I received my scores from my state assessments. These things are always always always a major stress but when you hit them out of the park it does feel really good..... I don’t want to give away too much because you could reverse look up these scores and I know I’ve accumulated some enemies on here but if any of you Yahoots doubt the El Capitan who posts as Machiavelli and the job that he does as an educator I will share my scores with Lord Stanley or Owl 69. I shared with Owl One time where I think I had a 98% passage rate. Well this year I was higher than 80% and lower than 95%. It was good for highest in my county but where the rubber really meets the road? Over 65% of my kids scored a 5 or a 4. A 5 is advanced and a 4 is accelerated. That’s unheard of. We are rated on a scale of 1 to 5 on value added. When these kids took their last standardized test as 8th graders only 67% passed and less than 25%were advanced or accelerated. With these scores I will be a 5 teacher that is highly effective. That’s enough to keep the suits off of me for a year and the eye of Sauron on some other poor sap. I posted last fall how I went to that 2 week modeling workshop that incorporated different ideas into traditional teaching. The biggest thing was CES. Claim, Evidence and then Support. When you make a claim. Show evidence of that claim and then support it. I drilled and killed that formula into my kid’s heads this year. I’ve never received these kind of scores before with so many advanced. Over 40% of my kid’s got the highest rating. Just really happy with the results and thought I would share.

I left a coffee in my Keurig and drank it cold around 9 o clock and paying for that transgression with insomnia. It’s 3 in morning and I’m wide awake. I might go and try to find that modeling thread. Go back and reread my thoughts last year.

Take care..........

Congrats, Mach. I know how important it is to you to do a good job teaching, and you obviously do.

I truly wish I didn’t care about them as much as I do, but we are judged on these things. They are put in the paper. We have a state ranking where anyone can look up your ranking. It’s stressful but when you hit them out of the park it does feel good. It also helps with your administration. You get one that likes to bust balls. You can just point at the score board. It’s a relief.

Congrats friend, I don’t think most anyone (here anyway) doubts your dedication or acumen, good on you!

Now, your judgement on occasion...
(On the phone, no laughey icon thingy)

But that’s clearly for another thread.

Again, Congrats!

No apologies necessary for taking pride in this achievement. Well done, and I am certain well deserved -- for both you and your students.

Good work. If you teach where I think you do, it's even more impressive. A little less so if you're in the high income burbs around the city.

Good job Mach. And congrats on a job well done. You should be proud.

I guess I have a bit of a different take...

Congrats, on being paranoid enough to think that you have true enemies on here and on being insecure enough to "humbly brag" - is there such a thing?? - about doing the job you're paid to do.

Weird.

Funny enough. That’s exactly my wife’s take on life Tiger.

It’s just different when it’s not you and you’re judged on them doing well. A big part of it is actually having them try. There’s big parts of my job that I think are utter bs but it’s the game and If they are keeping score I’m going to try and win. I spend about 120 bucks every year getting kid’s breakfast for these tests. I make cofffee for them. Get them yogurt and fruit trays. I even give them a little menu to choose from. Make that day a little special for them. I’ll never forget a kid talking in my class how he flunked one on purpose to get back at the English teacher that he hated. That sticks with me to this day. The calculus has changed. These scores are more important to you than it is to them. In reality I get paid to deliver material. I don’t get paid by how they do but I am judged on how they score in my community and my toughest critic is the guy who I look at in the mirror. Even though as I said I despise being judged on how a kid does but when they do well. It’s a gigantic relief. It really is.

(07-31-2018 06:54 AM)TigerBlue4Ever Wrote:  I guess I have a bit of a different take...

Congrats, on being paranoid enough to think that you have true enemies on here and on being insecure enough to "humbly brag" - is there such a thing?? - about doing the job you're paid to do.

Weird.

I'm not qualified to comment on the paranoia part of your post. But I will say that there is NOTHING wrong with someone taking pride in doing a good job.

This is especially the case in education, where it appears to me (from an outsider's perspective) that so few teachers care much about giving a full effort. Well done, Mach!

(I always thought that I would make a very good teacher -- for 45 minutes, and then I'd be totally spent. I admire those with the stamina to teach, and do it well, on a full-time basis.)

kudos and cheers Mach!!!

I'm certain nobody here would question your ability to teach.....

Fit is another animal....

Everyone is flourishing in the era of Trump!

#WinningBigly

(07-31-2018 07:12 AM)Machiavelli Wrote:  Funny enough. That’s exactly my wife’s take on life Tiger.

It’s just different when it’s not you and you’re judged on them doing well. A big part of it is actually having them try. There’s big parts of my job that I think are utter bs but it’s the game and If they are keeping score I’m going to try and win. I spend about 120 bucks every year getting kid’s breakfast for these tests. I make cofffee for them. Get them yogurt and fruit trays. I even give them a little menu to choose from. Make that day a little special for them. I’ll never forget a kid talking in my class how he flunked one on purpose to get back at the English teacher that he hated. That sticks with me to this day. The calculus has changed. These scores are more important to you than it is to them. In reality I get paid to deliver material. I don’t get paid by how they do but I am judged on how they score in my community and my toughest critic is the guy who I look at in the mirror. Even though as I said I despise being judged on how a kid does but when they do well. It’s a gigantic relief. It really is.

To be honest I have my ex-wife to thank for that take on life. It took her almost 40 years to thank me for being an excellent father to our two kids after our divorce. All I ever wanted was acknowledgment of that. But in her eyes I wasn't doing anything other than what a good father is supposed to do. By the time she finally got around to acknowledging it I understood the concept. I didn't need outside validation or kudos for doing my job.

However, my jadedness may have caused me to be unfair so congratulations for a job well done, especially given that so many just show up for a paycheck and don't really give a rat's ass about their ability to impact a young persons life.