What's Happenin' at Shaw Heights

What a crazy week?!  TWO SNOW DAYS?!  Every teacher at Shaw said this is like seeing a unicorn in WPS.  So, goodness we were all thankful!  Before the massive storm hit this is what we did... I did Mentor Monday with a twist this week; instead of our normal success and struggle sharing I spiced it up a bit.  We started with reviewing our goals then shared one success in our own lives, outside of YESS.  Most mentors shared that they passed a big math test in Mr. Hartman's class, have turned in multiple missing assignments, or won their basketball game.  It was great to hear the kids be proud of themselves and take the focus off their mentees for a day.  The kids then wrote a motivational sticky note for their mentee and found a way to surprise them with it.  I got to see some mentees read theirs later that day or on Tuesday and their faces just lit up when they read them.  This is something I'll do more often with mentors and I'm going ...

Gosh, things have been going so well in our class lately!  The kids are working hard, taking class seriously, and bonding!  It's been another awesome week over here at Shaw. Mentor Monday was another great day between mentors and myself.  I love this time with them.  Tuesday I introduced Emo Trolls but multiple times were called Elmo Trolls...haha.  We started by watching a few Snickers commercials to introduce the idea that "You Aren't You When You're Mad.".  It really got the kids' attention and they completely understood the idea of acting unlike ourselves when we are triggered or mad.  I then introduced the three main ways we can react; Stuff, Stab, or Explode then went into detail about each troll along the pendulum of reactions.  The kids then did a sort to find a behavior, why, and consequence for each troll.  I was impressed at how well they worked and how much they learned that day! Then, thanks to Alex again, we played a Fami...

Happy Monday!  Gosh dang, I am sick of the snow!  Anyone else?! We had another great week here at Shaw.  Monday was an awesome time for mentors to reflect on their mentoring so far this year/semester.  They self-assessed on a rubric (thank you, Alex!!) then I also scored them.  They will get those back today.  Tuesday was for hot and cold buttons.  The classes did a great job of pushing through a lesson that was both complicated and informing.  I was proud of their perseverance.  Wednesday we talked about parent teacher conferences and the kids worked hard to support each other in their missing assignments before parents came that evening.  Both Wednesday and Thursday were LONG days for me but I loved meeting and seeing so many parents at conferences.  We ended the week with fun "Friday" but only on Thursday.   The kids were totally okay with that.  A few kids took over periods 4, 5, and 6.  In 4th hour we ...