Happy hump day, y’all.
A little over a month isn’t as terrible. I thought it had been much longer since my last post. I’m not kiddin’ ya – each and every night I tell myself I’m going to write. And each and every night, I usually enjoy a good cuddle with Ace instead. But I promise you’re on my mind & I continue to tell myself to get on here more often.
I’m in the midst of state testing at school. Seriously, last week’s review and this week’s testing days are ALWAYS my most stressful weeks of the year. Every school year I give myself pep talks about not stressing out, that I’m a good teacher, and what will be, will be, but it’s really not that easy. I know I prepare my students as much as I possibly can, but there’s SO much out of my control, and obviously, as you know, I have a tough time dealing with that concept.
I teach a small group of 8th graders at the end of the day, [it’s an extra reading class that helps close the gap in reading and language skills with students who need catching up], and we were chatting yesterday about ways they can better their testing attitudes & successes. They were telling me about the things that get in the way of their focus: not sleeping well the night before, being too rushed to eat breakfast in the morning, and to try not to think about problems at home were among the top contenders.
It breaks my heart when I think about all the thoughts & worries that must run through their little heads on a daily basis. A line I’ve said all year, to all of my students, is:
You are not defined by a test score.
And, even though state testing results stress me out to the max, I truly mean that statement when I say it.
It’s funny to me, because my students never really realized how much I care about them. They never realize how much any of their teachers REALLY care about them, [especially 8th graders]. They will never know how much sleep I lose at night; worrying about how some of them will get a good meal for dinner, or different ways I can connect with a student who doesn’t feel like they belong at school, or how to figure out ways to teach a student who doesn’t speak English. The sleepless reasons list could go on.
Throughout my stress and worry, I’ve also realized I need to give myself a little bit more grace. I need to remind myself that I’m doing my best with these kids for the nine months I have them in my classroom. I need to remind myself that I am making a difference, whether it’s obvious each and every day or not; I am.
And, lastly, I need to remind myself, that regardless of my final percentage on these state tests, my students are showing growth, finding their passion, and working hard in my classroom.
So, hopefully tomorrow, when some testing scores start rolling in, I’ll keep these thoughts in mind.
Tomorrow’s quote on my board:
You o-fish-ally made it through testing week!
Any guesses on the snack I’m handing out??
[you got it – goldfish!]
🙂
