Wet Noodle Posse

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Testing Results

I had to stay late for Open House tonight and as I was heading to the office to get my report cards, another teacher told me the principal had the results from the reading TAKS test. GULP! My heart was pounding when I got to his office. Out of 88 kids in third grade, 57 passed. Most were very close. I figured the ones of mine who hadn't passed would be close. He asked if I had something to write on, he gave me a paper, and told me to read down my list of kids and he'd tell me if they passed or failed. So I made two columns, pass and fail, and started flipping through my report cards just to be sure I didn't forget anyone. I called out the first few students, but they weren't on the list he was looking at, so he found the right list and we started over.

First student, pass. I cheered, because this one has ADHD so bad and I was really worried.
Second student, pass. I cheered again, because this one can do it but doesn't have much self confidence. His mom had made him a cute little note cheering him on the day of the test.

Third student failed, but that was expected.

Fourth student, passed.

And so on.

Last student...I had the pen hovering above the failed column. She had worked SO HARD, but the test was really long and she was really getting fed up.

She passed. On the nose. She could not have missed one more question. I was ELATED. I wanted to call her at home, but I want to see her face. She worked so hard.

Out of my 17 kids that tested, 3 didn't pass. They'll get another chance in April and we'll be working hard.

I ran out to tell the kids who were in the after school program. Then I found the reading teacher and we cheered and hugged. The mom who wrote the note came to Open House and we cheered and hugged.

So I'm really happy for those 14 kids. Even better, SIX of them got commended performance, which means they missed three or less.

I'm so proud of my kids I could bust.

11 Comments:

At 9:19 PM, Toni Anderson said...: Mary that is so sweet! You must be so proud!!!!
At 11:40 PM, Diane Gaston said...: Yay, Mary! Teacher extraordinaire! I'm betting your students wanted to please the teacher who cares so much about them
Diane
At 12:03 AM, Trish Milburn said...: I think Diane is right. Sounds like you and this class go well together. Congrats on the great test scores.
At 4:28 AM, Anne Mallory said...: Congratulations, Mary!!!
At 5:04 AM, MJFredrick said...: Thanks, Toni, Diane, Trish and Anne!

Diane, one of the other teachers said something similar, that my kids love me so much they'd do anything for me. The feeling is mutual.

You guys know that this was NOT the case last year.
At 9:31 AM, bridget said...: How wonderful, Mary! Good job, you, and good job, them!
At 5:17 PM, MJFredrick said...: Thanks, Bridget! I didn't get to tell Ashley - her brother's teacher spilled the beans - but I got a lovely note from her mother thanking me. AND, Commended Performance means they missed TWO or less. One student got 100!!!
At 5:21 PM, Jennie Lucas said...: Congrats, Mary! I love how much you care about your kids. You're such a great teacher!

Jenna
At 5:33 AM, MJFredrick said...: Thanks, Jenna!
At 10:43 AM, Karen said...: Congratulations, Mary, our Teacher of the Year!
At 5:36 PM, MJFredrick said...: Thanks, Karen!

Despite my great results, our school came in last place in the district, but had the most commended scores. Weird.