The past couple of weeks have been a whirl of chaos filled with relationship building and self centering thanks to our Trust and Gratitude activities and lessons.
During our Mentor Leader meeting, we decided that the relationships between the Mentors and Mentees were not at the levels they wanted them to be so we brain stormed activities to include in upcoming lessons where the partners could engage in interactive activities to learn more about each other and learn how to count on each other. One of the biggest challenges I face as a teacher here at ACHS is that I am on a cart so traveling with art projects (one of my life's biggest joys) can be a bit complicated because we are in another person's room and traveling with the projects on my cart is impossible a lot of the time. Leaving the projects in the room are also not an option because students in other classes are huge classes that are not always watched, leaving our projects that are hung on the wall vulnerable to being torn, drawn on, or pulled off the wall onto the floor, unfortunately. Because of this, the Trust Bridge lesson left us with coming up with creative ideas as to how to explore and build trust between one another and among the class as a whole. Our main activity got us all up and moving and it was quite the entertainment event for the bystander.
Along the hallway for about 8 feet was an obstacle course full of chairs and the directions left the mentors being blind folded on one side while the mentees were on the other side, directing them verbally how to get past the chairs without touching them. This tied in our lesson on communication from the previous week and connected the aspect of trust because of the vulnerability the blind folded person experienced, trusting that their partner would not lead them to trip over the chair or into the wall. We played 2v2 and the winning team to cross the finish line first got chocolate pastries I gave them as rewards, they were a hungry bunch so the competitiveness levels were at an all time high!
The short week before thanksgiving break got out, we explored the theme of Gratitude. We all shared our own version of what being thankful means in our own lives and related our gratitude towards people, creatures, health, and our experiences, both bad and good. At the end of the discussion heavy day, we made Thank You cards to give to a staff member, a family member, and a friend/peer. This tied in to analyzing who in our lives that we trust and who we have in our lives that we may not always have the opportunity to sit down and write how appreciative we are for the little things they contribute to the world and to us for their love, nourishment, and for always being there when times get tough and to share happiness.
The students wrote cards for a lot of their teachers but I also received some cards for the lunch ladies, security guards, and the janitors of ACHS, who are people who don't receive enough gratitude for what they do for our kids so I was really touched by the love our YESS classes were able to spread all over the school. I also received a handful of cards from students but one that I really loved was from team Chicken Nuggets named Brandon. He is a quiet student who doesn't often express himself so it was a real surprise to see how he felt about the class and what YESS offers him. Reading these from my students gave me a new recharged sense of passion and love for what I do and how reaching out to the ones who don't always advocate for themselves is always important. I'm so thankful for these young people in my life and it is a shining reminder that I learn from them just as much as they learn from me. Feeling so grateful.
Until next time,
Ms Castro
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