1. How did today differ from how I expected it to be? *I altered this question a little bit to make posts less redundant
2. What are the high points of the day?
3. What are the low points of the day?
4. What is one experience that caused me to grow today?
5. What am I excited about for tomorrow?
1. Today we found out our school assignments! As I noted Friday, I was hoping/expecting to get placed in a high school, so the outcome was different from my expectations. I will proudly serve at a Middle School this year! At first I was a little disappointed, although happy that I didn't get placed in an elementary school and thrilled that some of my favorite Crazy Team Travelers were also at my school! I did feel better the more I thought about it though. Allow me to tell you why. :)
So the research that we've been reading and that CY bases a lot of it's methods on suggests that 6th grade and 9th grade are the most crucial years to indicate whether a student will graduate on time. If a student reaches 9th grade with failing scores in Math or English, there is only a 25% chance of them graduating on time. TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT. That's a HUGE obstacle to overcome in 3 years! So the way I look at it, I'm going to be trying my darnedest to not let these kids reach 9th grade behind! We'll be serving 6th and 7th graders, so I can help them stay on track rather than have to help them catch up once they're already off of the track. Mainly I'm just saying that I am really excited to meet my students and start building that rapport with them!
2. Continuing that thought, a high point of the day was definitely getting to know my school team members. I knew 3 of them from our Crazy Team, so I am super excited to continue the awesome mojo we have going, but there were also people that I had never talked to before today. SO EXCITED about that! I miss my other Crazy Team members, but the way I look at it, we'll just have more to talk about when we get back together!
Other high points were learning the basics of how to tutor students by watching videos of past corps members. There was one video that was a reflection of a student who had just finished his year. He was amazing! The corps member asked questions like "What have you learned this year?" and "What do you think about City Year?" and his answers rocked. He was so positive and even said that he loved City Year and was so excited to graduate and get his red jacket and help kids go to college just like he will! It was amazing. And guess what!? He was a 6th grader at my school! Pumped.
Also a high point was all the build up to find out our school teams. I was so nervous and excited! Everyone gathered in a big room for the reveal and all the Team Leaders (TL's) gave a schpiel about their school and got everyone really excited about all of them. It was just such a joyous occasion! It sounds cheesy, but it had the potential to just be hum-drum matter of fact, and the TL's and staff made it like it was Christmas! We all received a puzzle piece and had to find our other school team members and put our puzzle together to find out our school! It was a blast.
One more high point. At my school, City Year gets its own full-size room! We get to decorate it and use it as our home base. I am SO excited about that, because it will help integrate CY as part of the school's culture. The room is right at the front of the school, so students will be able to drop by and hang out (when appropriate) and that makes me really hopeful for the school year!
3. Low point was definitely Crazy Team Traveler breaking up. There were a few that I was realllly hoping were on my school team, but I know that we'll stay in touch and that this is just an opportunity to make new friends! Gosh, I sound like I should have been placed at an elementary school. :)
One other low point is that my school is a ways from my apartment, which will make for a lengthy 1 hour bike commute. As of now, I am still fully planning on biking every morning because 1) I have no desire to pay for gas and 2) physical activity in the morning makes me feel so much more like a productive human being. So with the evidence I've gathered, I will have to leave my apartment at 6:15am. Sounds crazy now, but I am intentionally writing down that I will bike to work so that I can hold myself accountable while being realistic.
4. I think that the reveal caused me to grow today because it reminded (once again) that what I want is not always what I need or where I need to be. I wanted to be in a high school with the closest friends I've made so far. Doesn't sounds like a very good place to really grow as a person, seeing as 90% of my school experience is in a high school. This will give me an awesome insight into teaching middle school students, which I am currently licensed to do but wholly unprepared for. Also, meeting 10 brand new people and spending ridiculous amounts of time of them can only be wonderful (judging by the last time I did that, which was last week).
5. Tomorrow, we're going to do outdoorsy stuff! I am excited to be a little active during the day and spend the day bonding with my school team! Also, we can wear cargo shorts tomorrow as long as they're knee-length and we can wear any color of tennis shoes. SO just picture it: tucked in white shirt, khaki cargo shorts with black belt, and running shoes. I'm going to be a fashion plate tomorrow.
2. What are the high points of the day?
3. What are the low points of the day?
4. What is one experience that caused me to grow today?
5. What am I excited about for tomorrow?
1. Today we found out our school assignments! As I noted Friday, I was hoping/expecting to get placed in a high school, so the outcome was different from my expectations. I will proudly serve at a Middle School this year! At first I was a little disappointed, although happy that I didn't get placed in an elementary school and thrilled that some of my favorite Crazy Team Travelers were also at my school! I did feel better the more I thought about it though. Allow me to tell you why. :)
So the research that we've been reading and that CY bases a lot of it's methods on suggests that 6th grade and 9th grade are the most crucial years to indicate whether a student will graduate on time. If a student reaches 9th grade with failing scores in Math or English, there is only a 25% chance of them graduating on time. TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT. That's a HUGE obstacle to overcome in 3 years! So the way I look at it, I'm going to be trying my darnedest to not let these kids reach 9th grade behind! We'll be serving 6th and 7th graders, so I can help them stay on track rather than have to help them catch up once they're already off of the track. Mainly I'm just saying that I am really excited to meet my students and start building that rapport with them!
2. Continuing that thought, a high point of the day was definitely getting to know my school team members. I knew 3 of them from our Crazy Team, so I am super excited to continue the awesome mojo we have going, but there were also people that I had never talked to before today. SO EXCITED about that! I miss my other Crazy Team members, but the way I look at it, we'll just have more to talk about when we get back together!
Other high points were learning the basics of how to tutor students by watching videos of past corps members. There was one video that was a reflection of a student who had just finished his year. He was amazing! The corps member asked questions like "What have you learned this year?" and "What do you think about City Year?" and his answers rocked. He was so positive and even said that he loved City Year and was so excited to graduate and get his red jacket and help kids go to college just like he will! It was amazing. And guess what!? He was a 6th grader at my school! Pumped.
Also a high point was all the build up to find out our school teams. I was so nervous and excited! Everyone gathered in a big room for the reveal and all the Team Leaders (TL's) gave a schpiel about their school and got everyone really excited about all of them. It was just such a joyous occasion! It sounds cheesy, but it had the potential to just be hum-drum matter of fact, and the TL's and staff made it like it was Christmas! We all received a puzzle piece and had to find our other school team members and put our puzzle together to find out our school! It was a blast.
One more high point. At my school, City Year gets its own full-size room! We get to decorate it and use it as our home base. I am SO excited about that, because it will help integrate CY as part of the school's culture. The room is right at the front of the school, so students will be able to drop by and hang out (when appropriate) and that makes me really hopeful for the school year!
3. Low point was definitely Crazy Team Traveler breaking up. There were a few that I was realllly hoping were on my school team, but I know that we'll stay in touch and that this is just an opportunity to make new friends! Gosh, I sound like I should have been placed at an elementary school. :)
One other low point is that my school is a ways from my apartment, which will make for a lengthy 1 hour bike commute. As of now, I am still fully planning on biking every morning because 1) I have no desire to pay for gas and 2) physical activity in the morning makes me feel so much more like a productive human being. So with the evidence I've gathered, I will have to leave my apartment at 6:15am. Sounds crazy now, but I am intentionally writing down that I will bike to work so that I can hold myself accountable while being realistic.
4. I think that the reveal caused me to grow today because it reminded (once again) that what I want is not always what I need or where I need to be. I wanted to be in a high school with the closest friends I've made so far. Doesn't sounds like a very good place to really grow as a person, seeing as 90% of my school experience is in a high school. This will give me an awesome insight into teaching middle school students, which I am currently licensed to do but wholly unprepared for. Also, meeting 10 brand new people and spending ridiculous amounts of time of them can only be wonderful (judging by the last time I did that, which was last week).
5. Tomorrow, we're going to do outdoorsy stuff! I am excited to be a little active during the day and spend the day bonding with my school team! Also, we can wear cargo shorts tomorrow as long as they're knee-length and we can wear any color of tennis shoes. SO just picture it: tucked in white shirt, khaki cargo shorts with black belt, and running shoes. I'm going to be a fashion plate tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment