A Little Note to All Those Unbelivers

Dear World-

Tell me one more time that they can't. Say one more time that they are not smart enough, dedicated enough, rich enough, religious enough, disciplined enough, healthy enough, willing enough, worthy enough or white enough. Tell me one more time that my children are not capable of greatness beyond all expectations, work beyond reproach, wisdom beyond their years and love beyond all measure. Go ahead--tell me one more time. I dare you. But then, have a seat. get comfortable and watch us prove you wrong.

This really has been my cry of my heart lately. You see, so many people said that it simply could not be done. Though many tried to mask their words behind excuses and sugar-coated platitudes, the message was often the same: it can't be done. And they were right--if one attempts the impossible without the strength of God. But I, painfully aware of my weaknesses, put my hope in my Father and His great love for His children here in Kyle, South Dakota. And as we reach the end of the school year, only 9 short school days remaining, I am truly in awe of what He has done in Room 170.

The goal of every Teach For America teacher is to eradicate the achievement gap between rich and poor, minority and non-minority. To do this, TFA teacher's are trained to go into a classroom and do whatever they can and whatever it takes to narrow this gap. TFA is all about data, so we as TFA corps members seek to see that the children in our classrooms grow, on average, about 1.5 years in reading in a single school year. In other words, the children learning in one year what it would take to learn in one and a half years in another classroom. In subjects like mathematics or social studies, we TFA teachers seek evidence of mastery of state standards. This magic number is 80%. In other words, we push our students to achieve an 80% cumulative average on their assessments. Therefore, if the student's in our classroom leave having grown 1.5 years in reading and having earned as a class a cumulative average of 80% or higher on assessments, we have done our job and done it well.

On Friday, I sat down and calculated these numbers for our classroom. Now I do have three more students to test in reading and two more tests to be taken in SS, so for calculation purposes, I assumed that all of these students would fail miserably, presented the data in a worst-case scenario. The results nearly left me shaking. According to my data, the students in Room 170 have averaged 2.5 years of growth!!! That is a full year more than the high bar TFA has set. What is even more amazing about this is the fact that I am a third grade teacher so the learning curve is much steeper than say a 10th grade teacher who can easily grow a student several years. There have been rumors that this growth level may be record-breaking. In terms of SS, even if the remaining test-takers earn 0%, the third grade will still have earned a cumulative average of 85%!

So why I am telling you this? Well, I want you to understand that God has really answered our prayers. He has done such amazing things in Room 170 that staff members in the organization are just in awe. I think what surprises them most is that I am not a particularly impressive person and attributing such success to me seems to be a mistake--and they are exactly right. You see, it hasn't been me at all. Just as you would not give a hammer credit for building a house, nor should I, merely a tool in the hands of my Father, be praised for the work that has been done in my classroom. This year has been a love-letter from my Father to His children.

Thank you, Father. Thank you.

B