Sorry to ruin the suspense with the title, but I couldn’t help but letting you know right away…
All of my 6th grade students will be in seventh grade next year! On the surface, this doesn’t seem like that big of an accomplishment… as seventh is the logical grade to come after sixth grade. Well for my students this hasn’t always been the case. To be 15 and in 6th grade, means that there have been times when the next grade does not simply follow the one you just finished.
In Texas there are promotion tests that students need to pass in order to move on to the next grade (I am not 100% sure how they work, but I do know that sixth grade is one of the major testing years for students). Although there are circumstances where students are able to move on without passing all of the subjects of their promotion tests, most of the time these tests help to determine the students readiness for the next grade.
In my classroom, none of my students passed their test the first time they took it during the regular school year. This time, they were all able to pass!
I am not going to say that there is some direct correlation between my students passing and my teaching… but somehow, all of my students were able to pass. It could have just been someone believing in them and telling them that he knows they are going to do well that was enough to help them get the score they needed. It could have been the 10 minute lecture about going to bed the night before the test and getting to school in time to eat breakfast so they can do their best. I am not really sure, but whatever it was it worked.
LETTING THE STUDENTS KNOW
I found out my test scores at the beginning of the day on our last day of school, but I wasn’t able to tell my students because they were to get their folders with all of their scores in it in their last period class. It was hard not to tell them, as they all seemed slightly on edge, worried about whether or not they were going to pass. They asked me a couple times and I had to lie and say that I didn’t know…
At the end of the day two students ran up to me before leaving for the summer… “meester… meester… meester,” they said. “We did it! We passed the test!” I couldn’t believe how excited these two students were about something school related. All summer they were two of my hardest students to get engaged or even to get them to keep their head up off their desk. Their excitement turned quickly to a little bit of anger, “You knew the whole time didn’t you!” I just smiled. “Man, why you gotta play games like that… I have been scared the whole day,” they answered back. I looked up and congratulated both of my students and wished them a good summer. They caught me off guard when they looked back and offered a simple “thank you.”
I am not entirely able to do justice to that moment in writing, but it is those moments that make all of the hard work worth it!
