I am grateful for sixth-graders' unabashedness. They will say whatever is on their minds, and their minds are weird. Two days ago, I was working with Charlie, and somehow mentioned I was from Indiana. And he instantly said, "Aw, Miss, is that why you have to wear your hair like that?!" When I told him that people from Indiana, in fact, can wear their hair however they please, he seemed legitimately surprised.
I am grateful also for moments of innocence from students who I thought were jaded. Today in one class, a student who was significantly behind in his superhero story was wasting time, so I went up to him and said, "what's going on man? We don't have time to waste!" He exasperatedly put his head back and said, "but, ugh, this is boring!!" So I was already kind of frustrated with how off task the rest of the class was and how far behind they were, so I came back quickly with, "you know what is even more boring than this? Staying in sixth grade the rest of your life." His reaction was terrifying and endearing. His eyes got huge and he picked up his pencil and said "miss, if I do this can I move up to seventh grade?!" I had not expected such a candid reaction from him, and was quick to say that yes, of course, and that we had plenty of time to make up te work he was behind on, but sheesh did that light a fire under him!
I am grateful for the competitive nature of sixth graders. A group of students was acting out during class while they were supposed to be writing. So I sat down at their table and told them I would write with them. That didn't work well, so I said, "I bet you guys can't sit here an work for five minutes without talking!" And started my watch. The next five minutes were the quietest of my day. They didn't even stop to realize that I hadn't actually bet them anything. The challenge was enough.
I am grateful for my after school co-coordinator. We had our introductory unit this week, and everything went off spectacularly! Running an after school program is a pretty complex task, especially coordinating a team that is as inexperienced at running an after school program as you are. But my co-coordinator and I have managed to pull it off and we already are averaging double the attendance from last year!
I am grateful for the wonderful Diploma's Now team at my school. We have awesome curricular support and today our English/Language Arts curricular expert gave all the ELA tutors a rundown of what writing looks like on the STAAR test (Texas standardized test). It will make me so much more effective to know what they'll be expected to do next year!
I am thankful for all my supportive friends back home! I know I can call any of them and talk for an hour to renew my spirit and regain my motivation! It's awesome to hear about the things you all are doing because I can feel pretty isolated down here.
But I am grateful for the friends I've made in San Antonio. I can tell some of these people are going to be in my life after City Year and that contributes to this year being way more than worth the hard work and long hours.
Lastly, I am grateful that I can wear clothes that are not my uniform tomorrow! Joy of all joys.
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