There are five days left of school and I am filled with mixed emotions, but most of all, I'm filled with absolute exhaustion. For the kids, the end of the year is mostly relaxing. More time for P.E., more movies, and more art. The teachers, however, have mounds of paperwork and cleaning up to do. On top of that I am feeling slightly disappointed with the work that many of my students are producing at this time of year.
I gave the students the end of the year language arts test, which tests them on reading comprehension, spelling, matching words with what is
happening in various pictures, writing, and reading fluency (how many words they can read per minute). They have these types of test every six weeks and they get progressively more difficult. It's crazy what our state expects students to be able to do.
A first grader at the end of the year should read 60 words per minute, be able to write a paragraph, and fully understand what they read. This may be possible for some students, but most are not ready to perform at this level. Out of 24 students, only 6 passed the writing portion and probably only 9 or 10 are reading at the suggested level of 60 wpm.
What I have learned at this time of year is to really cherish the accomplishments that my students have made and not compare them to what the state expects them to do. For example, when I walked into this classroom 62 school days ago, many students had shut down and very few could read. Now, I have students who participate in class, who can read better, and who have a new sense of confidence.
I just have to share a funny event that happened yesterday. It's been a while since I've shared a quote of the day or written about a specific student, but yesterday's event stands out to me. There is one student in particular who is a constant interruption to our class. By this time of year, I have little patience for her behavior, as does the rest of the class. As usual, she was talking while I was talking and I had already told her to be quiet. The students were at their desks and I was conducting the lesson at the front of the class. "B" kept talking and I just ignored her and tried to keep the lesson going, but the other students sensed my frustration and so "E" blurts out, "Shut up, "B"!" I kept a straight face, while other students laughed or were shocked. Normally I would shut down that kind of talk, but that student had every right to express his frustration and he doesn't normally misbehave, do the one slip was okay.
Today we were celebrating someone's birthday and his mom had brought cupcakes. The kids always get excited, but "B" was especially excited because food was involved. In case you haven't read earlier posts, this student has stolen food from me and other students and has been known to go back for seconds and thirds during lunch. She definitely has a problem. So, as the cupcakes were being passed out, she apparently stuffed one in her face and then proceeded to grab another one. I was unaware of this, but another student let me know and I took the second cupcake away from her. She seemed shocked that she couldn't have two and didn't seem to comprehend that by her taking another one it wasn't fair to the rest of the class. Luckily she still had a bag of chips and a juice that she could talk about and eat. And after school she had ran and told a student in a different class about the food, so the two of them were trying to sneak in my classroom to get it. I just get so mad and frustrated at the same time. And now I'm just worried about our class party next week. We'll have to keep our eye on her instead of relaxing and enjoying a nice lunch together.
But I'm concentrating on the positive and I'm so happy that I had the opportunity to bring some sunshine into these kids' lives after a traumatic few months with their previous teacher.Tunnel Picture from: realty4Atlanta.com
Shut Up Picture from: evonseah.blogspot.com
Sunshine picture from: imcrb.org
Shut Up Picture from: evonseah.blogspot.com
