I think they are starting to care!

After several months of struggling with my second graders, I am finally beginning to see progress…albeit small, I can still call it progress. My heart is starting to get that warm tingly feeling again. It is that same tingly feeling I felt when Jose understood how to compare fractions, or the first time Ana spoke English last year. I really miss my 4th graders from last year, and I miss the grade level all together. But now that I have my class in order and a better handle on where I would like to see them…I have hope. And a warm tingly feeling in my heart. :0)

My Top Three Warmest and Fuzziest Moments

• The tiniest and cutest girl in the entire world only knew six of her High Frequency Words when I tested her on October 30. I tested her again last week, and she knows 40!!! After speaking with her mother at Parent Teacher Conference, my little girl and her family have become more invested in her education. I was so proud of her so I gave her a Tinkerbell pencil on Friday. She was beaming.
• One of my little boys who drives me nuts because he cannot seem to get his homework done, learned how to add and subtract with regrouping. I don’t know if you remember learning this when you were a kid, but man, this concept presents itself as a major feat for many of my kids. Today I had the opportunity to work with him during tutorials and I saw the light bulb come on! He took off and completed two pages of word problems and got every single one of them right!
• Finally, in my more difficult class, I can see that the kids are finally starting to care. They WANT to do well and they WANT to learn. On Friday, I had several who did not pass their assessment, and then the most misbehaved child broke down and cried. While this was not a moment where my heart felt all warm and fuzzy, it was still a small indication that he is starting to care. I came over and had to kinda hold him for a minute and told him we were going to try harder next week. Poor thing.