anyhow, one of the recommendations that surfaced while teaching that class was the idea of sharing "inspirations" on fridays- little accomplishments, victories, proud moments, etc., that each student had experienced during the week. though i don't recall exactly, i think it took, oh, about a week for our little "teacher circle" to implement our own version of "inspirational fridays." while we don't generally share our impressive leap from D- to D+ in math class, or the fact that we managed to dress out a full five days in a row for p.e., it has become something i think we all look forward to. in fact, over the course of the last two years, while we have all been in various states (literally) of being- vermont, arizona, pregnant, etc., we have still kept up the tradition.
to that end, i'd like to share my inspiration for the week:
as most of you know, we spent 2008-2009 living in arizona, which meant that i also taught for one school year there. it was a big change for me- going from a school of thousands to a school of just over 400. to put it in perspective, i was the 9th grade English teacher. no really, THE 9th grade English teacher. i saw each and every 9th grader each and every day. pure joy. :) this also meant that when state testing rolled around (yes....it happens everywhere), i would be solely to blame should my students fail miserably. no pressure. at the close of the school year, i knew there was a possibility we would be moving, and i never really thought about the results of the state tests again.
until last saturday. aaron and i were out and about with the little one, and when we returned home i jogged over to check our mail. lo and behold, there was an envelope from the 10th grade English teacher at the school in arizona. inside were two cards, both filled with personal greetings from my former 9th graders, congratulating me on the baby, and saying thank you....apparently when the test scores came back this year, the 9th grade reading and writing scores had increased by almost 10%.
i'd say this has been a month of plain ol' good news. :)
to that end, i'd like to share my inspiration for the week:
as most of you know, we spent 2008-2009 living in arizona, which meant that i also taught for one school year there. it was a big change for me- going from a school of thousands to a school of just over 400. to put it in perspective, i was the 9th grade English teacher. no really, THE 9th grade English teacher. i saw each and every 9th grader each and every day. pure joy. :) this also meant that when state testing rolled around (yes....it happens everywhere), i would be solely to blame should my students fail miserably. no pressure. at the close of the school year, i knew there was a possibility we would be moving, and i never really thought about the results of the state tests again.
until last saturday. aaron and i were out and about with the little one, and when we returned home i jogged over to check our mail. lo and behold, there was an envelope from the 10th grade English teacher at the school in arizona. inside were two cards, both filled with personal greetings from my former 9th graders, congratulating me on the baby, and saying thank you....apparently when the test scores came back this year, the 9th grade reading and writing scores had increased by almost 10%.
i'd say this has been a month of plain ol' good news. :)
Holy crap!! Way to go!! Not that I'm surprised, but that's phenomenal! :) And just for that, here's a little RREEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAD180! for ya!
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