October 27th - 31st

Holy first-week-of-class, Batman! I haven't been this tired in a long time. That said, I haven't had this much fun at work in a few years either.

This week, the mentors and I spent a lot of time getting to know each other and I'm happily learning the intricacies of their personalities, as well as how their strengths will affect their individual experiences as mentors. Many of the students know each other from outside YESS, so they have come to YESS with pre-formed groups. Because I want all the mentors to be a team, we spent some time playing games like Catch Phrase and Apples to Apples, which is encouraging all the students to speak with each other in a light-hearted manner.

I also challenged the kids to work with people they didn't know very well to build bridges out of newspaper and masking tape. Their goal was to make a longer bridge than the other teams in the class, but with the added challenge of making it structurally strong enough to support a can of food. They had a blast completing this task and we all had some chuckles when testing the bridges' strength.

We also explored the concept of service learning, which combines philanthropy with self-reflection. The kids identified 33 unique problems affecting their community and voted on the most important issue, which turned out to be hunger. Soon, we will research charities to partner with and create an action plan to address hunger in our area. Check out the photo below to see all the dilemmas the students came up with.

I'm really excited for next week's activities, which include a discussion about Simon Sinek's Golden Circle (Click here to see his TED Talk) and creating inspirational messages to decorate the classroom.

October 20th - 24th

Despite a tragic loss in our school community, this was a week full of hope for the future. While I have spent most of my time preparing for the start of class, many mentors came to me for support as they dealt with some very grown-up emotions. Happily, there was a strong team of professionals I could direct them toward (after sharing a piece of chocolate, of course).

I met with several parents, who were delighted about the positive opportunities their kids will be receiving by participating in YESS. Parent/teacher conferences were also a wonderful time for me to speak with parents and start building a relationship with the mentors' families.

Wednesday, I attended a training called "Coaching your Students to Academic Success," which was hosted by the Youth Mentoring Collaborative. I left the seminar with a deeper knowledge of effective listening, how to ask empowering questions, and the confidence that everything I learned about teaching hadn't been lost in the ether of my mind (what a relief). I've already been implementing one of the techniques: validating the speaker's emotions. As I've interacted with students and begun to incorporate the phrase, "it makes sense that you feel that way because...," I've noticed the kids pausing and acknowledging their feelings before continuing the conversation. I'm excited to teach this tactic to the mentors, as I'm sure it will have a positive effect on the way our mentors and mentees relate to one another.

Today, the mentors received their new schedules and have been stopping by my classroom all day. Many students came in just to say "hi" or ask a question about who else was in their class. Regardless of their reason, I could see the excitement on their faces. I feel truly blessed to be working with an organization that inspires kids to help in this way. Even though most of the kiddos are willing to wait to start class on Monday, three mentors wanted to act as student assistants today. I'm pleased to introduce Victor, Brayan, and Sebastian, enthusiastic YESS mentors.

Next week, we'll be doing the typical first-week-of-class stuff like learning rules and playing lots of icebreaker games, as well as choosing a service learning project. We'll also be celebrating the beginning of the program with a burrito party in the morning classes and a pizza party in the afternoon classes. Additionally, I'll be attending the band and choir concert on Thursday to support the mentors participating in those classes.

October 13th - 17th

Let the count-down begin! I only have five days before classes kick off and I'm totally stoked!

This week was spent preparing for classes: editing the workbook, collecting permission slips, calling parents to discuss the program, and making sure schedule changes are on track. The kids are as excited as I am and have been asking all kinds of questions...

     Q.  When will I get my schedule changed?
     A.  Next week.

     Q.  Can I start early?
     A.  No - I'm afraid you'd get sick of me.

     Q.  When will get our t-shirts?!
     A.  Hold your horses, kiddo!

To add to the warm fuzzies I'm getting from the students, I came to work on Tuesday to find this on my door.

 

Thursday, I went to Boulder for a training, conducted by Carlo and learned a lot. I feel much more prepared to teach the fundamental YESS lessons now and have had fun identifying my hot buttons as I interact with others.

Next week, I've got four appointments with parents and will be assisting with parent/teacher conferences. I'm also looking forward to attending a Youth Mentoring Collaborative training called "Coaching your Students to Academic Success." Additionally, I'll be getting rosters finalized by the guidance department and prepping for loads of ice breakers.

October 6th - 10th

Life at Scott Carpenter was wonderful this week! I distributed acceptance letters/permission slips to most of the mentors and many of the kids have returned signed slips already. Tracie, Holly, and I also worked hard to get a rough draft of the student workbook completed. It's not pretty yet, but the content is in place. The big news, though, is that I was able to upgrade my classroom situation! My new room has lots of natural light, a flat floor, 5 Chrome Books, 2 student computers, a projector, and a television with DVD/VCR combo!

Happily, it only took 10 minutes to move all my stuff. Why? Because the choir director allowed me to borrow her students, each of whom took a box of supplies. Thanks to that teacher, I was able to focus my energies on setting the room up the way I wanted. Now, I'm working on getting the big stack of old supplies removed and requesting some more student desks. Needless to say, I'm thrilled to be in this new space.

There were a few more students who submitted mentor applications this week, so I'll be interviewing them this week. I've also got some more acceptance letters to pass out and will be contacting some parents who are interested in learning more about the program.

Holly, Tracie, and I will be taking turns going to the YESS office to format the workbook this week, too. Formatting is tedious, but I'm excited to get the workbook ready for print!

Last, but not least, I'm looking forward to going to a training in Boulder on Thursday, which will be led by Carlo. Can't wait to learn some of the core YESS lessons!

September 29th - October 3rd

The interview process really picked up this week and I went from only having 20 mentors to 40! There are still kids turning in their applications, so I'll be completing a few more interviews on Monday and Tuesday. When it's all said and done, I believe I'll have approximately 45 great kids to work with. 

The teachers at Scott are currently voting to approve the existence of a YESS class, as per Adams 50's protocol. I've developed a good rapport with many of the teachers and administrators, so I'm confident the class will be strongly supported. Since everything is going smoothly in that regard, the next step is adjusting students' schedules to accommodate this new class. I'm in the process of creating a spreadsheet with the kids' information and will be meeting with the guidance counselors next week to review what changes may be made.

With luck, I'll be starting with the mentors the first week of November and I'll be teaching 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th hours (with a little lunch duty during 4th). To prepare for this new phase of the program, I have begun deciding what routines I want to implement during a typical day in the YESS classroom, as well as what skills I would like to sharpen with the mentors. I'm really looking forward to getting some student work on the walls, despite this beautiful banner, provided by Helen. :-)

Next week, I'll be wrapping up the interview process, working on schedule changes with the guidance counselors, and continuing to work on lessons and activities for the mentors. Can't wait!