Final day of Institute... As I sit here at Davis High School commons area finishing up the final grades and submitting them to the administration, so many thoughts flow through my head. The powerful anecdotes come one after the other since yesterday. At the closing ceremony, all individuals were blown away by the amazing stories that were left in the short 4 weeks we've had with our students. The final dedication to our corps of 2007, a poem written by a corps member from Memphis, was the most memorable event of the night. Perhaps I'll post it one day. All the pieces of writing truly reminded us of what our mission was and how what we did is so profound that we will remember this experience forever. I was inspired.
Today at our last Diversity, Culture and Achievement session, we watched a video clip of 60 Minutes on Marva Collins, an amazing educator who was remembered by her students as the teacher who constantly reminded them that "You can and you will!" By the end of the session, 90% of the room was in tears.
All through out the day, we've been cleaning out our classroom. It does not feel much like the last day of school. Going through the final exam results, I felt elated at the growth my students had made in the past 4 weeks. The average class score on the diagnostic exam on the first day of school 4 weeks ago was a 46. The program calculated an expected average result of 80. On the final exam, my students scored an average of 82. That means they mastered 82% of the objectives. I was so happy for them as I entered the scores one by one. My students made the big goal that I set out for them. In fact, I think they could've been pushed harder, but I'm still so happy for them. Truth of it is, I think they all have these information somewhere in them, with a little patience, time, and logic, they'll eventually figure some things out on their own.
We took a picture together and I kept looking at it - my first students! My first real class of students... :)
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