Pat on the back

I've always felt people don't bask in the glory of their own accomplishments enough. There is this sense in our culture that by doing so we are "bragging." Sure, I think in general we are too vain, but I still think it is healthy to celebrate our achievements with others.

So here goes . . .

My students scored an average of 4.4 points higher than expected on their Reading assessments last year. YEAH!

I'm definitely not a teacher who puts much stalk in standardized tests (are there any who do?), but in the district I teach in . . . you are constantly threatened and harassed by terms like "low performing" or "ineffective growth" and it's just nice to KNOW (as opposed to assume) that my students really aren't being cheated out of a good education because of all my flaws.

Naturally, I credit the awesome Social Studies teacher I work with and the eager students I had last year, but I feel like these results will help me ignore all the negative nagging that goes on in my career community. I won't get too comfortable with my outcome, but I'll go on assuming my students are becoming better readers because of the rigor of my class and the quality of my lessons.