Week 9: Bonding

First week of After-School Homework Help!

Team Day - orange water at Daley Plaza.  Photo courtesy of Alan.

This week was full of: Getting ready for the attendance rally, visits from Senior Corps, a full room on Thursday for Homework Help, starting behavior coaching sessions, cheer team tryouts, making calls at the CTA office with Jade, and brunch & Daley Plaza for Team Day.

Joys:  Hearing that a student was showing off his "Certificate of Participation" I made for Leadership Lunches, tutoring a student I hadn't met yet with Spanish, and having a student promise to come to school on time every day (and he did it the next day!).

Week 8: Planning

National Service Parade in Springfield, IL

Hey girl, heyyy!

This week was full of:   Planning to start behavior sessions and cheer team coaching next week, meetings for service reserves and event coordinators, a fieldtrip to Springfield for an AmeriCorps Ceremony, and spending a whole day freaking out that I left my straightener on and was burning down the house... to come home and discover that it was off.

Ls:  Umm... don't leave my straightener on.... also, the power of framing potentially negative situations as a positive (ex. "you were selected to join our Leadership Lunches," vs "you have to attend behavior coaching because you have some problems in class"). 

Joys: Meeting Senator Durbin, getting high-fived by random little kids on the street who love City Year, watching one student explode with happiness when I told him he'll join my Leadership Lunches, and catching one student re-reading the birthday card I gave him in class :-)

Week 7: Eating

Greeting students... aka, probably getting down to Destiny's Child

Surprise lunch-time birthday party! Love my team

 This week was full of:  Getting to know students better, working on the attendance rally, and tons of treats for birthdays and the teacher meet & greet and no reason at all.

Joys:  My birthday!!  My team made me feel so so special, and my students sang to me :-)  Also, I helped a student draft his essay during lunch and he actually brought his final copy on time!

Week 6: Nesting

First time at our school!  Photo courtesy of Andrea

This week was full of: anxiously meeting teachers and students; hanging out in our CY room figuring out how to best use our time; cpr training; and hoping I didn't just call a student by the wrong name.

Qs: We have so many things "in jello" right now!  What do I actually need to get done?

Joys: greeting our students in the morning with Teach Me How To Dougie (and other similarly-awesome songs), being asked by my coordinating teacher, Mr. S, to lead a mini-lesson, making friends with the security guards, and seeing students and staff go all out for Nerd Day.

Week 5: Bursting

Chicago '10-11 Corps, about to burst forth. 

Roomies!

 This week was full of: wearing our uniforms! (and feeling absurd with pants that high); painting murals; the last of TJ School and training; lots of PT; and bonding at the Waiting for Superman movie, alum meet & greet, opening day par-tay, and team potluck. 

Joys: Dedicating our red jackets at the wonderfully emotional ceremony, bursting forth at Opening Day ceremony in Millennium Park to officially mark the start of our service, and introducing non-CY roomie Katie to (most of) my C School team at the potluck.

Weeks 1-4: Training

Team after performing PT in birthday hats

Service day - reppin' CTA at the Mexican Independence Day Parade

This month was full of: So much! Training workshops for hours at TJ school with the corps; hanging out during lunch breaks; retreating at Camp Duncan with bonfires, ropes course, caf food, cards, boats, diversity workshops, a talent show, and all-around CY love; participating in a parade; painting at CTDC High School and seeing how appreciative the principal was; exploring Chicago with my Journey Team on the scavenger hunt; playing haiuken and wah; visiting North Lawndale and meeting the head of the community newspaper; and becoming an expert at the el.

Joys: All of the above :-)