Finals and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

As we traverse through our academic careers, we are met with the challenges of weekly quizzes, coordination and completion of group projects, the research and writing of term papers, and the daunting task of taking final exams. For our sixth graders, the concept of finals is a new one, but they recently completed their second round of these tests and closed another trimester with scholastic and personal growth. While finals may strike fear in the hearts of some, they are a reality as we move through middle school, high school, and college. Our sixth grade exams are a kinder, gentler introduction to the world of finals... and tigers, and bears, oh my!

It’s no easy task, recalling, revisiting, and re-digesting a trimester worth of curricular content in five disparate subject areas. Students are asked to master concepts and process information in Mathematics, Ancient History, Earth Science, Grammar, and Reading/Vocabulary. They prepare themselves for five straight days of tests with a plethora of note cards, outlines, review questions, and textbooks that get scoured for the umpteenth time. They meet in study groups, seek out instructors during recess, quiz one another, and conduct further research. As the students bone up on subject matter, they are actually learning about themselves at the same time. The study and exam process is truly an invitation to metacognition, an understanding of one’s own thought processes. This opportunity to understand self is just as valuable as the acquisition of academic knowledge.

In the end, the students’ experience with finals is not solely about processing content or earning top grades. The outcome or end product of the final exam experience is one of self-discovery and awareness, learning that we live in a world of interconnectivity. The information that we acquire through schooling and daily life is tapped into repeatedly. What we learn in History class applies to stories that are shared in Reading. What we discuss in Science may reveal itself again in Mathematics. What we learn in September is still important in March. Knowledge is not left at the classroom door when we clock out at 3:15 p.m. each Friday. When a quiz is passed, the information does not pass from our lives. Our little nuggets of knowledge collect in a treasure trove of understanding. The human mind is a powerful thing, and it retains information and makes new connections in the blink of an eye. For our students, information is absorbed like a sponge. The synapses of memory and experiences fire at remarkable rates as they gain knowledge and watch their calendar days fall away.

As our students continue to progress through their academic careers, they will encounter more tigers and bears… and finals. But, oh my, they will be ready for all of them.