Cautiously optimistic...

Boy...it seems that my blogs come up later and later!  Sometimes, I think my kiddos have rubbed off on me! Let me equate my evening with that of most of my students...I log on to my computer (X-box), pull up Pinterest (Call of Duty), visit some blogs (X-box Live), and forget about time, space, food, conversation, etc.  I stay up until all hours, only to sleep later than normal.  Then, I wake up before I'm ready and have to do things I don't want to do!  If I, as an adult, feel the strain of that kind of life, imagine what a 9 or 10 year old feels like! YIKES!

Today was our weekly assessment day.  I can only say that I am totally ::squee:: happy with my student reading/writing grades this  week!  Their grades were sooooooo much better!  Almost all of them passed both tests!  And, to top it off, the reading test looked really hard for them.  The question they missed the most related to summarizing, and we re-cover that next week, so I'm keeping the ol' fingers crossed.  A little prayer and a little conversation don't hurt, either!  Honestly, I was scared to type the success up on this blog for fear of the happiness reaper!!  But I just had to share our two steps forward...

I actually think a couple of things helped them out.  First, I had a chance to conference with a few of them and reassure them.  Then, I had a frank discussion about what the test meant for them.  I told them that it is to prove that I am teaching them things that they need to know. I have so many that truly just give up if it takes too much work to answer a question.  I also told them that it's about confidence and believing that they deserve to pass because of how hard they have worked.  I also acted like a fool this week (characters) so maybe they became somewhat relaxed...who knows.  Next week's assessment will set the bar, for me.  But it was definitely encouraging.

I'm working on a characterization poster for Monday.  Our week not only includes summarizing, but plot and character traits as well.  There are so many good ideas on Pinterest, but I haven't found anything that has met my needs.  When I finish the poster, I will put it on my blog.

So, ending the week on a positive note is a good thing, all things considered.  I don't know that positive notes ended every one's week...but life goes on and we will, too.  It makes me think of a quote I found on another blog...

"H.O.P.E. is the little voice you hear whisper "maybe" when it seems the entire world is shouting "No!"--Kathy Jeffords

I found out that the acronym HOPE stands for Help One Person Everyday.  No one has ever said my kids can't do it, but a few have made implications with their comments.  With that in mind, I wonder...if I don't have HOPE for my own, will you?? 

It should be all about our future...the students...

::steps down from soap box::

Always,
Tammy

On a personal note:
My son came in from College Station today, so I'm excited just to see his face and have a conversation about non-school related things.  Really, he just comes here to sleep.  He has way too many friends to check up on in this town!  So his visit has "distracted" me, as well!