Today was an EXCELLENT DAY! Let me splain; there were 3 main victories.
Victory #1
One of my students has a significantly lower reading level than my others (like kindergarten level low) and as a result, has basically resigned to answering "I dunno" to any question asked of him. Like ever. Like if you ask "Why don't you like to read?" he will answer with a shrug. When I prompt him with "Is it because it's hard?" shrug. "It's okay that you don't like it, I just want to know what makes you not like it." shrug. SHRUG!
Today, we did a fluency lesson. Fluency is a student's ability to read aloud with accuracy and speed. So we began by reading a passage that I had already picked out (it was the plane crash scene in Hatchet, which totally roped in most of my students because I purposely picked a super suspenseful place to stop---"Miss! Does he make it out of the water alive!?" "Oh, I don't remember, but you can borrow the book and read for yourself!" heh heh). He read as far in the passage as he could get in 1 minute by himself and I marked how far he got. I also wrote down words that he mispronounced and went over them with him.
The next step is to practice reading together in unison. That didn't work well with this student because he didn't know how to pronounce the words well enough to do it in sync; he was always waiting for me to say it and then he repeated them. So we did echo reading instead--exactly what it sounds like; I read 4-5 words and then the student does, then I say the next 4-5 words, etc. He did that really well, pronouncing the words perfectly after listening to me and looking in his book.
After that, he got to read the same passage one more time on his own to see if he could get farther on his own this time. He read 2 sentences farther! Not only that, but he pronounced 5 words correctly out of the 7 he had missed the first time! I was SO EXCITED, and it was so obvious that he couldn't help but be happy too. I asked why he thought he did better that time and he said without prompting, "because I practiced it." NO SHRUG! He is normally way too cool for school, but he totally cracked a real smile when he saw how excited I was for him. It's going to be a long road, but him seeing that practicing can give him actual results is invaluable at this point.
Victory #2
In after school, behavior has been going a lot better. We've implemented a "Swag Tag" system where students are given a raffle ticket when they are caught doing something good (being on task, answering a question, helping their neighbor, sitting quietly, etc). They write their names on the tickets and put them into a box. Every week, 3 names are drawn out of the box and the winner gets a prize. It's simple: the more good things you do, the better chances you have in the raffle!
Also an exciting thing is that next week, we are going on field trip! We're going to the San Antonio Museum of Art and the kids are really excited to go!
So today I was working with a couple of girls on ELA before we started the enrichment lesson, which was on Music today. The girls are best friends and CAN NOT sit together without talking and giggling. It inevitably resulted in the corps member leading the lesson to get frustrated with their talking and ask one girl to move across the room. She refused, he insisted. She finally got up, cursed AT the corps member in front of the whole room, got her things and walked out.
I caught up with her right before she reached the door. Small victory that she didn't keep going out the door; it was a distinct possibility. We talked through what had happened, talked about why the corps member might have acted in a way she perceived as really mean and what she could have done better. I asked if she thought she would be allowed on the field trip if she left today's lesson like she did, and she shook her head. I asked what she thought she should have to do to regain her ability to go on the field trip. Together, we decided that she should have to go back into the library and finish out the lesson. After everyone was leaving, she would apologize to the corps member for her behavior.
SHE DID IT. SHE DID ALL OF IT.
I know it's hard to understand how big of a deal this is, but I know I always had a hard time asking for forgiveness in that way, and it was a huge piece of humble pie she had to swallow. She took it like an amazing young woman and I was so proud of her that when she said sorry that I almost cried. It was
amazing and I could tell she was happy with herself for making the right choice. It was wonderful.
Victory #3
Today our team hosted a family literacy night at our school. We invited students to bring their families for a night of ELA games and Math games. Our two ELA coordinators basically organized the whole thing on their own with a lot of pressure from our partners in the school, and they bore it so gracefully and everything went fantastically!
About 150 people came in total, and there was hot chocolate (which you could earn by playing 2 ELA games and 2 Math games and getting stickers in your "passport") we also had dinner provided by our wonderful parent liaisons. I was so proud to be a part of our team tonight because we all prepared for our respective games thoroughly and it was obvious to the parents that we cared about the students and that we're an asset to our school. I never doubt that fact, but it's nice to parade it around in front of interested parents.
I got to meet one of my students' families, with her little brothers and sisters who were incredibly adorable. I joked around with students who I normally have to redirect in class, which was extremely refreshing and I'm sure they liked that version of Ms. C. a little better. We also had visitors from another CY team to assist in our program, so it was fun to show them around and show our school and our team off to them. We had a lot of fun and I know the kids had a blast.
As you can read, I had a fantastic day! I love my job!
Victory #1
One of my students has a significantly lower reading level than my others (like kindergarten level low) and as a result, has basically resigned to answering "I dunno" to any question asked of him. Like ever. Like if you ask "Why don't you like to read?" he will answer with a shrug. When I prompt him with "Is it because it's hard?" shrug. "It's okay that you don't like it, I just want to know what makes you not like it." shrug. SHRUG!
Today, we did a fluency lesson. Fluency is a student's ability to read aloud with accuracy and speed. So we began by reading a passage that I had already picked out (it was the plane crash scene in Hatchet, which totally roped in most of my students because I purposely picked a super suspenseful place to stop---"Miss! Does he make it out of the water alive!?" "Oh, I don't remember, but you can borrow the book and read for yourself!" heh heh). He read as far in the passage as he could get in 1 minute by himself and I marked how far he got. I also wrote down words that he mispronounced and went over them with him.
The next step is to practice reading together in unison. That didn't work well with this student because he didn't know how to pronounce the words well enough to do it in sync; he was always waiting for me to say it and then he repeated them. So we did echo reading instead--exactly what it sounds like; I read 4-5 words and then the student does, then I say the next 4-5 words, etc. He did that really well, pronouncing the words perfectly after listening to me and looking in his book.
After that, he got to read the same passage one more time on his own to see if he could get farther on his own this time. He read 2 sentences farther! Not only that, but he pronounced 5 words correctly out of the 7 he had missed the first time! I was SO EXCITED, and it was so obvious that he couldn't help but be happy too. I asked why he thought he did better that time and he said without prompting, "because I practiced it." NO SHRUG! He is normally way too cool for school, but he totally cracked a real smile when he saw how excited I was for him. It's going to be a long road, but him seeing that practicing can give him actual results is invaluable at this point.
Victory #2
In after school, behavior has been going a lot better. We've implemented a "Swag Tag" system where students are given a raffle ticket when they are caught doing something good (being on task, answering a question, helping their neighbor, sitting quietly, etc). They write their names on the tickets and put them into a box. Every week, 3 names are drawn out of the box and the winner gets a prize. It's simple: the more good things you do, the better chances you have in the raffle!
Also an exciting thing is that next week, we are going on field trip! We're going to the San Antonio Museum of Art and the kids are really excited to go!
So today I was working with a couple of girls on ELA before we started the enrichment lesson, which was on Music today. The girls are best friends and CAN NOT sit together without talking and giggling. It inevitably resulted in the corps member leading the lesson to get frustrated with their talking and ask one girl to move across the room. She refused, he insisted. She finally got up, cursed AT the corps member in front of the whole room, got her things and walked out.
I caught up with her right before she reached the door. Small victory that she didn't keep going out the door; it was a distinct possibility. We talked through what had happened, talked about why the corps member might have acted in a way she perceived as really mean and what she could have done better. I asked if she thought she would be allowed on the field trip if she left today's lesson like she did, and she shook her head. I asked what she thought she should have to do to regain her ability to go on the field trip. Together, we decided that she should have to go back into the library and finish out the lesson. After everyone was leaving, she would apologize to the corps member for her behavior.
SHE DID IT. SHE DID ALL OF IT.
I know it's hard to understand how big of a deal this is, but I know I always had a hard time asking for forgiveness in that way, and it was a huge piece of humble pie she had to swallow. She took it like an amazing young woman and I was so proud of her that when she said sorry that I almost cried. It was
amazing and I could tell she was happy with herself for making the right choice. It was wonderful.
Victory #3
Today our team hosted a family literacy night at our school. We invited students to bring their families for a night of ELA games and Math games. Our two ELA coordinators basically organized the whole thing on their own with a lot of pressure from our partners in the school, and they bore it so gracefully and everything went fantastically!
About 150 people came in total, and there was hot chocolate (which you could earn by playing 2 ELA games and 2 Math games and getting stickers in your "passport") we also had dinner provided by our wonderful parent liaisons. I was so proud to be a part of our team tonight because we all prepared for our respective games thoroughly and it was obvious to the parents that we cared about the students and that we're an asset to our school. I never doubt that fact, but it's nice to parade it around in front of interested parents.
I got to meet one of my students' families, with her little brothers and sisters who were incredibly adorable. I joked around with students who I normally have to redirect in class, which was extremely refreshing and I'm sure they liked that version of Ms. C. a little better. We also had visitors from another CY team to assist in our program, so it was fun to show them around and show our school and our team off to them. We had a lot of fun and I know the kids had a blast.
As you can read, I had a fantastic day! I love my job!
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