Tested to death

I teach at the junior high level. I am a mathematics teacher. I am becoming very annoyed at the number of tests that my students have to take this year. This is my first full year of teaching and the number of tests that the students have taken is ridiculous. I am fully aware that students needed to be given assessments, but the fact that they all have to be written is overwhelming. There is no latitude for creativity or time for any fun activities because the students are always gearing up for the next test (which all lead to the BIG one). The students were tested each chapter and then a cummulative review test is given at three different points during the year. More than once these tests have fallen back to back and the students were tested two weeks in a row. All of these tests are nothing compared to the BIG one the CST at the end of the year. By this time of year my students are so tested out that some of them have just given up and started making the pictures with their scantron sheets. It does not seem to matter to seventh graders the importance of each of these tests, especially the CST's. I am not saying we need to eliminate all of these, but the students (and teachers) need some leadway to bring the other "F" word FUN back into the classroom.