March 6: Numbers Are Just One Column

I "figure" the last thing you would expect me to blog about are numbers, but with my current position, this time of year, and my event for the night, it seemed fitting.

This past week I have asked more questions about data than I ever imagined. Psst . . . come closer . . . a little closer . . . and I liked learning about data. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone. We are looking at the MAP Practice data to determine which students we can help and how before the "real" MAP test. Moving into this job, I was shocked that you don't have a practice test to go off of normally. I was thrilled when we were able to maintain an example to pattern our own practice on. To be even more specific about my data and numbers, I even learned how to do average and mode on a spreadsheet! I mean, we are talking formulas now. 

Imagine waves of clouds, as I travel back to my high school math class, which is the last time I remember using formulas. I had a wonderful math teacher, Mrs. Benne (said like penny with a B), who taught math from 7-12 grade and coached quiz bowl and cheerleading (small town), and the best part was she let us use a notecard with formulas on the card. a2 + b2 = c2 (How do I know? Because Mrs. Benne had us find the height of our water tower using this formula. The Welch, Okahoma water tower is 160 feet tall. I was the only one who got it right. We used string to measure the bottom of the triangle). There were other formulas, one with a "y" and "m" and a "b" and  by senior year, Sohcatoa, etc. Nevertheless, my math teacher was wise beyond her years because now, it is if you can use the materials in class not if you have it memorized. We have moved to skill and being able to go at the question at any angle, not the same way every time. She taught us to use our skills, use it in our surroundings, and have fun while we did it. She also fed us animal crackers, which just makes her one of your favorites. 

Back to reality, with the standardized test, "The MAP" approaching, it is time to buckle down and tell students why they would want to work for their goal, do their best, beat the state, beat 4th block, reread, support your answer, read all the answer choices, get a good night's sleep, eat a good breakfast, wear layers, try not to miss or be sick, be prepared, etc. Why? Perhaps, those students can be rewarded at a lovely banquet hosted by our school system for doing exceptionally well on the test. Maybe, they will be rewarded through incentives throughout classes/schools. Perchance, they will just revel in the fact that they did better this year than last year or beat their STAR score by performing higher on the MAP? I am a test-driven teacher/coach, and I wanted my kids to work hard for me, and our Webb City kids live up to the task every time. We are better than average writers. We take our tests seriously, and we work as hard as we can. Don't forget that it is okay to make a big deal about just improvement!

Tonight, I will escort my oldest daughter Haidyn to the MAP banquet. I am so proud of her. She used her math skills &--which are much higher than her--reading skills on the MAP last year. She is a smart cookie, so don't get me wrong. However, if you go one year, then, do you expect to go every year? What do these numbers say about my daughter? They don't tell you that she knows how to sew, loves to dance and sing, and can clean house like there's no tomorrow. They don't tell you she is sensitive and loves so hard that she hugs for longer than normal. Yet, I am thrilled that the numbers this past year represent a number that allowed her to be honored for her hard work in school. Haidyn, along with our other students, deserves to be rewarded. As we all know, there may need to be some most improved awards out there as well. All I can hope is that the numbers don't always show us all we need to know. Looking at the students matters, too. Numbers are just one column in life.