What a great teacher!

I am definitely beginning to appreciate what a great teacher Mrs. K is. I really think she is extraordinary.

Yesterday I was in her classroom to volunteer and it happened to be during a math unit test. It also happened to be Will's birthday which he was VERY excited about! Mrs. K came to me after the test was over and told me that she doesn't think this is going to be one of his best tests. She felt he was lacking focus because of all the excitement revolving around his birthday. (I was there, also, to hand out treats) She told me that she made him take it back two times after he tried to turn it in to recheck his work. Apparently he finished it pretty quickly.

She told me, though, that she is amazed at the way he approaches some of the math problems. She has told me this before. But, with fractions, he did it in a way (don't ask me to explain) that nobody else did. In fact she wasn't teaching it this way, either, but she said it was actually the safest way to do it. So all week she has been teaching it her way and then saying, "Or you can do it Will's Way". How great is that?

So, anyway, back to the test. When I picked Will up yesterday she had not had a chance to grade them yet. She offered to get it for me to look at, but I decided not to. It was his birthday after all and I didn't want to go into the rest of the afternoon and evening knowing he had failed his test.

Well this morning I got an email from Mrs. K. She said he got an 81%! Now in my book that is a B. Unfortunately, for him it is a C. But... that is MUCH better than the F we were both worried about. She also told me in the email that he had corrected one of the 2 pt. problems that he had had wrong the first time he turned it in. So, she was glad to see that he actually did check his work and fix something and not just look at it and say he did.

I am so thankful she sent me that email. I am thankful that she cares so much and knows I was anxious to see how he did. She does such a great job teaching these kids and also figuring out what certain kids need to succeed, like Will. It is hard for me to put into words, but that is the gist of it.

I would be thrilled to find out Mrs. K is going to loop up to 4th grade next year. I am sure that won't be the case, but if it would I would be the first one on board to sign Will up to be in her class again!