy. They would have to fall out of their chairs not to get them correct.

I made others more challenging. Have you been paying attention in class all these weeks and taking notes? Did you take my advice and devote two hours studying for every hour you spend in class?

There were no trick questions. My intent is not to trick them. I want to teach them. I want them to learn.

But I also want them to be critical thinkers. They know that. I’ve told them. And they know that we’re in this together.

Right now, they are quiet.

They are taking a test.

They are thinking.