November 30th - December 4th

Our first week back from Thanksgiving break was filled with diligent work by the YESS students! The scholars performed their usual duties like participating in Kagan structures to encourage teamwork and tutoring one another, but they also engaged in an informative mini-unit on listening.

The lessons in this unit are geared toward helping students identify how well they listen to others. Many were surprised to learn that they functioned as a lower-level listener than they first believed, which led to some interesting dialogue. Coming up, they will be writing and performing skits that will enable them to teach other students the importance of listening.

We also completed a lesson called "Heart. Mind. Soul." The activity that accompanies this lesson requires students to work as a team to create a body that includes information about each member of the team. Some things that were discussed by the students include: Favorite food, how they want others to see them, and dreams for the future. They really had a great time bonding with their mentor/mentee partners and personalizing their bodies.

Behind the scenes, Mr. Anderson and Mr. Streno lined up a long-term substitute to take over the class while I'm on maternity leave. I'm extremely grateful for their hard work! I'm also partnering with the AVID program to plan a field trip for all YESS Institute and AVID students. We'll be going to the University of Colorado, Denver on December 16th. The students are beyond excited and I can't wait to help expose them to the wonderful world of higher education!