Spelling Recording

I'm a bit irritated with myself. I did dishes before school this morning instead of pre-recording the 7th grade spelling test for this week. I record all the spelling tests so students can take them when they're ready and don't have to wait for me. It also drastically cuts down on the amount of chitter chattering during tests; I'm sold and will never go back to the old way. Most of the tests are recorded, but a group of 7th grade students is in the advanced book, so I'm recording each week as we go.

One of the 7th graders is having eye surgery tomorrow, so I knew I had to record the test yesterday or this morning so she could take her test before leaving. I didn't feel like doing it last night and thought, "Oh, I'll have plenty of time in the morning." Nope. Should've known better.

This morning as I was doing my dishes, I thought, "Oh, I'll have just enough time when I get to school. I can still get it done before students come." Guess what. They came early today. 😐 

It was nice and quiet when I got to school, so first thing I began recording the test knowing I didn't have much time. I only made it halfway through when my first student arrived 10 minutes before she usually does. The school door was locked, so she rang the doorbell, which came through my desk phone even though I took the phone off the hook to specifically combat that exact scenario. Then, Mr. E poked his head in the door to tell me my student was here and did I want him to take her temperature or would I? At that point I decided to scrap the test and start over.

The trouble was, where to record in a school with no quiet places??? Solution: the gym shed. It's located on the far side of the gym, away from people, and no one would go in there or try to talk to me while I was recording. It's non-insulated and no lights (except for natural light streaming in from the outside door window), but a slight chill and dim light is a small price to pay for silence. There was even a chair to sit on!

The door locks from behind and I didn't want to prop the door open (just in case curious people would poke their heads in to see why the door was open), so I took a bungee cord and hung it from the latch so the door would mostly close but not lock me in. 

Mr. E likes to walk around the gym while waiting for students to arrive, so I spoke a little quieter when I heard his sneakers squeaking closer, just in case he would hear me. The first bus arrived while I recorded, and I heard the students clamoring while they waited for their temperature beep. Hopefully it didn't end up on the recording. At that point, I decided if it did they would just have to deal with it! None of the students said anything, so it must've been fine! 

The test took less than five minutes to record. Such a lot of hassle for a little thing. Mrs. L saw me emerge from the shed and gave me a weird look. "Just felt like hanging out in the shed this morning? she teased. She laughed when I explained the whole situation. 

Let's hope this is the last time I have to do that!