Smiling from ear to ear

This morning one of my students came by my class today with one of my former students.  I took the time to catch up with my former child. He said that he was glad to be done with my class.  I inquired as to why this was the case.  He said that he had to work hard to pass my class.  He stated he could fail other courses and still pass, but he had to work hard to pass my class.  I take pride in my expectations of my students and I am always thrilled to hear when they realize that hard work pays off.  Now obviously this was the opinion of a student, I don't for a second believe that no other teacher has high expectations.  It is just nice to hear a student who understands they worked for their grade and can take pride in passing a class or mastering a topic.  Some of my students are currently taking the second half of algebra this semester and they all said they felt prepared for the exam.

The school had put in place a policy that students should be given the opportunity to retest, but I feel like they still need some accountability.  The policy says that the kids should be given a 70 and I don't agree with it.  So at the beginning of the year we as a class discuss my alternative and they always agree to it.  I offer half points back.  Why do they like this one?  Because every child can do corrections.  It isn't limiting and you can actually make better than the given 70.  Why do I like it?  Because I get a one on one session with students who would otherwise not attend a tutoring session.  They only have a week to make corrections, mostly because of grading, but also students forget information quickly.

I appreciate Mrs. Hagan's method for corrections as well.  Maybe I should have worked on my patience during lent and I could use her correction sheet.  I have linked to her "request to retest" form, because it is awesome!