Benchmarks Day 1 and a big I Like Me thought

Day one of third quarter benchmarks are behind us. I will leave the judgement to those higher than me or to my colleagues who will decide how successful or unsuccessful my students and I were. I'm sure to be notified by one or both of those groups sooner or later.

As for my opinion, I was PROUD PROUD PROUD of my kids today. I was, quite literally, moved to tears by the level of effort I saw in my room, the amount of hard work I saw, the perseverance I saw displayed by all my kids. They made me proud long before I got the scores. And that hard work, perseverance and effort did pay off in some big improvements for many and almost all of my kids went up from last quarter's scores.

Take that you stupid test! Take that school district. The kids and I really don't care what you have to say!!!! I taught my heart out and they worked their hardest. So there. :P

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

And my other thought for the day is this. Allow me to introduce myself, in case you hadn't met me before.

My name is Rebekah. To a very small few, I am sometimes called Beka. To a very few, special cousins, I am BekaBoo. I am also "Mom" or "Mommy." During the day you might hear me referred to as Mrs. Thomas or Mrs. T.

Who I am not?

• Miss Perfect whose room and home is pristine, whose lesson plans are wonderful, whose husband, children, home, nails, clothes, oh generally everything is exactly as she wants it to be. Who looks perfect and knows she is such a wonderful human being. I have a big butt, great children who are NOT perfect, a house that is never quite clean enough with floors you would definitely not want to eat off of, and am way too big mouthed & sensitive, and too many other faults to ever be this person.

• Miss I am God's Gift- I can never be her. She is a notch about Miss Perfect and she knows it.

• Miss Organized- I could never be her either. I've moved too many times, have taught to many things, and accumulated too much stuff. Add to that, living in a smaller home and having most of my teaching things in storage, running three million directions on any given day to pick up & deliver various young people to work, school, church or other places, grad school, and who knows what else- well, I'm just not to her level either, and likely will never be.

• Miss Know-a-Lot - This lady is cousin to "Miss Know It All" - she may or may not be as obnoxious as her cousin depending on the day. I could try to do this, I suppose, but I know, only too well, what I do not know and how much that is. I would be such a liar if I even tried to act like this.

• Miss You Should Do What I Do/Say/Think/Feel- I don't know why, but I just don't care if you agree with me or do what I say/think/feel. You are free to be different. Please allow me to be also. Now, this might not necessarily apply to my children. ;) hahahaha Just kidding!

• Miss Smug/Arrogant/Want-to-Impress, Shmooz- This person is only interested in appearances and how she can advance herself through dressing fine, kissing up, and looking good to her higher ups- but doesn't care one iota how she treats those beneath her.

I am just me, Rebekah, Mom, Mrs. T, Beka... big mouthed, VERY loud laugher, too sensitive at times, waaaay too critical of myself (could be called a self-hater but I'm working on that), hugger extaordinaire.

But I'll tell you what kind of teacher/mom I am- Miss I Love Them All!!!! And guess what, I like that about me, and I am NOT going to change that one little itty bit!!!! So no matter what judgment heads my way on Friday or any other day coming up, I'm going in with this little chip on my shoulder. I may not be "as good" as the rest of them, but I am not changing who I am. I am going to teach my kids for life, not for the test. I am going to hug and love them all, and know that is what is truly important to their lifelong success. I am going to like me too- no matter what!