The day of reckoning

So today, we received our FCAT scores.

Overall, our school did well. We went up in almost everything, except for 4th grade writing and 8th grade math (and even the math was only down 2 points, or percent).

Fifth grade, as a whole, did pretty good, too. We were up only one point in reading, but we went up 13 points in math and 18 points in science. HELLZ YEAH!

Then, later in the day, we received our individual students' scores. This was EXTRA important for my class because I'm the most important teacher there, and the entire world revolves around me.

Just kidding.

This was extra important in my class because I teach the lowest 25%, so their improvement (or lack thereof) kind of counts in two different categories in our school score. My kids' reading scores were--eh. They were good, but we'll see if they were high enough to count as AYP, or annual yearly progress.

However, my math scores KICKED ASS. Not only did those kids (as a whole) move up, but they moved up a LOT.

It's just funny, because I've always labeled myself as a reading/writing person. That's my "area," the one I majored in, the one I excelled in while *I* was in school. That was (is) my strength.

And yet I did a "better" job at teaching them math.

It makes sense, when you think about it. I never struggled in reading, so it's hard for me to relate to kids who do. I, as a student, never had to stop and think about it. So now, it's hard for me to stop and EXPLAIN it. It was just always....there. But in math, it was harder for me. And therefore, I can explain it a few different ways. I know what's hard to understand, what's hard to grasp, because it was hard for ME, and I can accomodate for that.

Anyway....the raw data is in, but there's still a lot of calculations to do before we know for sure how we did as a school (ie, what our school grade is) and how I did as a teacher--and more specifically, how I did as a teacher to the bottom 25%.

But so far, so good.

PS--P. went up 380 points in math. On the FCAT, that's HUGE. He was really close to a 2. Now granted, this is on a scale of 1-5. But still, for someone at his level, to even have ALMOST scored at a 2, is huge. And to make that much progress?! I actually cried when I saw his score. Considering his IQ, that's amazing.

(And ironically, he went DOWN like 150 in reading. LOL. Seriously, I may have missed my calling on this one.)