Fear & Cyberbullying

Playing the "fear box" game with 5th hour.

Wow! It is hard to believe we are almost into February. It has been a great year so far in YESS as we have delved into discussions centered around fear. Fear is a strong, primal emotion, and for a few days we simply talked about what we fear and why. We played a game where each scholar had to write one fear they had on a piece of paper. I collected all of the pieces in the "fear box" and we then took turns reading them aloud one by one. If you agreed with the fear, you had to move to the "yes" side of the classroom. If you did not find the fear scary, you moved to the "no" side. This exercise is great because our scholars are able to see that they are not alone in their fears--in fact, many if not most of their peers share their fears: the fear of losing a loved one, the fear of being alone, the fear of not succeeding and graduating, or the fear of being rejected. Once we realize we are not alone in our fears, they start to become less powerful.

In order to understand exactly how one can reject fear, we watched a video that explained how we can name our fears and, in time, reject them. We learned that, just like with any personal issue, the first step is awareness. The next step is positive thinking--much like our ritual, Today I Choose. The final step is needing to take action in opposition of the fear. This is the hardest step for it requires on to embrace the fear and to likely ask for help and support in doing so (often our fears keep us from asking for help when we need it most). It was a challenge for our scholars to name, reject, and take action against one specific fear.

An example of work from the video on Fear.

One great example of this was a mentor who struggled with trust. I encouraged her reach out to the person she trusts most to share three new private things about herself. Funny enough, the person she trusts most is also a mentor who struggles with trust. I had these young ladies share three things with one another in order to deepen and strengthen their relationship. "Miss!" She told me later in the week, "We did it! It was so weird. We felt really nervous. And we cried. But it was the best conversation we have ever had and we feel closer than ever now."

4th hour enjoys some free time on Friday.

We also spent some time discussing cyber-bullying and how fear plays into whether or not we feel empowered to do something about bullying. Stay tuned for more on bullying next week!

Web of Emotions

Last week we continued our discussion on emotions by completing an art project called, "Web of Emotions." Each scholar was allowed to decide whether they wanted to work with their mentor/mentee or whether they preferred to work on their own, as exploring one's connection to a certain emotion can be deeply personal. Before we began the projects, we reviewed the six core emotions and did a circle map to brainstorm any and all possible connections (adjectives, synonyms, actions/behaviors, triggers, places, things, and even colors) one might have to the emotion anger, for example.

Webs for "fear" and "sadness."

Webs for "anger" and "joy." 

Many chose to work on their own for this project so that they could explore their own personal connection to a specific emotion. Last week, I had asked each scholar to identify one of the six core emotions that they find to be the most challenging to deal with. I was so proud to see that many decided to do their project on their most challenging (or most difficult to control) emotion. 

Robert and his mentee Javoni do "Today I Choose..." together.

Celest and her mentee, Chloe, enjoy some fresh air on Friday afternoon.

We took two days to build our webs, and then had a wonderful gallery walk and share out. It is was so interesting to see the different ways each experiences anger, or sadness, or even fear. I could see a lot of self-awareness as we completed this exercise, and I really think our scholars benefited from a deeper understanding of they relate to certain emotions. 

Donovan and Austin play Monopoly during some Fun Friday free time.

Next week we will be doing some reflection work with the mentors as we prepare for break. We also have a pretty fun week planned with a school dance and an awards ceremony. Stay tuned!

Emotions

Brainstorming emotions with 5th hour.

This past week in YESS we began talking about emotions in more detail. We began by trying to brainstorm out as many emotions as we possibly could--shout out to Cora, Chadaey, and Jayleen, all of whom managed to come up with 41, 39, and 32 emotions in less than three minutes! These mentors have a strong EQ and are great about sharing out their knowledge--thanks, ladies!!

An example of the annotated reading we did last week.

As a class, we noted how many different words we can use to describe just one single emotion. For example, if we are sad, we may say we are feeling down, depressed, melancholy, blue, unhappy, miserable, gloomy, or heartbroken. Since there are SO many ways to describe how we are feeling, it is easy to see how miscommunication might occur. Both mentors and mentees did a great job of connecting this point to our lessons last week on communication.

Fabulous notes from a second year mentor!

We took some time to identify the six core emotions--sadness, anger, joy, disgust, surprise, and fear--and then we used some Kagan structures for a reading and writing exercise to learn more about the purpose of emotions. Though it took us two days to work through the reading, I am very proud to say our mentors did a great job of facilitating this activity. Our scholars were required to number the paragraphs, circle key words, and underline main ideas. They worked in groups of four and each member took a turn reading and relaying information to their group members so that all could record notes. We learned a several important facts, such as emotions are adaptions that help us survive and that there are three main components in how we process emotions: subjective, physiological, and expressive. We also noted that emotions give us important information about the world around us, and that others can take cues from our body language to take action to help us, if necessary.

7th hour ladies enjoying some free time on Friday afternoon.

Next week we will work on a group art project that will detail and explain the six core emotions and any/all associations that we have with that particular emotion.

Miscommunication

3rd hour during the drawing challenge.

This past week in YESS we continued our discussion on "stinking thinking" by discussing the issue of miscommunication and how it, in turn, can trigger some stinking thinking if we are not very careful with our language. The mentors and I have been talking about language for a few weeks now as  I have been coaching them on the approaches they take when (if) they have a conflict with their mentee. We noted how a simple sentence or two can set someone "on edge" without us having even realized the impact of our words. In order to be more aware, we did a couple of fun exercises to demonstrate just how easily miscommunication can occur and what happens as a result.

Austin tries to explain his drawing to his mentor, Chase.

We played the telephone game to warm up (not one class was successful in passing the sentence around the circle unchanged!) and then we watched a short video that noted four ways we can improve our communication. First, we must practice active listening; second, we must be open in the conversation and we must go slowly when talking; third, we must pay attention to the signals we send with our body language; and finally, we must be aware of the perceptions and perspectives we bring to each conversation based on our history, culture and personal experiences as these things influence the way we understand and see things.

Andrew working hard to follow Darrien's directions!

Isai and TJ during our drawing challenge in 5th hour. 

Everyone seemed to really connect with this issue of miscommunication. We noted how even a cell phone can cause problems by having auto-correct change a word while texting. Once we had increased our awareness about this issue, we then started working as mentor/mentee pairs to try and improve the ways we communicate. We had the mentees and mentors pair up, sitting back to back, for a drawing challenge. The mentors has two minutes to draw whatever they wished, but the catch was that they had to then explain how to draw the same image to their mentee--while remaining back to back. This was a great challenge and really helped our scholars get engaged with this issue of communication.

Chadaey tries to stop laughing as she attempts to draw "taste" for her group during Pictionary.

We took it a step further by playing team charades on Friday. It was VERY hard for our scholars to not talk during this game, but as time went on they all got better and better about using non-verbal cues to coach their team members along.

We are excited to talk more about relationships and communication next week!

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!