Please share one student success story that you have had this year. Do not say the student's name but describe how you were able to reach the student and help him/her be successful. Remember, success is not always measured by academic performance! Thanks for sharing!!!!
When I started upstairs working with 3rd grade, there was a young man who had been struggling all year. I started with him in one of my tutoring groups, and one day we were working on comparing and ordering numbers, which up to that point, he had not been successful with. We all worked together, and then I sent the other students back to class and kept him to work with.
ReplyDeleteI gave him a variation on the strategy that he had learned to help him organize his information in a more concrete way. As he begin to use the steps, something clicked. He knew which place value to start with. He knew where to place the greatest number. He knew where to place the numbers in between. When I told him he had gotten it correct, he looked at me like someone had just given him a present. He asked to keep doing more until after about 4 more questions I had to stop him to go get my next group.
I can't say his progress was purely upward after that, but he was a part of one of the classes I was working with to get ready for TAKS and I began seeing progress in other areas and he wanted to demonstrate what he had learned to the other students. I am incredibly proud of how hard he was worked, how far he has come, and it's because of kids like him that this profession is worthwhile.
I have a student I taught in 3rd grade who is now in 4th grade. Last year, she struggled with Math and barely passed the TAKS test. This year she's on a whole new level! She's an A student, confident, and loves Math. I enrolled her in my after school tutoring and Saturday school both years and it paid off. This year she didn't really need tutoring, but WANTED tutoring. Her parents are very supportive and love the change in her. They say she's constantly doing Math at home and even challenges them. I'm very proud of her and glad I could change her attitude about Math that will hopefully follow her throughout her life! You go Girl!!
ReplyDeleteI feel that I have made a positive impact on many students this year; but one third grade student inparticular. After I was moved to third to assist with TAKS, I started working with this student who had a major chip on his shoulder. This particular student is very capable of being successful. I was able to get him to take his work seriously and be accountable and held responsible for his actions. I think I was one of this students biggest "academic cheerleaders".
ReplyDeleteOne of the students that made the biggest impact on me by allowing me to work with her was a fourth grade girl with many obstacles in her life. I watched her with the support and care and love of many people in our building begin to believe in herself. My prayer is that she will continue to encounter people who remind her how beautiful and smart she is so she can continue to overcome obstacles that are completely out of her control and go on to a successful future as an adult. It is a blessing to be here and work with children like her.
ReplyDeleteOne of my most improved students has made incredible progress this year. He has developed his personal strategies that help him in inclusion. The general education teacher has been successful in helping him to meet his needs in the following domains: social interaction, communication, behavior and emotional functioning, self determination and independence, cognition, and academics. With these supports and strategies in place, for the first time, the student is able to function in the general education classroom full time.
ReplyDeleteSuccess can be measured in so many different ways. I believe that self-awareness and/or self-monitoring is an attribute of success for children when they are able to begin this reflective process. There is a student that I have talked to several times a week for several years. The conversations with this particular child always seem to be the same; they consisted of me trying to get him to explain what it was that he did and get him to accept responsibility for his actions. Over the years, I have felt to some degree that I might as well be talking to a brick wall because my words seem to have no impact on him. However, the start of the second semester has brought about change with this child. He has come to me on several occasions and without my prompting admitted fault and was able to verbalize how he could have acted differently. He still gets in trouble on a fairly regular basis; however, I believe that he is becoming more self-reflective about his actions and is able to communicate these things to me. I feel a great degree of success in the progress that this student has made and I hope that this first step will be just the beginning of even better things for him. So, my success lies in the fact that my words obviously did not fall on deaf ears.
ReplyDeleteWorking with several students and grade levels I have had the opportunity to see many success syories. But, one in particular has given me a fuzzy feeling inside that makes me smile all over again thinking about it. This particular student has struggled with EVERY subject over the course of the school year, but she did made a major turn around after she noticed that as teachersand or educators we were behind her 100%!. She made every effort to come to Saturday and was very willing to learn. It all paid off when she was able to say that she passed the Reading and Math TAKS test! I was very pleased and excited for her because she was one of those students who failed drastically last year at another district. When getting those results back she felt like she was part of the class that contributed to the success of the 5th grade classes for passing her test.
ReplyDeleteMy greatest success happened when one of my most difficult behavior students started to listen to my suggestions to stop and think about what he was doing before acting out. This student started to think and ask questions before doing anything and he has not had a serious outburst since December 2010.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to narrow it down to just one success story this school year because I can tell that my team and I have impacted several students in a positive way. We've had several new students transfer here to our campus and they have stated to us, that we have been the first group of teachers who really had high expectations for them and also made sure that they accomplished them. They expressed to us that teachers they have had in the past didn't push them to be the best or give their best so they didn't. I have seen those young men become better students this school year and make great gains academically. This reminds me of why I chose the teaching profession................to make a positive impact on a child!
ReplyDeleteI have had real successes lately with 5th grade in general. I tried something new; not knowing how it would work and I have seen great strides in 5th grades behavior and the amount of work they are putting in. When we were asked to do the next grade levels work. I thought about how students do computer work in the 6th grade; and most of it is project based. Therefore that is exactly what I did. I gave the students 4 choices of projects and they had to go forward and work on them with me only available to facilitate not teach step by step. I have seen the students really try on these projects and I have had very few displine problems.
ReplyDeleteThis year I would say that my biggest success story was a girl who was coming to school for the first time. She did not know how to hold a pencil much less write her name or name her letters. She has grown so much this year that I cannot believe that I used to worry about how I was going to move her up. She went from being extremely shy and introverted, to becoming one of the top students with a lot of new knowledge to share. I am so proud of her and the hard work that she puts in everyday.
ReplyDeleteI have a student who can be very difficult and does not like to follow class or school rules and enjoys doing what he wants to do when he wants to do it.At the beginning of the school year my thought was "here we go again with another off task student!" But then I had to redirect my thinking about the student and tell myself I will try to be a difference in this child's life. I became involved in the students life by finding out his interes. On Monday mornings I would ask him about his football games from the weekend and ask about his family. His behavior changed, but not much but what changed was how I responded to his behaviors. He still does some of the same things, but I praise him when I see him trying and I encourage him by letting him know that tomorrow is a new day. He has impacted me also because I know that I can be a diffefence even in the life of the most difficult student. I must believe that I can be a difference and then I must show that each day!
ReplyDeleteThis is a hard one! How do you choose just one?The successes are what makes it all worthwhile. I have a student that I have worked with her on using good manners and expressing herself properly using her diamond rules and other conflict resolution phrases. She has on many occasions been able to resolve her issues with a classmate peacefully.
ReplyDeleteThis week in itself has really showed just how well my students have progressed. One particular student came to me as what we call a "bubble kid". She wasn't extremely low but some foundational skills that she should have had she lacked. Even with Tier 2 interventions and small group instructions, she still never seemed to be where I wanted her to be at that particular time of the year. However at the end of the year she is officially the BOMB.COM! As she read her stories for TPRI, all I could do was smile. She had confidence and she flew through the passages and answered every last one of her comprehension questions with ease! I can truly say that she has matured and is growing up and maturing and I see it everything she does! This is truly the reason why I do what I do!!
ReplyDeleteThis year has been a challenging year. Not only do I feel I have made a difference in some of my students life, but I feel as though they have made a difference in my life. I feel like I was a student with a success story of my own. I have learned to be patient and know that I can only give my very best. A success story of mine has been working with two young students. They did not know all their letters or sounds, but by redirecting and staying positive I see them working hard. I wanted to encourage students that they to can do well on assignments if they just try and give it their all. In the end it paid off because they are aiming towards doing their best very best and striving towards excellence.
ReplyDeleteI have a student who came to me in the beginning of the school year not knowing many letters and sounds. We practice a lot in small groups and by Christmas, she knew all of her letters and sounds. We moved on from that to blending sounds together to make words. Last week she was able to read the Texas Treasures unit 1 book to the class. She was very excited and proud that she could read. She still has a long way to go, but it is a huge success for her.
ReplyDeleteOne of my major successes has been a student that was uniquely challenging. He is GT and SpEd. As he entered my classroom, his cry (literally) was "I can't do that." He was assigned daily classroom jobs that gave him responsibilty and ownership. I continued to accentuate the positive and he embraced a "I can do it by myself" attitude. I commend him for a job "whale done."
ReplyDeleteI have a student that used to come to class with a frown on her face and an attitude to match. She didn't get along with anyone in her class and anything that came out of her mouth was negative. When she walked in the door it was really hard for me to stay positive, actually it was impossible. I finally took her aside one day and we had... "The Talk". This "talk" involved a little bit of everything from tough love to finding anything positive in life and learning to think positive.
ReplyDeleteNow, I can't help but smile when I see this student because every time I see her in the halls or in class, she has a smile on her face as well as the students that surround her. I can only hope that my little "talk" made a positive impact on at least one of our many future leaders.
I believe that their are many success that have occurred this year. Like every year, there are a few students that have seemed to have attached themselves to me. We talk about whats happening in their lives, what they would like to be when they get older and how they imagine themselves to be in the future. One of the responses that I received was "I want to be an Art teacher just like you." That one conversation taught me something, that I had become my own worst critic and that I should focus on being in the moment.
ReplyDeleteThis was a student that gave me some trouble in the beginning because she felt she did not know how to draw. Through hard work and her attempts to get the assignments done she learned that the opposite was true. She had learned the concept of getting the PROCESS. Her statement of wanting to become a teacher meant so much in that she faced a fear--not knowing how to do something-- and overcame it--became insistent on finishing her art assignments. :)She showed a lot a growth in just a simple statement.
I had a student that was struggling this year. She was known to struggle in the past as well. She had low self esteem about her abilities and often seemed to give up. I worked with her and helped her to build confidence in herself. She began to make high 70s then 80s in my class. She has really improved in not only my class, but in other classes as well. She is one of the reasons that I keep teaching. I love for students to have the aha moment and begin striving for perfection.
ReplyDeleteI have a few students that come to my mind, however, I'll speak about one. I have a student that was intimidated by math and had negative comments about math. She was struggling severely with counting coins, so I looked up a strategy on mathwire.com that helped her (and others) out a great deal. She began to ask me every day if she could count money. She has learned to enjoy math and looks forward to it everyday. I am excited that I could help her find some kind of like for math.
ReplyDeleteI have a student to name a few that was a little relutant to come to my class at the beginning of the year. She would kick and scream and say things. Mom told me the other day that she is always imitating me at home. This child likes coming to my class now. This child is writing letters, numbers and name and is very proud of it. I heard them tell one friend while working in centers Ms. O'Bannon called me "Sweetie". She had a smile from ear to ear.
ReplyDeleteA student success story that I have had this year is with a student that is new to our campus. I have a young man that really stands out in my classes. He is a SPED student and works really hard to make good grades. He is focused, excels, well behaved, and doesn’t let a label stop him. When he makes a bad grade he becomes very upset. He and I have worked on different strategies that have been successful with his academic growth and are evident in his work. Using the strategies has made him pass test etc in class. When he comes to school upset he will come and talk to me before coming inside the class. I am elated to know he finds confidence.
ReplyDeleteThe student success that I have experienced has been astonishing!! I’m very excited that all of the students who took a TAKS-M test in the 5th grade passed both subjects Math and Reading! I have this one particular student that transferred to our district, who started out very very low. I started motivating her and trying to get her too understand that she can accomplish anything she would like to, only if she put forth and effort! I watched her as she grew to start to care more about her grades and how it feels great it feels to make the grades that her mental capacity allows her to make. I’m very proud of all of them and especially her for her accomplishments and jumping over that hurdle that was placed in front of her.
ReplyDeleteThis year has been a challenging but very rewarding as an educator.I have one student who I am very proud of. This year Student A was placed in inclusion for 60% of her school day. In the beginning Student A was a major disruption to the educational environment.Many people were concerned about the student's behavior. Now the student is able to not only attend but participate with minimum distractions. I am so proud of this student.
ReplyDeleteI have had a hard time picking one, because I see so much success in so many of my students. I'll share the story of a group of 5th graders that I struggled very much with this year. In the beginning, some days were productive, but many were not due to discipline and lack of focus. I had a difficult time getting them motivated to learn and progress on their instruments. Many days they didn't show much drive to succeed. But I kept up (and communicated) my expectations for them to improve and enjoy playing more, and as we worked toward our common goal of performance at Sandy Lake, they started seeing the fruits of their hard work. They focused more, worked harder, practiced at home, and even expressed that they wish they had more class time. One student in particular who I was having the most problems with, showed the most improvement leading up to our performance. Then on our trip his behavior and focus were so encouraging to see! He is finally understanding what he has to do in order to succeed! Now the whole class works as a team and shows interest and investment in their talents.
ReplyDeleteA student transferring from a neighboring state, enrolled in September 2010, and was placed in my class. Not only was this child extremely low academically.... he was homeless. I later learned that he and his family had been without a home for quite some time. Realizing that the deck was stacked against this child, and although the situation seemed dire, I refused to accept defeat. After administering several diagnostics test, a "Rogers-made" IEP was constructed to help get this fellow on track. Almost immediately, his hand began to wave during class, in anticipation of reading and answering questions. He was taking small baby steps academically, which became larger and larger. Now, he is reading on first grade level. He is not "yet" a rocket scientist, but guess what......My child is on his way! That's not all. Two weeks ago, we celebrated his family becoming "unhomeless"!
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ReplyDeleteOMG!! If I had to select one success story I would have to tell the story of a young lady in which I have had the opportunity to teach for the past two years. When I first met the young lady she was shy, timid, low self esteem and lacked a lot of confidence on the academic and personal level.
ReplyDeleteThe student had been struggling throughout the year with math and I probably pulled every trick out the book to change this. I can recall one day after school during tutoring we were working on division and this was not her forte’. As I wrote the first problem on the board I could see her discouragement and after “intensive” modeling of DMSCB for several problems I advised her I was going to “take the training wheels” off and she would work a problem by herself. I could see the fear in her eyes as she struggled to complete the problem. As she worked through the problem I could see her level of thinking and assurance increase. She completed the problem and as soon as I told her she got the problem right and huge smile filled her face. She couldn’t believe it and then she said something I had never heard her say before…..”Can I do another one?”
From that day on the student not only found her niche in math but it changed her level of confidence. As I track her progress she has went from failing math in 3rd grade, making huge gains and passing in 4th graded, and hitting commended performance in 5th grade.
I’m so proud of her and I’m grateful to know that I have made an impact on her life. That’s what teaching is all about!!
I have a student who was not communicating in any way other than crying. She is now talking, using gestures and telling me all about what happens at home and at school. While it may be difficult to understand her a times, with patience on both our parts we can communicate.
ReplyDeleteI have a student who would miss school at least once every week. She missed a lot of school the first semester and was not performing well due to the absences. I spoke with her about her absences and stressed the importance of attending school when she was not sick. I told her, "I miss you when you are not here. We have a lot of things to learn and I don't want you to miss out. Please come to school unless you are sick or its a family emergency." She told me she would do better at coming to school.
ReplyDeleteI am pleased to note that she has done exactly that. She now has the highest reading grade in my homeroom class and is performing well in the other academic subjects. I am aware that parents control whether or not their children come to school, but by speaking to her and convicting her heart in a kind way, she took ownership of her own attendance. My student has brought her grades up and I am sooooo glad I had that chat with her. Achievement gap is CLOSED!
If anyone had ever told me as a former fifth/sixth grade teacher that I would not like but love teaching first grade I probably would've laughed at them but this year has been amazing for me.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest success for me has been seeing so many of my students make the transition from just knowing and recognizing letter sounds to being independent readers. There has been no greater joy in my educational career.
One of my female students was very shy and quiet when I met her but has blossomed into a student that has so much confidence and believes in her ability to learn. I'd tell her "you have so many smart thoughts in your head" and she would just beam with pride. It's funny because now if she isn't the end of the day reader she gets a little upset.
It's beautiful to see what confidence can do for a student.
I have one student who lacked any concept of holding a pencil, letter formation and also had very poor comprehension and social skills. He was in a sense very lost when it came to school and basic social skills. Today this kid is one of my top performers academically and participates almost more than others because his confidence has soared socially and academically.
ReplyDeleteMy other two success stories have to be my students from PPCD. In the beginning, my nerves were shot and I had no clue how the process would go. However, the experience turned out to be a successful one as both students have progressed in different ways socially and academically.
While working with one of my puzzle piece kids, I did various activites with him, that resulted in him passing both reading and math on TAKS and those were the areas where he struggled the most.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest success story and one that is continuing to grow is a student well known and liked by many of the staff for his "friendly" personality and his way of engaging even the most uninterested of audiences. He came in the beginning of the school year as if he had no experienes at all...behind in language, academics, and social skills but there is something special in this little guy! Visible in the twinkle in his eyes and the skip in his step, I know that he has the potential to achieve far greater then the lack of exposure his home environment. Where others may have seem doom, I was delighted that he was placed in my class. He is talking more and more and he has grown in self-control and taking responsiblity for his behavior. He is not hitting others and screaming & crying like he was. He is more excited about writing and doing his work and glows when he accomplishes a new skill where before he refused to even pick up a pencil to write. While he may not have acheived all the milestones we look for in readiness in moving to the next level, he has grown by leaps in bounds in ways that no test can assess...I look forward to seeing how much more of his potential he reaches over the years!!!
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