November at ACMS

It seems like we blinked and November came and went.  I’m happy to report that there have been many lessons and meaningful connections in November that I should mention.

This past month the students completed lessons about Conflict, Fear and Miscommunication and of course we talked about Gratitude! I think that in order to for mentor-mentee pairs to increase their connection and work as an effective team then these lessons must be tackled, sooner rather than later.

The students now have an idea of the difference between being in conflict with a peer versus having a miscommunication break-down with a peer.  I think that many students learned that some conflicts aren’t truly real and that they simply need to clear things up with someone instead of getting angry and defensive.

The students also learned about fear and the consequences of ignoring it. I think that fear is normal and an important part of survival however it should exist as an instinct rather than a state of being. Living in a constant state of fear is not healthy or normal and I hope my students learned that there are ways to cope and manage the feeling of fear.

There are a couple of students who have made some significant improvement in the program and I feel the need to share a little bit about each of them!

There is a 6^th grade student named Jaylene who has made such growth and progress in YESS and I think that it is partially due to the influence of her YESS partner. Jaylene was someone who struggled to come out of her shell. She was incredibly shy at the start of the semester, she was not comfortable sharing her opinions or even discussing how her day went.  These last 3 weeks she greets me and her students with confidence and will volunteer information about how her day is going and how she is feeling. I’m so impressed with the growth and progress that she has made!

I also have an 8^th grade student who has turned her behavior around in the last two weeks. She was quite, easily irritated and had a reputation for getting into physical fights quite often! These last two weeks she’s been focused in class and she’s distanced herself from students who don’t have a positive impact on her. I feel fortunate, that I get to witness this transformation and I hope she maintains her focus.

I had to save the best for last (insert drumroll) and mention that the YESS students of ACMS now have access to clean water that does not “taste like bleach!” The water in commerce city taste awful and it’s up for debate as to whether or not the water is completely toxic! I know for a fact that access to clean water is a human right and will allow students to feel hydrated and nourished so that they can focus on their health as well as on their grades and test scores.  I have to say thank you to Carlo, Sara and Jamie for their efforts! The kids are enjoying the Culligan water and it gets used every single day by a YESS student! Thank you to the YESS admin team and thank you to Peter Grady. The kids are very appreciative and so am I!

ACMS October

This month we went over several lessons from the YESS curriculum. The lessons that the students seemed the most responsive to were....

Time Capsule

May I Introduce

SEL and The Brain

Miscommunication Lesson

The students have been working hard this past month. They've been utilizing the Tutoring Tuesdays and have shown the most improvement in Math and Language Arts. The 7th grade YESS students have worked hard to use Tuesday as an opportunity to get ahead or caught up in their core classes.

The students were excited to find out who their mentor partner was going to be. I was super impressed with the amount of time and effort the 8th grade students put into their May I Introduce presentations. I think that they truly took it as a time to get to know one another beyond the surface 

level.

The student's also enjoyed designing and voting on a T-shirt design for the class. There were two designs that the students liked but one design beat the other by a few counts. The students ask me when they will arrive about twice a week. 

I decided that October was going to be a month with increased meditation and grounding work. The snow days and early release days caused significant changes to their schedule and re-arranged everything. I decided that meditation would be helpful for the students who felt out of routine. I was initially met with resistance but now many of my students are asking for meditation as soon as they enter the classroom! 

Whats happening in YESS at ACMS Sept

Hello Team!

This September, the students at YESS have been working very hard. We’ve covered several lessons over the past month such as, What is Y.E.S.S?, Coat of Arms,  Time Capsules, What is SEL ?and The 5 domains of SEL as well as Mentoring 101! We have also had a couple class visitors from the community.  We had Alex from Padres Y Jovenes Unidos show up to talk to the kids about what is happening to improve education for black and brown kids in the Denver community (they work in the surrounding areas of Denver as well).

This kids were given the opportunity to interview him and thought that he was cool. We also had a chance to receive a visit from Mr. Marcos! He’s a part-time sub but a full time artist. Mr. Marcos is a film director, break-dancer, music producer and an educator. He stopped by The Annex to talk to my students about his animated sci-fi film. The film is all about kids who are tasked with saving the world. The title of the film is The Tomorrow Makers.  

This month we’ve had a few things to celebrate. The kids have been working hard on 'Tackle it Tuesday' and they are now sharing the fact that they have made improvements to their grades with me and the rest of the class.  I have two students in particular who I want to celebrate. I have a student  named Alexis who has been using Tuesdays to make improvements in math. He’s even stopped me in the hall to let me know that his grade has improved. I also have another student named Carlos who met with me to discuss his grade.  He and I chatted and decided that he needed to do some extra work preparing for test and quizzes. He also admitted that he talks often in Math class and sometimes misses information. He set a goal for himself to limit his excessive talking and prep for test and he’s recently brought his grade up by one letter. I am extremely proud of him.

The students added the leadership qualities they possess to their mentor men.

We did a lesson on community as they students made a mock up of their ideal communities/towns.

We have also had some great circle talks in class. I have noticed a few more kids opening up to their classmates. I have one student in particular who shared during a circle talk that she wants to work on speaking up more and admitted that YESS class has helped her overcome shyness.  I have witnessed this growth first hand and it has been great to see.

I look forward to updating you all on everything that YESS class has done next month! 

Off to a good start at ACMS

Hey Team,

Things are getting off to a good start here at Adam City Middle School. We have spent a some time getting to know each other and having some great discussions and break throughs via circle talks.
The students are participating in mindful minutes and learning how to work together. I am happy to report that we have also finished designing our shared agreements.

I witnessed and amazing level of concentration and teamwork during this activity. 

The students filled out "About Me" flags that share their interest and hobbies.

Fun Fridays are a hit here at ACMS.

Students have gifted me with Pokémon cards and beautiful sketches to add to the room.

Work Hard Play Hard

Hey All,

 This past month, students at Adam's City  have been working together as they learn about key terms from the curriculum. The kids also had the opportunity to practice introspection.

I've talked with many students who felt betrayed or were worried about being isolated from a friend group. I think that the big questions that needed to be asked were....what should I do when I accidentally hurt my friends' feelings? How should I react when a friend has shared a secret?
I have be honest and admit that I'm still learning how to talk to students about these challenging social situations.

I think that when all else fails I let them engage in play! It not only allows them to get their frustrations out but also allows for time to gain perspective on things. I want my future students to know that at YESS we will cover heavy topics but we will also have fun. I have added some pictures for you all to see. The students took some time away from lunch to work define and learn about the word "accountability" I really enjoyed reading their statements. I also had a fun Friday where we played capture the noodle!

I hope everyone had a great work week! 

Portia's first post...finally!

Hey Team,

I just wanted to reach out and say that I have felt so supported and motivated by you all and I'm nervous to post this since I don't have students yet. I will say that coming to ACMS in January has been a challenge but I love the staff members and the students as well. I've been trying to be helpful to the admin team and also to the students. I've spent my time here doing the best that I can to build relationships with the students and I have to say that its starting to pay off.  I'm throwing a mixer this week and I'm excited to share that with you all! Have a great week! 

Helping out in the office. I've gotten great at signing tardy slips. 

The last basketball game of the year for the Lady Eagles. I've turned in an unofficial basketball mom. I loved going to the games this year! I ate lots of chips, and I met some referees who may not be too fond of me! :)