Celebrating

2014-15

A student started out in Title I math and was very frustrated. This student wanted to move up in math, so we said if their grade was high enough we could move them. It took them until Christmas and their grade was there. After the move there was a big change. This student scored above average in STARS, MAP, and NeSA! This student came in during homeroom and recess to work almost every day. I’m very proud of that student!

The Speech Team place

third at the District

Speech Tournament!

Elm Creek also had

three students compete

at the State Speech

Tournament.

I have a student who moved here in early October. He couldn’t write his name and didn’t know hardly any letters of the alphabet. His personal life has been drama from the beginning. My success story is that he is now reading and writing sentences AND, bless his heart, he comes to school smiling every day, although home life is a mess. I love being the part of his day that makes him feel good and that gives him love & support.

A student’s Star Math score was a 3.0 at the beginning of the year. Now at the end of the year, they have raised their score to 4.4 I believe this is partially due to using all of the new strategies I have incorporated into my classes this year.

A student who rarely showered or used good grooming habits has made it to school for a whole week now – clean &

not having body odor.

I was inspired when

watching students get

excited about trying new

computer skills. I enjoy

seeing their faces light up

and hear their response

of, “Wow! This is fun!”

My success story is the Junior High Play. We had

a group of 40 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who put

together a play this spring. They did a great

job, and after their Saturday evening

performance, the word started to spread about them. For the Sunday show we filled most of the chairs and overflow

seating in the gym!

I had a student who was not

participating at all in class at the first of the

year and now is engaged and a leader in class.

A student made a

decision to come in

for extra time/help

rather than

something else the

student could have

done. The student

did so well getting

caught up and on

the test that he

will pass the class.

Students understand general classroom rules, sharing, and are doing what is asked of them.

The successes I see are will all of my Junior High girls during their volleyball, basketball, and track seasons. It is great to see their improvement from the start to the end of the season. Also, I love to watch them work together as a team! The eighth graders do a great job of being leaders & role models to the 7th graders.

One of my students was released from Special Education this year and he has tried so hard to succeed. He go 14 perfect scores on his AR tests (in a row), which is amazing! He also passed both NeSA reading and math with a 60% or above.

Oh my … PROM!

A few girls this year stepped out of their comfort zone and took a welding class. There were girls that risked their overall GPA and chances at being Valedictorian. They worried about it at the beginning of the year. Throughout the year, they did an awesome job in class & are happy they took the class. I’m so glad they took the challenge on. Both of them got A’s in the class and now will have a skill not many people have.

My students in Junior High are

learning how to use Schoology.

In first grade, there is a

student who was not able to do anything by herself at the beginning of the year and now during

DEAR time she doesn’t want a partner anymore. She want to read on her

own every day and yesterday read a 4.1 level book all by herself. This

independence and confidence is evident in

her work as well!

A student who is

normally shy has

come and spoken to

me. He told me he

was actually trying

instead of just

shutting down.

A student began the year not knowing his numbers from 1-20 and he did not make much progress until February. After working with him and giving him extra instruction, he has now mastered this skill.

I had an 11th grade student who was failing English and I worked with him a lot at the after school program and in class. While he still failed the quarter, he improved his grade from a 33% to a 62% which was huge. We also got him in the routine of handing assignments in and actually doing them in the first place.

A success story for me this year would be how Marzano and Anita Archer introduced me to new and effective ways to manage my classroom. Having an academically diverse class like I had this year, student engagement was a real challenge. They both presented some new ideas that work with all classrooms and all kids. I tried a few different techniques and was eventually able to master some of them. Without their new, fresh ideas I might not have been able

to have the “whole group” successes that I did have!

I think for me it was doing more group work with the kids. Having students working in small groups or

partners always frightened me, but after going through ALP, Marzano, and hearing many wonderful speakers, I

tried it a lot more in my classes this year and actually really enjoyed it! Students commented how they like

collaborating (their word!) and brainstorming together. This is something that I will continue to work on and

implement in my room.

Kindergarteners

are listening and following rules most of the time now. Rarely does

anyone need to go to the safe seat.

I was surprised when a very distant student signed up for my class second semester!

Working with students who struggle in school, I feel like seeing the gains and improvements that my students make throughout the year is a success story. No matter how big

or how small the gain was, it was big in my eyes.

The BIST vision team has really moved forward this year in

implementing behavior strategies that can work for all student. The

team has worked really hard to make the BIST philosophy clear for

students and adults in the building. I feel like implementing BIST

school-wide is going to result in a safer environment and a building-

wide culture of respect. It’s going to make teaching easier for

teachers and learning easier for students.

Thank you

for all your

hard work!

Made with great appreciation for and in celebration of

the Elm Creek Public Schools Staff

By Emily Jameson, ESU 10