November 7th - 11th

This week was all about trusting one another and learning how to build trust with others. On Monday, the mentors brainstormed ideas to create a feeling of family in the classroom. Some highlights include: Using Kagan structures to learn tidbits about all their classmates, as opposed to only their mentor/mentee; implementing a "Random Act of Kindness" Challenge, in which each student does something kind for someone in class, then the recipient tries to guess who did it; and creating posters that encourage their peers to give compliments. Their thoughts were insightful and we've already implemented some of them to great avail.

On Tuesday, we continued our tradition of tutoring. Many students breathe a sigh of relief when they see the agenda on these days, as they feel pressured to get everything done and don't always know how to do the work. I also enjoy these tutoring days because I encourage the scholars to teach me something I don't already know, so I've learned quite a bit of math and social studies the last few weeks!

Wednesday and Thursday were our YESS curriculum days. We began both days with exercises in mindfulness, which is a practice of being calm and in the current moment. Naturally, some students are initially resistant to these activities, but the atmosphere of peace when we're done proves the scholars are benefiting. We took advantage of the calmness and opened up a dialogue between the mentors and mentees around trust. They talked about who they trust, as well as what characteristics they look for in trustworthy individuals. Then, students created a mini-obstacle course within the room and took turns guiding each other through the path. It was great fun - Take a look at some photos below!

On Thursday, I assigned a Kagan challenge to one of the core YESS lessons: The Trust Bridge. Students worked with their cooperative learning teams to create a metaphor for trust. The traits of people they don't trust went below, while the positive traits of trustworthy individuals acted as a bridge over those troubled waters. They students did a wonderful job of working together and solidifying their new cooperative teams.

On Friday, YESS participants got to experience working with other students in the school by visiting other classes.