Tremendous Accomplishments!
I know that at Page 132, we're mostly about politics, religion, society, and poking fun at strange pictures from time to time. But, I just had to share this with you guys, because I'm pretty proud of my students. In my district, we're required to give a computer based assessment calledNWEA. If we have to "weigh our cows" to show how good of a rancher we are, then I'm all for this assessment - I'd probably be in favor of it even if we didn't have to report to the government. It's more cost effective than what we do now, it's easier on our time, we get our results back within 24 hours, it's a "smart" test that adjusts to diagnose the students' needs/abilities, and many other reasons.
Anyway, if you haven't heard, this year I volunteered to teach second grade to third graders who should be in fourth grade at a school with over 95% free and reduced lunches, a high rate of student migration, English Language Learners, and a slew of social ills. My students did great! All but one kid improved on their reading score. The average increase of a third grader's score over the course of the year is 9 points and my class average was over 7 points growth. Four of my 16 students had 9 or more points growth. One kid scored 23 points higher on his reading test this time compared to his fall score! They worked so stinkin' hard and took the whole thing seriously. I think they're finally believing that they're not stupid and that they can do the work I'm asking them to do! I could go on and on, but I'll stop there.
"I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside. Give them a sense of pride... We are the world! We are the children!"
posted by MoLak Jedi @ 2:46 AM
