Week 9 Reflection

Well the eight weeks is finally coming to an end here at Clay-Battelle. Never in a million years did I expect to see so many different things from a school out in the country. I really have enjoyed my time and will truly miss it.
Today was a great victory for me...a victory that really solidifies my desire to become a teacher. All of my paperwork is done, my grade is in for the eight weeks I spent at Clay-Battelle so I have had nothing to prove this week. Getting the grade was great to see and knowing that I did everything expected of me was also a great thing. However, that pails in comparison to the joy I experienced today.
Today I gave my second test to the 8th graders. This exam was on the European settlers coming over to America. The previous test I gave the students collectively bombed it. There were some A's, some B's, a good number of C's, and the majority of the grades were D's and F's. That was a big downer and was a reminder to me that I do not have the teaching "thing" down. I felt responsible in some ways for the poor grades and was also disappointed with the students lack of effort throughout the chapter.
So yes, my first test that I administered to the first chapter I taught was a complete collapse. They bombed it. However, this test they didn't!!! I still had some low scores but the group did so much better this time around. For example, my 8th period (honors class) did pretty well last time; some A's, lots of B's, some C's and a couple of D's. Today though, there were NO F's, NO D's, AND NO C's! The majority of the tests were A's and a few had B's. Another class had similar improvements, granted there were no where near the number of A's but a big improvement in pulling up grades from the last tests (students who got D's last time got C's or B's).
Now back to this solidifying me as a teacher...like I said, everything is turned in, the grades for me are done and I'm proud of them but it doesn't even come close to how excited and proud I am of my students for a valliant effort that they showed today with the test!