This week in school the freshmen are taking the NWEAs (Northwest Evaluation Association).  NWEAs consist of three different computerized tests: mathematics, reading, and language usage.  Everybody takes the same test, but what's interesting about the NWEAs is the test adjusts to you so you may get completely different problems then the person sitting next to you.  If you answer a question correctly, the computer will give you a more challenging question next.  If you answer a question incorrectly, then you will get an easier problem next.

I don’t get anxious over big tests, so the NWEAs have never really bothered me.  I enjoy seeing how much I’ve improved from year to year, and I like finding out what percentile I’m in for my school, state, and region.  Nevertheless, these tests are long and boring, so I’m happy that this will be the last year that I have to take them!

This week in geometry we have started learning about all the different quadrilaterals.  There are parallelograms, rectangles, squares, rhombi, kites, trapezoids, and isosceles trapezoids.  Classifying figures can be very difficult because many figures fit the definitions of several quadrilaterals.  For example, if the figure is a square, then it is also a rectangle and a parallelogram.  It can get very confusing!