Full of smiles...

After what proved to be a challenging week, Friday brought a couple of milestones that will forever remain in my heart and reinvigorate my enthusiasm for why I teach what I do and where I do...

First, last week was "Teacher Appreciation Week" and as a writing assignment in English, the students were instructed to write a letter to the teacher of their choice, but it couldn't be me to appreciate them for the work they do. We worked on it Monday, Wednesday and the final draft was to be written Friday and delivered to the teachers. Well, 3 of my students walked in Friday with 2 letters-one to another teacher and one to me. The 3 letters written to me inspired me to continue working hard to impact not only these student's lives, but their academic achievement. Just a couple sentences from the letters:

"I feel safe in your classroom"

"I like to kick it with you and you give good advice. Thanks for the time you take to teach me reading-it is paying off."

"I know you want me to be the best student, learner and person humanely possible. I am going to try to be that person for you and for myself."

"You are a great teacher with a strict way of putting things, but I respect that."

All 3 letters brought tears to my eyes. It is proof that I am making a difference and at times, I doubt myself.

The second INCREDIBLE news that I received after school on Friday is that 2 of my students passed parts of the CAHSEE (California Exit Exam). Now, I know this might not sound like a big deal but my students typically are not in the range to feasibly pass this test. But, two young men did. One passed the math section and one passed the English test. I am SO proud of these two students and it brought a huge smile to my face all weekend to think just how much this means to the students. Forget the fact that it means I am teaching....this means THE WORLD to the students, for them to feel "normal" within the school, for them to feel that they can in fact learn at the same pace of their peers and that they are capable. I didn't get the chance to tell the students on Friday, but was able to call home and spoke to one father who was just gleaming over the phone. I can't wait to see the students tomorrow and give them a HUGE hug-it makes me smile just to think about it.

So, upward and onward....I think there are 6 weeks left in the school year---never too late to continue making a difference!