Weeks 12 & 13: Loving

Ready to mingle and offer treats to parents on conference day

A few of the kids hanging out in the gym with us before school

Some of my cheerleaders... their innocent smiles are deceiving :-)

Volunteering at an Animal Control Center for a teamlette service day

Trudging our way through the storm for the Fall Feast

These weeks were full of:  so much relationship-building with students!  My first one-on-one evaluation with my supervisor, spending a Saturday service day volunteering at an Animal Control Center, the Fall Feast with the whole corps, attending lectures on Social Emotional Learning and Poverty & Urban Schooling, and organizing the Family Meet & Greet during parent conferences. 


Strategy of the Week:  Let your kids know that you love them.  Tell them you can already tell how intelligent they are and that you can't wait to see the quality work they produce.  Tell them you can tell what an asset they will be and that you are so glad they are in your class.  Tell them they are special and that they have the potential to be a great leader, just like their role models.  Do this for all kids, even if these things aren't true, because they act how we message that we expect them to act.  Reframe their behavior to empower them. 

Quotes of the Weeks:  "Teachers can't be too cool with their kids, or they think you a fool.  If I was a teacher, I wouldn't care if they liked me.  You can be nice, but you gotta be firm too."  - A Twelfth-Grader

"My daughter raised her grades this year... those red jackets are really helping her out." - A Parent

"Whose idea was it to start having basketball in the mornings before school?  I used to come to school just a little late, but now I come early."       - A Student 

"No disrespecting Ms. Lewis!"  - Called out by an often-unfocused student, while I was waiting for many of his classmates to stop talking

"There is no 'problem kid' that can't be fixed with affection, sunlight, and good food."  - Bill Strickland at the North Lawndale Community Meeting  

"I've tried to walk my cat on a leash before, but he gets so distracted... so now I just have a cat stroller." - Volunteer at the Animal Control Center

Joys:  Receiving an increasing number of regular hugs from students; having more students want to spend time in our City Year room to play cards, practice typing websites, chat, or draw (along with doing homework); hearing a student eagerly ask me "are you going to be in here with us all the time now?" while visiting the Special Education room; making a student who was having a bad day a comic about a superhero who controls his moods then hearing that he showed it off to everyone in his class; the complete attitude change in some of my juniors when I gave them a getting-to-know-you survey, wrote them all back a sincere letter, then taught a lesson using an essay I wrote describing how they will be successful with their names as examples; soaking in the pride and momentum at the North Lawndale Community Meeting; and hearing a 'challenging' student chose the word Love for a spirit break.

Week 11: Comparing

Hand Tools 101 at Service Reserves training... we could now BUILD our own school  :-)

This week was full of: starting to work in another classroom!  Mrs. T has been sooo welcoming into her College Prep Writing class of juniors.  Also, service reserves training, a Willy Wonka-themed community meeting, and loving having Mrs. R in our freshmen class (she is a guest who will lead my freshmen in a weekly workshop to create inspired pieces of writing, and is amazing.  During her first session, she learned all the students' names, got them discussing poems, shared how her teenage CPS son was shot recently, and encouraged them all to rise above the negative in their situations and follow their dreams). 

Ls: I now have a regular opportunities to observe Mr. S, Mrs. T, Mrs. R, and Mrs. S (the cheer coach).  They have such different styles and I feel so lucky to be able to work with all of them and "take the best" - use their most effective strategies in my own teaching.  This leads me to the introduction of....

Strategy of the Week: Expect all students to listen, so wait until you have everyone's full attention before speaking.  This is so basic and seems so simple, but I see what a drastic difference it makes. 

Joys:  Hearing such insightful viewpoints during a Q&A session with an alderman, Dept of Education rep, arts education non-profit organizer, and community news station rep; calling parents to tell them how glad I am to work with their amazing children; learning a lot about my student D when she brought photos to Leadership Lunches; hearing a teammate's life story about how City Year helped him when he was younger; soaking up the wise words on Poverty and Education by Timothy Knowles at the University of Chicago (he's founded 2 schools and a Teach for America site); and coffee and conversation with Phil.

Week 10: Roller-Coastering

Our first Service Briefing I compiled

This week was full of:  Things going crazy so laying down the law by setting expectations/rules for the cheer team and homework room, my first one-on-one time with two very difficult boys at our school, visiting the special education room, staying late at the office to print and send our Service Briefing, and celebrating Jasmyne's birthday.

L:  This wasn't new, but I appreciated Amanda's reminder that though there is a lot that we have no control over in our schools, we can (and should) always "do something" to find a solution.

Quote of the Week: "Ms. Lewis, your voice always expresses kindness."
- "Elijah," a ninth-grader

Joys:  Walking into cheer practice to find the girls already warming up, participation from J in our first leadership lunch, and literacy training with Maggie - I always leave with new ideas!