January 4th - 6th

Our first week of 2017 was a short, cold one! The students were placed in new Kagan Cooperative Learning teams on Wednesday, so we devoted the class to creating a new team identity. As I type this, I'm reflecting on how difficult it was for the students to reach consensus at the beginning of the year and how quickly they complete this task now. I'm incredibly proud of their growth, as it relates to relationship-building! On Friday, the scholars participated in a cherished language game called Rattled. Students are given eight random letters and they are challenged to come up with as many words as possible during a set time frame. The kids love this activity because it's fun and they get to work with their team, but I love it because we get to talk about new, interesting words!

December 12th - 16th

It truly is the most wonderful time of year at Scott Carpenter. This week, we cruised through Monday and Tuesday with our usual routine. Then, we continued exploring financial literacy by playing Bank Balance Bonanza. In this game, students practiced writing checks and balancing a checkbook. By the end of the lesson, they were able to fill out a check and find their bank balance with ease. The best part was they had fun while learning!

On Thursday, the students got into the holiday spirit by watching Elf. Today, we had a party, complete with a hot chocolate bar! Mr. Streno generously funded this and David, our representative from Westminster Schools catering department, made sure the scholars were able to enjoy the beverages all day long. The students thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Thank you!

December 5th - 9th

Our first full week of December was rather exciting! Monday was fairly typical, except that some of the mentors are relying on their peers for personal problems, as opposed to only YESS issues. I'm extremely proud of how the scholars offer support and advice to one another in a non-judgmental way.

Tuesday, students worked on their classwork and I got to witness two special things: 1. One mentor tracked her mentee's work by contacting each teacher to rate how well the mentee was doing and 2. A mentor who was struggling to complete his assignments in a class made some real progress! The vast majority of students utilize this time effectively and I'm so proud of their efforts.

Wednesday, we watched part of a film all about finances. Students learned how to make their money work for them by distinguishing between wants and needs, setting savings goals, and using banks to manage their funds. Quite a few students said that nobody really teaches them about money, so I'm hopeful that they will remember some of this vital information.

We had a guest speaker on Thursday! Lila Rodriguez, Operations Manager at Young Americans Bank, came to talk with all the students regarding banking terminology. Young Americans Bank is the only bank in the world designed specifically for kids. It was started in 1987 by Bill Daniels, known as the "father of cable television," because Mr. Daniels read about a group of students who were unsuccessfully attempting to get a bank loan for school. Since he had earned so much money in his career and he wanted to help, he decided to start an educational bank that offered real banking opportunities. Young Americans is a special place for many reasons, but mostly because their goal is to teach kids how to manage their money, not make a profit. You can find more information about the bank here!

On Friday, we practiced demonstrating gratitude by making thank you cards for Lila and then participated in team building activities.

November 28th - December 2nd

I can't believe how quickly this week went - I guess time really does fly when you're having fun! On Monday, the mentors analyzed their leadership style. They reflected on their lives to determine if they were Natural Leaders, Silent Leaders, or Bottom-Up Leaders and discussed the benefits of each type. I also assigned the mentors to a task, which challenged them to discuss their behavior and academic standing with their teachers.

Tuesday, as usual, was devoted to tutoring. Now that the students have learned how much they can accomplish in just one class period, they are really using their time to complete assignments. I'm extremely proud of their work ethic!

On Wednesday, we did a lesson on cyber bullying. We explored what cyber bullying is, as well as why it's harmful to the target. Then, we did an activity that inspired students to devise ways to use their "bystander power" to help the victim when they see cyber bullying. Check out this poignant video we watched to highlight what positive and negative behaviors we may see online!

Thursday and part of Friday were dedicated to helping other kids be happy. We discussed how some children were stuck in hospitals during the holiday season. Then, I introduced the organization, Cards for Hospitalized Kids, and asked if anyone wanted to make a card for a sick child. Naturally, almost all of them were enthusiastic about brightening someone's day! My favorite aspect of working here is how philanthropic our students are and how well they use their creativity and empathy to help others. Take a look at some pictures below!

Once all the students were done with their cards, we played a really fun game called Musical Wardrobe. It's similar to Hot Potato, but instead of passing an item, participants pass a bag of clothing items around the circle. When the music stops, the person holding the "wardrobe" has to put something on. It was a ton of fun and the kids enjoyed the bonding experience of wearing goofy clothes!

November 14th - 18th

In the past week, we talked about how to build and maintain trust. Monday, the mentors discussed how their expectations in class would affect their ability to be positive role models. Many students realized how their reputations could cause their mentees to question their authority in YESS and that they would have to work hard outside our classroom to keep their positive status. I was proud of the eighth graders on Tuesday because they went to the Career Expo and learned about career opportunities. Wednesday and Thursday, the mentors and mentees created Hand Contracts to one another. In this project, they spoke about the things they needed from one another in order to be able to have a trusting relationship. Then, they produced artistic renderings of their promises. Friday was spent building teams and playing games. All in all, this was a successful way to end our time together before going on Thanksgiving holiday!

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.

November 1st - 4th

Even though last week was short, we enjoyed a productive time together. One of the more interesting achievements was that I assigned students to new cooperative learning groups. Even though mentor/mentee pairs remain in tact, sitting with a different pair creates a new feeling within the classroom. Some groups are already getting along famously, but others are working to overcome obstacles. The goal is that all students will learn how to positively interact with their peers, even if they don't always agree.

We began with Tutoring Tuesday, during which students brought homework from other classes or practiced their literacy skills in NoRedInk. Many of the YESS scholars brought math or social studies to work on and much progress was made.

I allow our students to journal at the beginning of each day and I require them to use the PEAL process (this is a framework for creating thoughtful paragraphs). Through this work, I have discovered that many students struggle with providing evidence for their answers and then supporting that evidence with an analysis. This is something we will focus on during the coming weeks.

The YESS Institute lesson we completed was called Time Capsule. Ordinarily, this is something we would do at the beginning of the year, but I wanted to students to be able to contemplate how their school year has been going so they may set stronger goals. Once the scholars completed the task, they sealed their time capsules and gave them to me. I'll keep everything safe and secure until we revisit them at the end of the year.

On Friday, we participated in team builders like Fact or Fiction (students tell two truthful statements and one false statement while their team tries to guess the lie), Alphabetical Lists (teams collaborate to create a list of items based on a category), and 4 Corners (a running game that lets kids burn off some energy).

Overall, it was a fabulous week and I'm looking forward to more adventures!