Why is this so exciting?

    

         Today began NWEA testing for our students.  NWEA is a test that our students take three times a year and it shows their ability in math, reading and language arts.  For some reason I was really nervous about how my students would do!  They have goals for each area and obviously the dream is that our students would meet their goals.  So during the actual testing times in the computer labs I am pacing the room like I am waiting for the biggest news of my life.  As soon as the students are done testing we are given there score so we know whether or not they have met their goal in the area that was tested that day.  It was a very different feeling for me now being on the other side of the fence with student testing.  When I was in school I did not understand why these teachers, who were strung out on coffee and Altoids, cared so much about a pointless test score that was not even going in the grade book.  Now I completely understand their feelings! I want my students to show growth and to have something that they can be proud of.  I want my students to know that they are learning and that they are a different student academically, than they were in the beginning of the school year.  As odd as it is, seeing my students test well really gets me excited.  Maybe I care too much, maybe I care a normal amount, or maybe I am just a weirdo!