As I sit and reflect, I thought about the school year.
I didn’t know what to expect. I was working at a new school(Krahn), in a new district(Klein) and on a new grade-level(4th). Not to mention adjusting to a different population of students.
I worried that I couldn’t impact kids the way I did in Spring. Once the year began, though, I realized that I could influence them to same way I did at Thompson. They loved my themes of the week, motivational videos and table acrobatics.
Early in the school year, one of my students even gave me the nickname “Motivational Maestro” because I motivated and played jazz music during lessons.
While my kids were enjoying the learning process, they weren’t growing at the rate I’d like. So, I had to be less “Ron Clark” and more “Joe Clark.”
As a result of the changed approach, my kids started to really turn it on and grow. They grew so much that 82.5 percent of them met their EOY(End of Year) Growth projections at the mid-year point.
Over the next month and half, I prepared the kids for the Reading and Writing S.T.A.A.R. Simulations. The test prep wasn’t effective enough–as a few kids didn’t perform to expectation. But I planned all Spring Break to get the kids to 100 percent.
When I returned from Spring Break, I was thrown a curveball. I got a new set of kids and went Self-Contained(Teaching all subjects), instead of teaching Reading, Writing and Social Studies. To say that I devastated would be an understatement. I poured into these kids and don’t get to finish the year with them.
I didn’t feel like coming to work, but I knew I had to give my new kids my best. They needed it, too. Only two of them passed the Reading SIM. So, I had my work cut out for me.
For the next two months, I jumped on tables, pushed them and taught my tail off. All the while having to see my old students every day. It’ll forever be stuck in my brain that a parent told me that his daughter tells him every day how much she misses my class.
I was sad and fulfilled at the same time.
Thankfully, I impacted my new scholars, too. To start the final week, one of my students gave me a hug and said that she can’t believe that she only has a “few more days with me.” (In my feels)
The next day, I gave my former students a piece of the room. A few of them got the word Phenomenal for embodying the classroom expectation.
On the last day, I sprinted to and from recess with my kids for the final time and said my final goodbyes. One student touched me by saying, “Thanks for teaching us.”
Before the kids left for the summer, I had to know if they understood the expectation. So, I shouted: “We’re what…”
Kids(In Unison): “Phenomenal!!!” (I did t three times.)
Following that, I thanked them for an excellent school year.
Reflecting, I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted to in year three of my career. I didn’t grow enough professionally, and my kids didn’t consistently perform the way I would have liked. But I was able to duplicate success.
I had a Phenomenal relationship with parents at Thompson. I had a Phenomenal relationship with parents at Krahn.
I had a Phenomenal relationship with my kids at Thompson. I had a Phenomenal relationship with my kids at Krahn.
50 percent of my kids met their EOY projections mid-year at Thompson. 82.5 percent met their projections at Krahn.
91 percent of my kids were reading at grade-level at Thompson. 88 percent read at grade-level at Krahn. (The kids who weren’t reading at grade-level met their EOY growth projections.)
And like my kids at Thompson, they weren’t just Phenomenal, but “They were inspired.”
I leave you with two things.
1. Are you inspiring those who you are around?
2. If you’re not, how could you start doing so?
Application: Write down the all the people who are in your sphere of influence and how you can encourage them in a positive way.
Jeremiah Short, Influencer/Teacher
The Phenomenal Student 