Multitasking & Robot Hands

I’m not sure what it’s a sign of, although based on the boy who made the comment I’m forced to believe that it’s the sign of true genius. At the very least, it’s multitasking at its finest.

Here’s the situation:

We’re taking the 4th grade math TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) test. In case you don’t have school age children attending public school, or you aren’t in Texas, this is the mother of all math tests. Everything we’ve done this year has been preparing us to take (and hopefully pass) this test.

I’m not going to go into the whole “Teaching to the Test” thing right now, because it is a sore spot for me. Suffice it to say, I don’t, but the test is important all the same.

For most of my students this was a four to five hour test. We’re about two hours into the test, when Zuco raises his hand.

Now, this is a testing situation and nothing like an ordinary day in my class. There is supposed to be as little distraction from the test as possible. Students are not permitted to get out of their seats without permission. Not for any reason.

So, when Zuco raised his hand I got up, grabbed my tissue box, walked over to his seat, squatted down to his level and waited for the question.

What I usually hear is not an interrogative statement, but rather a declarative statement phrased with a very subtle interrogative inflection, “I don’t get this.”

According to TAKS LAW 101, I’m only allowed to say the following, “I can only help you with questions about the directions, why don’t you read the question again and see if that helps.” 9.999 time out of 10 I usually see that spark of understanding in the child’s eyes once they have reread the question.

However, Zuco’s lack of eye contact and somewhat distant demeanor were, at first, a bit disconcerting. "Mr. A," he said never taking his eyes off his outstretched hand, "I know I’m supposed to be taking this math test and all, but I just can’t get my mind to stop thinking about it.”

“About what?” I said. Even as I heard my lips utter the words my heart jumped up into my throat as if to somehow grab the thoughtlessly misspoken phrase and pull it back into my mouth…but it was too late.

“It’s just that I can’t stop thinking about how much my hand and a robot hand have in common. I mean they’re almost the same thin…” and my hand shot up and cut him off in mid ramble.

Choking down a huge grin, I somehow managed to whisper, “Why don’t you and I discuss this after we’ve all finished taking the test?”

I’m not going to be a bit surprised if Zuco ends up inventing some kind of superhuman robot hand someday. The kind of robot hand that turns the world of prosthetics upside-down.

But knowing Zuco, it will probably happen while he’s doing open-heart surgery.