October 9th - 13th

Hello, readers! Please pardon the delayed entry.

On Monday, the mentors and I discussed the term "confidentiality" and why it's important in a trusting relationship. Naturally, mandatory reporting is a part of this discussion and there was a robust conversation around what to tell and to whom.

Tuesday, students continued their efforts to stay on top of their school work. Most scholars brought work to complete and a few mentors focused their energy solely on their mentees. I'm always proud of how the students guide each other through difficult assignments!

We discussed personal goals on Wednesday and referenced the Values Worksheet from a few weeks ago. Everyone set a solid EmoSMART Goal and even discussed which people from their Community Maps could help them achieve that objective!

The students wrote 6-Word Sentences on Thursday, then decorated them. Many kids struggled to sum up their lives or personalities in six words, but they pushed through the barrier and accomplished the task.

On our spooky Friday-the-13th, we finished our 6-Word Sentence assignment, then played a cool word game called Rattled. It's an awesome way to boost kids' vocabulary skills because they get a string of eight random letters. Their job is to work with their Kagan team to make as many words as possible in two minutes.

September 2nd - 6th

Last week, we dedicated our time to trust: What is it? What builds it? What breaks it? Because our Community Reach teacher was absent on Monday, we moved our tutoring day up and worked hard on our core classes. On Tuesday, we completed the People of My World lesson and utilized a handy tree map to classify our family, friends, schoolmates, teammates, etc... The students did a lovely job and were surprised to see they had so many people in their lives.

Wednesday, we prepared ourselves for building our Trust Bridges by completing a worksheet that got us thinking about who we trust and why.

We built our Trust Bridges on Thursday and "Kagan-ized" the activity by adding challenges. The kids' mission was to include a 3-D element, three ways to build trust, and three ways to destroy trust. On top of that, each team member could only touch certain supplies. That means, if someone wanted to glue their paper, they had to communicate what they wanted to the person in charge of the glue. It's great fun for me to watch them maneuver around obstacles like these and the scholars get to practice their communication skills in a real-life application. Due to the 25-minute time limit, some teams struggled to complete the task, while others excelled! Take a look below.

We celebrated our September and October birthdays on Friday with some delicious snacks and more trust-themed activities. Students participated in trust falls, as well as a trust walk. For the trust walk, mentees went into the hallway to wait while the mentors set up an obstacle course. Then, each mentor walked their mentee through the course as carefully as possible. Once all the mentees went through, they were given a chance to re-make the course and guide their mentors.

Here's one final highlight for this post... A mentor quizzing his mentee on multiplication!

September 25th - 29th

Good morning and welcome to another edition of the YESS Institute at Scott Carpenter Blog. Last week, the 6th graders went off to Outdoor Ed for some unique experiences. That left the mentors behind and we put our time to good use! Take a look!

Monday was our first Mentor/Mentee Monday. On these days, the mentees work with Katrina on a special set of lessons that focus on social well-being. Mentors go to another space in the building for some targeted mentor training.

On Tuesday, we worked hard on our school work during Tutoring Tuesday. Most scholars brought homework from their core classes. Others practiced their reading skills on Achieve 3000.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent writing and acting mentoring skits. The students worked in their Kagan teams to write a skit about how the world's greatest mentor would respond to a conundrum. Here are some of the problems they were tasked with solving:
     1. A mentee who is disrespectful to everyone, including the mentor.
     2. A mentee who is sweet and kind, but can't sit still.
     3. A mentee who is clearly upset about something, but refuses to talk about it.
     4. A mentee who is so shy, they miss a lot of school.
These scenarios are common issues faced by mentors here and I was impressed with how they utilized mentoring best-practices in their skits. Many mentors are tempted to ask me for help whenever they run into an issue, so I challenged them to avoid using me as a resource in their work. They rose to the challenge by utilizing other mentors, school counselors, positive reinforcement, trust-building conversations, and even jokes to help their acting partner open up. All the scholars did an outstanding job with this assignment! Below, you'll see a piece of work related to the skit. Students were tasked with creating a Bubble Map that describes the qualities of an impactful mentor, then write about two qualities they would like to work on throughout the school year.

Friday, as usual, we practiced social skills via games. I'm constantly surprised by how many tiny disagreements arise while playing board games and this is an excellent opportunity for kids to practice conflict resolution in a low-risk environment.

September 18th - 22nd

This was an extremely exciting week for our YESS scholars! Why? Because they learned who their mentor/mentee partners were! One of my favorite aspects of working with The YESS Institute is the matching process and the kids' responses. That said, here's the breakdown of the week:

Monday, all students completed a questionnaire about themselves. It was a good exercise in self-reflection and important because we used the information when they met their mentors and mentees.

Tuesday was Tutoring Tuesday. The scholars are quickly figuring out that, if they use this time wisely, they have more free time at home. Woohoo!

Scholars working hard on their homework assignments!

On Wednesday, we did a fabulous lesson on personal values. Students were asked to write a PEAL paragraph that demonstrated one "everyday hero" they shared a value with.

A sample of work done as part of our Personal Values lesson.

Thursday was the big day. All week, students had been impatiently waiting for their matches and I was pleased to deliver this information before the long weekend. Happily, I was able to pair most mentees with mentors they chose. In some cases, I spoke with students individually regarding their choices and how they might show more growth with a different person. All-in-all, students walked out looking forward to working with their partners.

There was a lovely staff professional development opportunity on Friday. I got to learn more about Achieve 3000, a computer program that reinforces reading concepts. Additionally, I learned how to effectively utilize Cornell Notes, an AVID strategy, to foster close reading.

September 11th - 15th

Things are starting to settle in over here. I'm awaiting paperwork from a few more mentees, which means we had to postpone our first Mentor/Mentee Monday. Although I'm a little disappointed, I'm confident that we'll begin this important component of YESS next week!

Now for the good stuff. The students completed the Mentoring in the Community lesson on Monday. During this assignment, they work with their cooperative learning groups to develop a fictional community that utilizes mentoring.

Tuesday, we implemented Tutoring Tuesday procedures and many students are learning the importance of reaching out to others for help.

In order to prepare for our Mentor/Mentee Interviews on Thursday, we took a whole day on Wednesday to draft effective questions and prepare our data notebooks. The learning target that most-closely associated with this vital lesson is from the high school level and I was delighted to see the students' responses when I informed them. They seemed to take the lesson even more seriously due to this fact. On Thursday, each mentor had an opportunity to interview each mentee and vice versa. I loved walking around and listening in on their conversations, which were equal parts hilarious (many students value a sense of humor, so they asked their interviewee to tell a joke) and insightful (they were asked to dig deep and communicate their needs). Now, I have the difficult job of pairing them up based on two factors: 1. Finding compatible matches that will complement their strengths and 2. Their requests. They will know who they're partnered with this Thursday, so I've got some work to do!

Sixth Period Interviews

Friday, I challenged the scholars to write persuasive PEAL paragraphs regarding which mentor/mentee they would like to work with. PEAL is the format the school uses to ensure students fully answer an extended response question and, being the beginning of the year, the students struggle. After some scaffolding, nearly all the scholars were able to find success, which means I'll be working with a few kids one-on-one during Tutoring Tuesday tomorrow (we aim for a 100% success rate!). Afterward, we all went to the gym to play Four Corners, a perennial favorite!

September 5th - 8th

Please excuse the tardiness of the post, as I was out of the classroom for a few days and returned this morning.  Last week, we began our wonderful Tutoring Tuesdays. The students were anxious to begin receiving help on their homework and I'm glad to have the time and space to allow it. They did a wonderful job of consistently working on their assignments and I'm looking forward to hosting these tutoring days throughout the year.

On Wednesday and Thursday, they worked on creating Time Capsules, which will be opened at the end of the school year. This is one of the students' favorite activities and I know they'll enjoy opening their capsules in May!

We skipped No Fun Friday, since I was absent. Instead, the scholars created mentoring scenarios that could be implemented in their community. We incorporated multiple school initiatives by "Kagan-izing" the lesson (giving each team member clear responsibilities) and required students to write PEAL (Point, Evidence, Analysis, and Link) paragraphs. I've only just begun looking at their paragraphs and can see a wide range of skills. Part of our Tutoring Tuesday this week will be spent practicing this concept. You can check out one of my favorite examples below - The cars are top-notch!

August 28th - September 1st

I can't believe how quickly we're cruising through the school year already! Our second full week was a busy one.

Monday and Tuesday, we worked on our Coat of Arms project. This is an outstanding opportunity for our scholars to reflect on their lives and illustrate the things that are important to them. Check out one of my favorite examples from one of my favorite scholars!

Wednesday, we honored all the students who had birthdays in June, July, and August. I brought cookies and many students supplemented with their own treats! When everyone had eaten their snack, we played "Pin the Head on the YESS Logo" (my special version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey). The kids had a great time!

Thursday was busy in class and after school. In YESS, we discussed the definition of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and how the events in our world could be affected by SEL concepts. Back-to-School Night took place in the evening and was mighty fun. I always enjoy meeting our scholars' families!

Friday, we participated in a fun team builder that challenges students to stack plastic cups in various formations. The hardest one was to put all six cups one on top of the other. A couple teams were able to get five, but gravity got the better of them.

I'll be gone on Monday, the 11th, so tune in on the 12th for our newest edition!