Defining Success & Student Conferences

We finished our first unit this week in our YESS program at Shaw Heights by wrapping up with a lesson on defining success. Scholars brainstormed a list of individuals they knew to be successful (no celebrities allowed!) and had to indicate why they believed these people were successful. When we shared out our ideas as a class, we touched on the values and characteristics these individuals possessed that helped them become successful. Many noticed that there were shared values such as grit and perseverance, organization and responsibility, and the ability to ask for help when necessary.

With this in mind, the scholars started working on a detailed worksheet about success. They worked in pairs and collaborated as tables to discuss various questions such as: 

What is the difference between success and failure?

What does success look like for you when you are 25? 45?

What are the three dominating factors that will contribute to your success right now?

The following day we regrouped to have a class discussion about the worksheet and the answers each scholar had provided. Using the Kagan technique of "No Hands Up," I called on students by way of shuffling index cards with each scholar's name so that everyone contributed equally to our conversation. It was wonderful to hear the opinions on what success looks like and how each believes they will achieve success. By far the most rewarding part of the lesson was when we went over the questions pertaining to future success. Our mentors and mentees were very eager to share their visions and dreams for their futures, and their hopes and desires provided meaningful framework for our  discussion about how we can implement changes in order to be more successful in the present.

As we discussed success, little did I know that our Community Reach liaison, Lorainne, had planned a special gift and surprise to honor my winning the staff member of the month award at Shaw Heights. She organized a beautiful assortment of gifts from the scholars, and she also had each write a very sweet message congratulating me on all the hard work which had lead to this success. I even had several scholars point out that I had won this award due to my awesome grit as I had to work through two surgeries this month. What great timing with this week's lesson on how to attain success!

This week we also had our first Student Conferences for the year, so we spent time as a class filling out a script which asked each individual to evaluate their performance thus far. Mentors and mentees were asked to grade the following: attendance and readiness to work; participation; demonstrating grit/perseverance and respect; organization; and lastly the academic work each has done by way of assignments, journal prompts, and projects. We will use student numbers to display each scholar's current progress on our new classroom charts, which will allow for more transparency in our classroom.

It was so wonderful to be able to meet so many of the family members I had heard so much about in class. Our conferences lasted from 5:00 until 8:00 the first night, and until 7:30 the second night. We had a great turnout and a lot of families said that they had heard so much about YESS and were so excited to come into our classroom. Next week we will delve further into relationships in our lesson plans!