How I Got a Mohawk

Once I kissed a pig, but it went downhill from there. Last year during an assembly I told the Emerson students, "If seventy five percent of you can meet your learning goals, I will do practically anything!" I soon regretted those words. After taking suggestions, the cafeteria was soon reverberating with the chant "Mohawk, Mohawk, Mohawk!!!"

The Emerson teachers and students had been working on goal-setting last year. We believed that if students set goals and work hard to meet them, that we could really empower them to make growth academically. Our school desperately wants more students to become Proficient or Advanced every year, and we work towards this by offering special interventions, staff trainings and more. Last year we made some of our greatest academic gains, however I lost more hair than ever!!!

For about ten weeks every teacher worked with each student to set individualized goals to make growth on a quiz. The first week only about fifty five percent of the kids met their goals. Every week there was some growth but never reaching the level of seventy five percent. But on the last week the students made outstanding growth and I proudly announced that seventy four percent of them had met their goals. I called a school-wide assembly to break the news to them that they had made excellent progress, but that I would not have to endure the embarrassment of getting a crazy haircut. Just after the announcement, a couple of teachers indicated that they had some students who had been absent, but upon return to school had met their goals. In front of the entire student body I had to face the terrible reality that I I would actually have to get a Mohawk, right there on the spot!

Unfortunately for me, Mrs. Jade just happened to have some clippers and gel at the ready. If this sounds like a set up to you, you are not alone! I'm trying to block out of my mind that I had to wear a pink dress as well. My hair is still growing out from that event, but for some reason, I have more grey hair now. The good news from all of this is that Emerson students made some excellent academic gains last year. And in reality this has more to do with outstanding classroom instruction than my Mohawk. As a school, we still have a long way to go, because we have a lot of students who are not Proficient in Math or Language Arts.
Without having to "top" last year's Mohawk, what would motivate Emerson students this year? Please share your ideas by clicking on the comment tab below.