Values, Goals, & Senior Night

Welcome back y'all,

In C251 last week we did an activity that prompted us to really take a look at what is important to us. With the help from Vince (shout out to Vince, thank you!) I was given a fun, thought provoking, colorful activity that prompted students to establish their values and priorities in life and the future.

With 5 different colors and 4 cards per color, each student wrote down 4 responses to 4 prompts:

1- what physical objects to you need on a daily basis in order to function

2- what geographical locations hold meaning for you

3- what 4 people contributed to making you who you are

4- what personal and professional goals do you want for yourself in the future

5- what memories do you want to hold on to, what memories do you hold sacred

They then had to use a process of elimination in order to rank their priorities. This part was especially painful for each class and it reminded me of the intensity of young people's imaginations. One student felt sick for having to get rid of some cards and the over all energy in the room was sadness and pain when they were choosing what to eliminate. I reminded them that it was just an exercise and that it was not real, they are so tender hearted that they really felt that it was real. I appreciated how seriously they took it. Eventually they narrowed it down to a top 5 priorities and chose a top two where they were then instructed to identify whether or not their values were healthy and how to either maintain or decrease the presence of this value in their lives. They were silent and very reflective during this time which always lets me know the magnitude in which they take the lesson to heart and extracted meaning from it.

On another note, on Thursday I made it out to my first ACHS Volleyball game to show up for my sweet Senior, Giselle Alpizar. She was brought to tears at the end when she realized that this chapter of her life was over, but so many more beautiful chapters are to come for her. She is going to do great things in this world! I love her!

I don't know how to turn this photo... so... just tilt your head lol.

Until next week,

Ms. C

Fall Break!

Welcome back everyone!

There is not too much exciting news to update you all on as last week was Fall Break for ACHS.

Aside from getting grading and planning done myself I know that the kids had a restful break full of no worries and a LOT of sleep while I had some much needed peace and quiet in my classroom :-)

A highlight that I will mention though relates to The Hate U Give premiere!

I took two students, Shalayah and Lizbeth, to go see the movie on opening night. We laughed and cried together and after the movie on the way to drop them off we had an intense conversation about our own experiences with discrimination and how the movie did or did not apply to our lives. It was a heavy movie to watch but the message was so real and so very necessary to have that story told. Personally, I loved how digestible the movie was for youth to understand, it was the first time that I saw police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement being portrayed so honestly on the big screen, which in itself is monumental for cinema and for american culture alone.

Go see it in theaters asap!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MM8OkVT0hw

Until next week,
Ms C

Mom's Spaghetti, Testing, Tshirts & Break!

Welcome back everyone!

This week was a little different in regards to the scheduling due to testing, so we went with the flow and had some solid team bonding! Here is a photo of my winning team from period 2 where the kids competed for the tallest and most sturdy spaghetti tower made out of raw spaghetti and marshmallows. However, when the timer went off the kids had to remove their hands from supporting their structure and shortly after this photo it collapsed and they lost, lol!!! But they received honorary points for creativity and ambitious effort. Planning and communicating were both a huge part of this activity. It was awesome to see them having fun together and getting to know kids who they had not had a chance to speak to yet this year.

Speaking of teams, this week my classes all voted on the names of their classes. Here were the winners that will be featured on the back of our YESS ACHS shirts:

2nd block- Team Okurrrt

3rd block- Team Shullissa

4th block- Team Let's Get This Bread

6th block- Team That One Class

7th block- Team Snapples 

We also voted on T Shirt Designs. There were 9 finalists, all AMAZING pieces of art, but there was one that won the votes by a landslide:

Lastly, after PSAT testing, my senior adopted daughters were given candy and little Halloween cards I made them before break. I love my little children/soon-to-be-graduates! I can't believe we are already done with the first quarter of the school year... Before we know it it's going to be summer! Time really does fly around here. (plz see featured jack-o-lantern socks)

Stay warm! And have a restful break eagles.

Until next time,

Ms. C

Time Capsules & On Wednesdays We Wear Pink

Welcome back Eagles!

Last week got off to a spooky start with the kick off of my favorite month of the year! I am so excited about Halloween that I have started playing Halloween music and I am refusing to take off my pumpkin sweater and ghost socks. The kids definitely think it is weird but I enjoy being their weird teacher every chance that I get!

The week started off by finishing up last minute interviews from students who were absent the week before and then we moved into Time Capsules. We discussed the purpose of time capsules, which then shot off into discussions about aliens, time travel, and various conspiracy theories. They discussed what they would leave behind for someone in the future to discover about them and it was interesting to see what people thought would be valuable, whether that be bags of hot cheetos, cell phones, letters, or photographs of themselves... selfies. They had the opportunity to make thier own time capsules which would all fit into an envelope and be returned back to them on the last day of school. On the hand outs, they had the opportunity to outline what was going on in thier life at this moment in time and what they hope for the future. My favorite part was the last page where students were to include artifacts that were important to them, whether that be movie tickets, wrappers, photos, printed out screen shots, or necklaces. I am excited to see their faces when they open these at the end of the year because if it is anything like last year, it will surprise the kids as most of them forgot ever doing the project! I'm excited for that full circle moment although the scariest part is that the last day of school will be here before I know it!!!

In other news, October 3rd was National Mean Girls day and it totally made my year that so many kids in my 2nd period participated in the made up holiday by wearing pink to class! LOL

Here were some examples of their full and beautiful little time capsules.

Until next week,

Ms. C

Speed Matching & The March for Black Women of Denver

Last week was exciting and eventful from beginning to end.

We spent the better part of the week doing our Speed Matching sessions where students were stationed at paired desks around the room and were expected to interview each other for 5 minutes each. This week was important attendance wise because these interviews determined who they were matched with for the rest of the year. After each interview they took private notes on how their interview went and once every mentee interviewed every mentor, and vise versa, students were given a request sheet to explain why they would benefit from being paired with their chosen mentee. While students were out of rotation we played team builder games and played music to give the interviewers privacy... Christmas music, might I add :-D It was a blast.

The week was great but the highlight of the week undoubtedly related to taking my students to the March for Black Women of Denver on Saturday. The event outlined as follows:
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Join Black Women and Women of Color as we March and Mobilze Against Oppression. 

2018 Agenda sheds light on the impact if Youth Violence, Sexual Abuse, and Deportation on Black and Brown Women.

Guest Host Tish Beauford!

Come prepared to march! Hear from Powerful Speakers! Artists! Spoken Word! Musicians and more! 

Featuring: Jeanette Vizguerra - Kerrie Joy - Danette Hollowell - Benzel Jimmerson - Lady Speech - O'Neil Rudolph and more!
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My favorite speaker was spoken word poet, Kerrie Joy. I have seen Ms. Joy at many other Marches in Denver where she recites one of my favorites by her- I'm Rooting for Everybody Black. Here is a link to her poem as recited at the MLK march below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyzVW6XBtCM

It was inspiring to say the least, and watching my students listen intently while holding signs was truly a milestone in my career. They were engaged, they were passionate, and most importantly, they were showing up to make a change in this world- which is everything that not only YESS stands for, but everything my own personal soul stands for. The combination of youth activism and self-love is a beautiful recipe for radical change in this world.

After the march Lizbeth (sophomore) and Shalayah (senior) and I went out to eat at City O then went to a bookstore where we all picked up a copy of The Hate U Give which is about sixteen-year-old Starr Carter who is the only witness to her friend Khalil’s fatal shooting at the hands of a police officer. On top of dealing with the emotional aftermath of such an awful event, being at the scene throws her into the middle of the investigation. As the attention on the shooting grows nationally, what she does—or doesn’t—say, could change everything. The Hate U Give also deals with friendships in the face of subtle racial tensions, the struggle to keep family united in the face of differing views, and what it really means to pursue a better life for yourself and the ones you love.

I'm excited that they are so involved in Social Justice enough to spend their Saturday making their voices heard at a March and enough to pick up a book related to the issue to read in their free time. My faith is constantly restored in the youth when I am hanging out with my students, they are strong, resilient, and their voices matter. I hope whoever is reading this can feel inspired by them in the same way I consistently am.

Until next week,
Ms. C