Today was a really great day to be a teacher.

I actually have one student today who we are celebrating. My classroom is a multi-grade substantially separate special education classroom (1-3). This week the entire district had to complete the writing benchmark assessments. For third grade, the students had to read a three page story (which was a former MCAS story). After reading the story, the students were asked to describe how the main character's life on the street was different from his life in the apartment (it was a cat), supporting their answers with details from the story. We were given exemplars to assist with scoring. This student was required to read the selection independently and write his response. This WAS NOT read to him due to it being an ELA benchmark. Well, he worked and worked and worked and earned a 4!!!!! on this writing piece. He was asked to call his home to tell his Mom. When the Vice Principal got wind of his achievement, he asked me to complete a Something to Crow About award. This certificate was presented to him in front of our whole class. He was beaming! This student has made significant progress this year and he is showing his true potential. I am very proud of him. He can't wait to go home today to celebrate with his family. Today was a really great day to be a teacher.

Mary Crapo-Pereira
Lincoln School