“I’ve got a bitter pot of je ne sais quoi”
So starts the song Genius by Warren Zevon. Since I kind of became a huge Zevon fan over the course of this year, I figured I’d start my final post of the 2008-2009 TFA school year with that quote. With a little French, we know that Je ne sais quoi means “I know not what,” and the end of the year is a bit bitter because a good thing is coming to an end, at least for the moment.
That being said, I am ready for a little bit of time to destress, regroup, replan, and hit the year even harder next year. I had some massive gains by my students this year. In my seventh grade class, the average on the final exam for social studies was a 95%! After seeing the geography skills that were displayed earlier this year by the majority of those students, I consider this proof positive of the idea of malleable intelligence. This year, a theme for my room was Malleable Intelligence, which means, in my simple terms, that “you are as smart as you want to be” aka there is no limit to your potential. Our other theme came from my experiences in college, specifically the Jesuit word “Magis.” Magis comes from the Latin phrase translating to “For the greater glory of God” and the idea of serving others. It generally means “What have I done for God? What am I doing for God? and What MORE can I do for God?” I removed the religious aspect and stuck with what touched me at college, specifically the quest for “The More” which basically means that no matter what you do, you can always do more. If my students get an A, I want to see another one, if they do their homework for two nights in a row, I want to see two weeks in a row, etc.
Having worked to instill these ideals in my students, its very rewarding to see them coming to the end of their year. I can see the progress that certain students made in their work in ancient cultures, or economics, geography, or writing. It’s been a long, crazy, intense, rewarding trip, and I’m excited for the final day tomorrow, and what comes next!
