Haven't seen my scores yet... By Risa

I tried my best, jeez I tried my best. No birthday ignored; no achievement brushed aside; every home problem sympathized and dealt with compassionately; every hunger pang relieved out of my pocket.OH MY GOSH! I could have

written your exact words... and I've been teaching MUCH longer than you have!! This year has been THE MOST CHALLENGING year I can recall. I had 33 students from Spanish speaking homes. 1/3 of them were on what we call, 'watch and consult' status. I worked HARD every single day trying to balance time I spent on misbehavior and inattentiveness with time devoted to academics... or lack thereof.

I had never before had so many conferences with parents of misbehaved or apathetic students. I was constantly on the search for yet another way to get through to my students. I gave those kids (and their parents) EVERYTHING I had. There were days I just wanted to walk out and leave it all behind. With that said, I have no idea what our scores will be, but I KNOW I gave it ALL... and whatever those scores say, I KNOW I did my part.
YOU DID YOUR PART, too! No need to beat yourself up over it! You are done with that group!

Once my scores come back, in a few weeks, I know I'll have to take a good look to see where they were weak, and reflect on how else I might approach it. Maybe this is your next step, too.

Go ahead and let yourself feel the disappointment, but once you've gone through that stage, dust yourself off and think about your next steps. It will be a new school year, with a new group of kids who will look to you with wide-eyed anticipation!

Here's a quote I had on a plaque that was given to me in my early years as a teacher. I've memorized from having read it to myself at the end of each school day.

"Finish each day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt, crept in;
forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely."
-Ralph Waldo Emmerson-

I just looked it up to make sure I wasn't too far off in my recollection.
http://www.appleseeds.org/finish-each-day.htm

It seems there's a bit more to it:
"Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

Sending you lots of ((comforting, reassuring hugs)) because, frankly, in a few weeks, *I* may be the one who wants to give up, after seeing my students' test scores:eek:!!

View the original thread this idea was posted on

^BACK

---

The ProTeacher Collection - All rights reserved
For individual use only. Do not copy, reproduce or transmit.
Copyright © 1998-2008 ProTeacher®

Visit our ProTeacher Community

---