Reflections on Teaching Boot-Camp

Hey there. It's been a long time since I've taken the time to blog.  The last six weeks have been incredibly busy and especially the three weeks since I last blogged, I haven't felt as though blogging was the most worthwhile use of my time. But, now it's over... and this is the first Monday in 6 weeks that I haven't had to be up at 5:15 am.

I know I should have a lot to say at this point. There certainly is a lot to reflect on, but I can't organize my thoughts just yet so I am just going to let them come as they may.

Institute is not has hard as people led me to believe. All I heard was "Institute is SO hard," "Be sure to take care of yourself," "You definitely won't get any sleep," "Printing is a nightmare!" Sure, all of that is true... but really, institute is so much more than that. First and foremost, institute was the most confirming and affirming four weeks of my life.  If I had any doubt that the achievement gap was real before I met my kids, that doubt was annihilated after I saw the results of their diagnostic math and reading tests. If I had any doubts that these children can succeed if only given the materials, time, and dedication they need, those doubts were too exonerated.  Any doubts I had about my own ability to dedicate all that I do and all that I am to my kids, obliterated.

Institute was a wonderful experience and though it was really hard, and I really struggled to teach some concepts or maintain control of my classroom on some days, I learned... but by golly... the most amazing thing is that they learned. MY 14 SECOND GRADERS LEARNED! How much did they learn you ask?  Well, let me tell you! :)

READING:

• As a class we met 114% of our reading goals. [Reading goals were determined the students diagnostic reading scores and each student was to gain 4 or 6 points (lower leveled readers had to grow more points because each point at that level is easier to earn)]
• 9 of 14 students met their goal and 13 of 14 increased their scores (but 4 did not meet their goal)
• Of the 4 who did not meet their goals, 2 met 85% of their goals and 2 met 50% of their goals
• 2 students met 100% of their goals; 6 students met between 133% and 160% of their goals; and 1 student met 300% of her reading goal!!

MATH:

• As a class we met 83% of our math goals. [Math goals were determined by the students diagnostic math scores and each student was to gain approx. 30% mastery by the end of summer school. i.e. if a student scored a 37% they were expected to master an additional 30%, thereby scoring a 67% on the end of summer assessment]
• Let me give you an idea of where we started. On the math diagnostic given the first week of school, our class average was a 37%.  The lowest score was a 17% and the highest was a 60%. 
• On the assessment given the last day of school, our class average was a 64%. The lowest score was an 18% and two students got 100%. 
• 13 of 14 students made significant gains in their scores, ranging from 42% of growth goals met to 144% of goals met. 

Now, let me point out the most glaring and obvious failure. In both reading and math we had student who not only did not meet their goals but actually went backward. Ouch. Well, I can assure you that we did not teach any students the wrong material and none of them became less intelligent as the summer progressed... but, well, we failed some of them in a big way. I am thinking of three students in particular. Each of them guessed randomly on the diagnostic, and though we tried SO hard to make them believe in themselves and in school, each of them guessed randomly on the final assessment as well. That hurts me to the core. 

I knew I wouldn't be able to make them 'catch' up with their peers in just four weeks...but I knew that I had to use those four weeks to make sure they knew that they were smart, strong, powerful little 7 year-olds with promising futures. I needed them to leave my classroom with the most concrete belief that school was important and that their success in life required that they finish not only 2nd grade but 3rd, 9th, 12th, and college. I needed them to know that. I needed them to feel good about who they are, what they can do, and their own ability to overcome challenge. 

But, I know that I didn't get that message across to all the students in the class. 2 of them seemed to blow off the assessment altogether, and 1 of them, well she struggles because of learning disabilities and unfortunately she didn't exert the effort necessary to work through the problems on the assessment the way I know she can when she feels good about herself and puts her full attention into it. 

 

That, is the hardest part of teaching, watching a student complete 30 question assessment in a brief 20 minutes because not only is he not reading the questions, but he's not even looking for key words (in all, how many more, etc) or instruction words (draw, equation, solve).  He just doesn't care.  I look at him and think to myself "Why?! How can this 7 year old care so little about his schooling that he doesn't even give himself a shot??" I know he knows more than 26% of the material we tested... but his test sure doesn't show that. 

... ... ...

So, all that said, here are the things I learned during my first 4 weeks of teaching that I need to remember as I enter my 4th grade classroom this fall!

1. Never underestimate a child's ability to follow directions, hold still, or complete an assignment.

2. The smog can get to you too, check yourself everyday.

3. The BMC works, but only if you have all three parts.

4. It's better to spend an extra minute or two making sure everyone is learning, then letting distractions disrupt hours of learning time through out the lesson.

5. Some days will be really hard. Go home. Relax for a minute... soon you'll feel motivated to make tomorrow better.

6. There is NO time to waste. 

7. Success is possible. Take a look: