Rewards

Four of my five eleventh graders have finally passed the CAHSEE!

Woo Hoo!

In order to reward their hard work, each student was given one of these three inch tall "super cheesy plastic trophies" (address levels work for a lot of projects). We also celebrated with giant cookies!

Although they are so totally worthless plastic prizes, the kiddos were so excited. After taking and failing the test three times, they were pretty proud of themselves for passing and officially getting to be part of the Class of 2011. I gave them out during second period and later, during lunch, I saw one of the kiddos with her friends showing off the trophy.

The fifth student, who did not pass, increased her score by 48 points. She is only 8 points away from passing. Although she was really upset (to the point of tears), we had an encouraging conversation and looked at her giant improvement and the small jump she needs to make by May. She has only been living in the US and speaking English for three years; that said, she works incredibly hard and is self-motivated. Needless to say, her tears broke my heart and I have another four weeks to help her pass.

Teachers--I found these beauties at Alin's in a pack of 8 for $2.99.