T-shirt Winner & Thanksgiving Break

Hanging out with Amanda being silly before the break!

We have an exciting announcement regarding our YESS t-shirt contest at Shaw Heights--a winner has been chosen! Though we are awaiting official approval of the design, our peer-voted winners for this year's design contest are Celest and Chloe from 5th hour! Celest is a very talented artist and took several days to work out her hand drawn design. Many were blown away by her efforts--myself included! Congrats, ladies!

We did a lot of practicing with our, "Today I Choose..." maps before the break. I love how many of our scholars have chosen to keep with maps on their binders or right insider their planners. Many have also decorated their maps extensively, showing a lot of ownership and pride. I can see how these maps are already affecting the thinking process of our scholars.

The front design of the winning t-shirt.

The back design for the winning t-shirt.

We are starting our unit on the brain and will be talking a lot about fear this week. Stay tuned for more!

Today I Choose & "Stinking Thinking"

Quan contemplates our shared "Today I choose..." bubble map.

This past week in YESS was pivotal as we set a new routine and ritual in order to combat our "stinking thinking." This is a crucial lesson in YESS as it really sets the tone for self-care and advocacy. In this lesson we teach the importance of positive "loving kindness" and the fact that negative self-talk is a serious form of self-harm.

The "bad" apple is on the left--it decays at 5 times the rate of the "good" apple.

We watched a TedX video that discussed the power of words and the impact that "stinking thinking" thoughts like, "I'm no good, I might as well just quit," or, "I can't do it, I'm stupid." To further demonstrate just how seriously harmful negative self-talk can be we watched several experiments that show the impact and power of words. There have been many such experiments done since the 1960s when it was first discovered that our words can affect the structure and function of atoms and molecules. Our scholars watched as woman cut an apple in two, put the pieces into different jars, and proceeded to yell means things to one half while saying beautiful, loving things to the other half. She did this for three weeks and the result is shocking: the "bad" apple decays at about 500% the rate of the "good" apple (see picture). Our scholars could not believe the impact of negative words. I could see the collective shock on their faces..."this is what I am doing to my brain?" I had many approach me in a daze, saying how they want to share the information with their families and friends outside of YESS. I am proud of their desires to share this information, for too many of use engage in "stinking thinking" without realizing how significantly it affects us.

Bethsy's beautiful "Today I choose..." bubble map.Scholars are keeping them either in the front of theirYESS journals or in their daily planner if they wish to have it with them all day long (many decided to do this!). 

Once we all realized the severity of stinking thinking, we had to work hard to create a new ritual that will help combat these thoughts. This year we are going to be doing something called, "Today I choose..." at the start of each class. Each scholar has made a bubble map which they have filled with positive loving kindness. They will read their map at the start of class every day. In time, hopefully they will begin to internalize these words and phrases! "I am OK, I can do this," and, "I can help, I know what to do."

My personal "Today I choose..." bubble map!

Finally, on Friday we did a short breathing exercise to help show how powerful a tool one's breathing can be. I had our scholars listen to a short eight minute guided breathing exercise that focuses on taking long, deep breaths to the count of 3. It was great to see how relaxed and calm our scholars became in less than 10 minutes! The fact that it was such a short amount of time was one of the most powerful aspects--so many scholars were shocked as they felt like an hour had passed. This short exercise is just one tool they can use to combat stinking thinking.

Breathing exercises during 5th hour on Friday.

This week we will begin talking more about the brain (and our stinking thinking!). Stay tuned!

YESS T-Shirt Contest

A design from 5th hour.

A cool "pocket" design from 6th hour.

This past week was another art-filled one for us as our scholars worked to design a winning YESS t-shirt! Every year we hold a competition to see who can come up with the most innovative, fun, meaningful design for a Shaw Heights Middle School YESS t-shirt. Everyone had a great time working up new designs. Several decided to go with the "04" theme to represent the 4th year of YESS at Shaw Heights. Many drew or added the school falcon to their t-shirt, and we had a couple of artists who managed to free-draw the YESS logo. Next week we will vote for the top design in each class, and then we will select a winner from those top five.

Another great design from 6th hour!

Dressed up on Halloween with Symone and Ivan.

Sadly, I was quite sick last week so I missed the end of the week with our scholars but I am proud of their efforts to complete their t-shirts. We all had fun on Halloween as this was the first time in a long time that Shaw allowed students to dress up. I was the "ring leader" and am pictured here with two of my "clowns" and our penguin, Ernesto. We  had a lot of laughs, to say the least!


Next week we will select our t-shirt contest winner and we will begin working on our new unit--the brain. Have a great week!

Trust Bridges

Xavier and his team did a great job with their bridge!

Brad and his mentee Ivan plan their bridge.

We had a blast building our Trust Bridges this past week in YESS! We spent two days building our projects and one day presenting them. It was amazing to see the different designs our scholars came up with--there are so many variations! I was impressed by the way the mentors facilitated this project, especially the class presidents, all of whom helped me clean and organize after every class period so that our supplies remained nice and neat. I had many mentors who struggled with this project last year as mentee who now have a strong handle not only on how to build a trust bridge, but the message behind it. I loved seeing them take the lead this year!

Thomas makes a "snake" to go under his bridge.

Estrella shows off her beautifully colorful Trust Bridge.

Perhaps one of the best aspects of these mentor/mentee art projects are the teamwork and conversations that take place. I overheard many mentors and mentees discussing when someone had broken their trust, or how delicate trust is, or, even better, a time when they had to repair trust with someone and the steps they took to do so (usually with lots of outside help and support!). Mentees typically feel as though a damaged relationship is just that--damaged beyond repair. But I have some great mentors who are a living testament to the fact that one can not only make amends to a damaged relationship, but perhaps build it back even stronger than before. It is great to see these bonding moments taking place, and I can see how much closer our mentees and mentors are growing with every project and lesson.

Gallery walk during 5th hour.

Yajaira/Nevaeh's bridge and NaSirah/Paola's bridge--both so well done!

We had some free time on Friday after we completed our gallery walk and project share out, and I was glad to connect with some of my scholars about my future path to law school. Many are interested in a career in law, and I love getting to share my experiences with them as I work toward school. My mother recently sent me a copy of the new biography on Thurgood Marshall and so I let some of my mentors read the inscription my mother wrote on the inside cover. While many of my mentors are familiar with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, few recognized Marshall's name. 

Cruzz reads the inscription mother wrote inside the biography of Thurgood Marshall.

Alen works ahead on  Fun Friday- a great scholar!

I loved reading a few exerts to them, and I know they felt a special connection to the fact that my mother sent me the book and that I shared it with them. I think it is so important for our scholars to realize that we must always push ourselves to grow, especially intellectually, and that a book can be a priceless gift. My mother wrote about Marshall, "He was arguably the best legal mind of the 20th century--his intelligence, character, and courage are legendary. I hope you enjoy reading this--one day I know you will make your own mark in the legal arena!" I know how much my scholars value the fact that I share my life with them, and I was so impressed with the candor they showed as they sat around listening to me read about Marshall instead of playing UNO or Connect Four on Friday afternoon. I am also very proud of the fact that many of my mentors choose to do work to get ahead on Fridays instead of playing games. Alen is a great example of this scholarly work ethic! It was a great week at Shaw Heights. 

Next week we will be competing to design this year's YESS t-shirt. It will be another exciting week of artistic expression!

Conferences

Mentors work to fill our their conference scripts during Mentor Monday.

This past week sure was a busy one as we hosted our student-led parent conferences here at Shaw Heights. I am so happy to have met with over 50% of our families! Thank you to all who took the time to come by the room to speak with me. It is always a pleasure to connect with our YESS families. I am very proud of the way in which our scholars filled out their conference scripts and the confidence they all demonstrated as they went over these scripts and their classwork with their family members.

An example of our conference scripts.

One of the best aspects of conferences with YESS scholars is when I have had a mentee--perhaps one who previously struggled with academics and behavior--who is now a mentor and a scholar who clearly cares deeply about his or her education. I had so many wonderful conversations with parents as they celebrated how their child has gone from a mentee to a mentor in the program and just how much growth and change they have witnessed over the past year. It is such a joy for me to connect with parents in this way!

While we worked to complete our scripts, our mentors and mentees worked together to finalize their Trust Bridge project plans. Each pair will be building a bridge together and were asked to consider which materials they may need, what sort of design they are hoping for, and what information they would like to include from our Trust Bridge worksheet.

We are all looking forward to building the bridges next week--stay tuned!

Brisa and her mentee, Bethsy, have done a great job preparing for the Trust Bridge project!

Trust Bridges & Conference Scripts

Jayleen's Trust Bridge worksheet.

This past week in YESS we finally got started on one of the most beloved lessons--the "Trust Bridge." Trust is a cornerstone of our YESS classroom and community so we took a few days to discuss trust so that all understanding the significance and importance of building trust in our room. We began with writing in our journals about a time we built trust and a time we destroyed trust in one of our personal relationships. This really got our scholars thinking and sharing out all the various ways trust has been broken in their lives. We always get a lot of participation during this lesson as I believe trust is so important to our scholars and it is something with which they struggle on a daily basis.

Chadaey, myself and Anisea after the awards ceremony on Friday. Very proud!

We spent the first day filling in our "trust charts" with a lot of detail so that the mentor and mentee know whom each trusts and, more importantly, to what degree. We filled in the boxes with names of people to designate whether they are trusted "never/sometimes/mostly/always," and then as a class we had to share out two people we trusted either, "mostly," or "always." This allowed the whole class to better understand whom each trusts and why, further building our YESS community.

7th hour right before we headed up to the dodge-ball tournament/

The next day we went over the various ways one can build and destroy trust in a relationship. Our scholars noted that confidentiality, accountability, active listening, clear and honest communication, kindness, sharing about one's self, and being able to "hold space" are all great ways to help build trust in a relationship; on the flip side they said that lying, cheating, stealing, refusing to take accountability, not listening, being rude, and refusing to open up can really destroy trust. A harder step was for us all to pinpoint ways to rebuild trust once it has been destroyed. I was proud that our scholars noted that, just like when a real bridge has been destroyed, one will need the help of others to repair it. We noted that therapists and some friends or parents are great tools if one wants to work on rebuilding trust; we also noted that time, space, accountability, and making a plan for ways to change certain behaviors can help when trust has been damaged in a relationship. Next week we will have the mentors and mentees build an actual trust bridge together!

Ricky Valles won a special award for his growth!

7th hour plays Twister while we wait to get called to the gym.

Last week we also hosted our first quarterly awards and I was honored to bestow my Academic Award to Anisea Martinez and my Citizenship Award to Chadaey Apodaca. These two ladies have been with YESS all three years (!) and are amazing mentors, leaders, and scholars. They are exemplars in my classroom and I highly value their presence. I am so proud of all their hard work and especially their dedication to their emotional health and well being! An extra shout out goes to Ricky Valles, who was given a very special, very unique award by Mr. Carlson for all the amazing growth he has made since he arrived at Shaw three years ago. Congrats to all the award winners and thanks to all the parents who were able to make it!

Mentor Monday & 6 Word Sentences

Cora's "6 Words" worksheet.

Extra 6 word sentences from Cora.

This past week in YESS we hosted our first "Mentor Monday," a day where I take the mentors to another classroom where we work on leadership while the mentees stay in our YESS class with our school therapist, Tiffany Johnson. We had a great day with the mentors discussing roles and expectations and our mentors are very ready to help! We also took some time for each mentor to write him or herself a short letter about his or her new mentee. They were asked to name one hope, one fear, and to set one goal for their relationship with their mentee (we molded these letters after our Time Capsule lesson). I know that reading these letters on our last Mentor Monday come May will be very meaningful for our mentors.

Breann offered solutions to her 6 word sentence--very impressive EQ skills from a 2nd year mentor and 2nd year class president. 

The mentees had a great day with Ms. Tiffany as they did several fun team-builders and decorated the folders they will be using with her all year. I was happy to hear so many mentees saying what fun they had had and how much they are looking forward to Ms. Tiffany's class this year.

Ze'Aira did a wonderful job explaining a very personal and painful memory in her 6 word sentence.

Josiah, a new 6th grade mentee, explains in a 6 word sentence how he would feel without his mentor, Ean.

"Bikers" with the 6th grade team.

Last week we did a challenging exercise that asks our scholars to wax poetic. This lesson, called "6 Words," is a favorite among mentors who have done it before but often proves to be a mental challenge for new mentors and mentees. They are asked to write four "6 word" sentences about an important relationship in their lives, how they feel about life, the kind of mentor/mentee they do NOT want to be, and one that sums them up right now. It was wonderful to see how many different sentences our scholars created, and several mentors filled up the back of their worksheets with more sentences as they enjoyed it so much.

On Thursday, I worked with each scholar to identify his or her strongest sentence which they then illustrated. We are planning to display these in our classroom as they are very strong pieces of artwork. We did a gallery walk on Friday to go over every piece of art, and I had each scholar choose a different 6 word sentence from their own with which they felt a connection. They then had to share out to the class why they felt connected to that specific 6 word sentence. They also had to share out their own work. It was great to see how many scholars connected with numerous other sentences!

We had a pretty fun week at Shaw as it was spirit week! Monday was a tea party or a PJ party; Tuesday was Twin Day (I was a "twin" with three other 6th grader teachers); Wednesday was bikers or surfers; Thursday was super heros or super villians; and Friday was school colors day. I had a blast dressing up with our scholars and our staff--hope you enjoy the pictures!

Ean sharing my Buzz Lightyear costume on super hero day! 

Next week we will be building our "trust bridges"--certainly a favorite lesson with our mentors and one that really helps build the connection between mentor and mentee.