Day nearing the end of the year

There was the end of the year celebration this past Saturday. It was at Hopson Farms and it resulted in an email being sent out by a member that did not like the setting. Other than the late breaking offense it was a good night. It made me think about a couple of things.

First one is how people are moving on. Some people are moving on because of further education. Others are moving on because they want to teach in other areas. There seem to be two schools of thought on that sort of move. All people seem to want to go to better schools (better organized/performing charter schools). That's all well and good that you want to go to a good school, but it seems almost like the antithesis of the mission of the program. To help education inequity why would you go to a school that has a proven track record. Yes, they may serve underserved students, but it does not seem like one person can make much of a change, especially if it is going well. I did find someone that has similar feelings to me regarding the topic. She is going to a charter school because she wants to learn how they are run/what makes them good, and then try to replicate it in a Chicago Public School. Who knows. There may be more with similar noble intentions, but only one person expressed those to me. I was proud of her.

The other thought that came to mind was about Big Goals. That is a concept that is big in TFA. You need to have Big Goals to know where you are going. You've got to track your students' growth in meeting those goals. After events of the past week I started to reflect on goals of a different nature. Normally they are academic goals measured by some objective metric. Things like percentages and points and things like that. I was just thinking of goals that were appropriate for my kids. Sadly I never really expressed the goals to them, but honestly, I was not always aware of them myself. I am immensely proud of all of my students, but some come to mind. Two of the biggst problems have really grown and impressed me.

First one is Xander. Coming to me not really working or talking, and he's started to do both. Granted they are not where they should be, but he has grown greatly. Last week my kids were doing DIBELS testing (basic literacy skills) and there was one goal that I set for him. That he would score points on the Word Use Fluency test. They are given a word and directed to put it into a sentence. In practicing with him I would give him a word and he would respond with the frame, "I like to play with my _______." It did not matter what it was, could be "chair," "because," or "air." His frame did change for a couple of words so he did notice the beginnings of tense and voice. I ended up laughing with/at him because for the first time he got it, and was not struggling. The second "verge of tears" moment this year. I could hardly express how proud of him I was. And today in the afternoon he was trying to do double digit addition. He has just grown so much. All there is is anecdotal records of this astounding growth. I don't know a way to put developmental milestones into numbers to track.

The other one is Mr. Dil. He was the one that, at one point, insisted that I wanted to kill him with knives and that I've killed other people. Generally not being a violent person I was really taken aback by his comments. He made teaching difficult for me in my classroom for a good couple of months. Now, whatever bug got in him, isn't there any more. He funtions well in the class. Occasionally he still gets in a snit about something, and mumbles what's wrong. But it is so much more benign now. He'll still get upset and start crying at times, but there have been no negative comments about me since Spring Break.

For whatever failings there have been this year I will live with those victories. Are they momentous? Depends on your lens and perspective. Without knowledge of the students, how can you judge what was significant for them? They may not be the sought after "Significant Gains." But in terms of development as capable people, I know of nothing more significant than the ability to talk, be motivated to work, and develop anger management skills. Everyone in room 610 at J. F. Wahl Elementary School in Helena, Arkansas has made "Significant Gains" as capable human beings.