Hope
There have been many occasions when the struggling students make the biggest gains and the reason is because they care. I had a boy a couple years ago who raised his state score by 60 points, which is unbelievable. His 6 th grade score should have placed him in the contained resource room and one year later he passed at a proficient level with many of his classmates. He was tired of being labeled one of the“ dumb” kids and he decided to make a change.
On the opposite end, I have students who have already given up or been placed in a situation that is out of their control. I had a girl who was living out of a car with her family. When was she supposed to get her homework done, and by what … the dashboard lights?
One young man told me that school was worthless and he was dropping out as soon as he turned 16. I never forgot that conversation. I ran across that young man several years later. He was working at a car wash while awaiting his sentencing for some law infraction. I asked him about school and he said he had dropped out. I told him about the conversation we had when he was in seventh grade and that he told me he was going to drop out. Well, he accomplished that goal!
Last year I went to that young man’ s funeral visitation. He was 29 years old. He was not one of my best students, but I was compelled to go to his visitation and let his
64 pieforseven. com | April 2013