Monday, October 19, 2015

October 12th - 16th

This week, YESS scholars explored the concept of emotional intelligence, otherwise known as EQ. They read a story about Phineas Gage, a railroad foreman who lost a large part of his frontal lobe in an accident, and practiced using context clues to identify and define unfamiliar words. Then, we discussed the four key skills vital to good EQ: Self-awareness, self-control, social awareness, and relationship management. The students worked in small groups to create posters that demonstrated their understanding of one skill, then presented the information and graphics they came up with. Take a look at some of the kids working and their presentations below!




Monday, October 12, 2015

October 5th - 9th

The weather may be cooling off, but the work being done between Scott's mentors and mentees is just beginning to heat up. This week, the scholars explored the concept of metacognition by learning about thoughts, emotions, and the subtle differences between the two. By the end of these lessons, students were able to define the word ruminate; describe how thinking could be useful to us, as well as a hindrance; identify where we feel the physical symptoms of emotions; and differentiate between thoughts and emotions. Take a look at some of the kids' work below.



Friday, October 2, 2015

September 28th - October 2nd

This Monday, the mentors and mentees had their first small group sessions. The mentees began the Why Try curriculum with CRC and Julia while the mentors worked with me by continuing to explore the importance of empathy in the mentoring relationship. We practiced using empathy in role-playing scenarios and by watching a short video, which can be found here. I've already noticed a positive shift in how many of the mentors respond to their mentee's issues, which is very encouraging.

On Tuesday, the scholars strengthened their bonds with each other by building towers out of spaghetti and marshmallows. Their goal was to build the tallest tower and each mentor/mentee pair did a fabulous job of solving problems and demonstrating creativity. Take a look at some of their photos below!




Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were spent discussing trust. The students talked about the meaning of trust, why we trust some people and not others, how to earn someone's trust, and then built trust bridges. This art project allowed the students to continue their dialogue and demonstrate their understanding of characteristics of trustworthy and untrustworthy individuals.