As school comes to close I have one sad puppy on my hands. Hi teacher, Ms. Gateley, is one of those live-changing teachers that you remember through the years and Christian was sad school was ending as she would no longer be his teacher. Her efforts can be seen in his work as he has had an amazing year in school this year. Coming in he was a typical active boy who does well in math and science and did okay with reading/writing and he was squirmy and everything an active boy is in school. Coming out he sat in his desk, arms crossed, smiling doing his work and (mostly) focused on the tasks he was supposed to do.
At the beginning of the year his writing changed for the better. Ms. Gateley took some time to focus on neatness and proper writing and also explained there is are times you can write can quickly and not as neat and other times when you need to take your time and do your best writing. This resonated with him and he does so well.
Then halfway through the school year they really started to focus on reading and she created a little challenge for them and that got Christian into reading, BIG! He started reading at grade-level but within a month he was reading grade 4 level books and at the end of the year he finished off a 6th grade book!! We have been visiting the library to support his reading habit and he's finding books he loves. All around a great effort and a huge change!