Light at the
End of the Tunnel
It
has been a long and arduous third quarter!
Even though it encompassed the traditional nine weeks, the snow days,
delays, and standardized testing days made the weeks seem much longer. The kids weathered the storms pretty well,
however, and I’m proud of their accomplishments.
Read 180
students welcomed three practicum students enrolled in UVA’s Curry School of
Education. These UVA students observed
the Read 180 program, learning about the individualized skill-building on the
computer as well as the guided instruction using Scholastic magazine
articles. In the week before Spring
Break, each Curry student taught one lesson to a small group of Walton
students. The kids performed well and
the Curry students received a good report from their supervisor.
In mid-March,
Read 180 students completed another round of Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI)
testing. Despite the interruptions from
snow days, students performed brilliantly: almost everyone showed growth and
four kids tested out of the reading intervention program! Some of the kids have made remarkable
progress, mastering four years of reading growth in less than three years.
These students have selected new exploratory classes and will be able to
explore new interests in this last quarter.
I’m sorry to lose people from my class, but I’m so proud of their
efforts and accomplishments. I can’t
help sending them to the office to show off their high scores to the principals
and bragging about their achievements to their teachers!
In my Honors
Language Arts class, students demonstrated tremendous progress on the Winter
MAP test. Students who had already
tested above grade level made stellar improvement; much of the class reads on
an eleventh or twelfth grade level! They
worked hard to prepare for the 8th grade Writing SOL, completing
four practice essays in four weeks. They
were able to get familiar with the prompts (posted ahead of time by the DOE)
and entered the testing zone with calm confidence. I know that I push the students hard and
demand a lot from them. Watching them
grow as writers and mature as problem-solvers makes me very proud!
As we enter
this fourth quarter, everyone’s thoughts turn to the end of the year (fingers
crossed that the snow is over!) and plans for the summer. Keeping kids on track and performing their
best as the weather finally turns warm will be a challenge. However, my students have proven that they
can maintain their focus despite distractions and continuously work to impress
me. I can’t wait to enjoy these next
nine weeks with my kids!
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