Starfish!

Well, almost as promised, it's time for an update!

As I said before, last week was our first week of our after school program. We have a group of 4th & 5th grade boys on Tuesdays so today was our second lesson. Luckily, I can report that today went better than our first day! We quickly discovered on the first day that all but one of the boys had been through the program multiple times before. Therefore, all the call and responses, the starfish "pledge" and the rest of the starfish culture that we were trying to introduce was irrelevant.

This time around, we made both of the games competitive. To give you an idea of the challenge, the City Year team from last year advised us to make the boys run before trying to start the lesson. Last week, I had the boys stand on the line and told them to run to the end, run back and stop. They ran to the end, ran back and then went crazy. A few boys stayed at the line. Others ran back to the line, others ran to the other side of the gym. Considering it was our first activity, it didn't seem like a good sign. They still have a hard time listening to or following directions but we're working on it and trying to find ways around it. For instance, today I decided to change the game to a relay race. I cut out a bunch of starfish and put them on one side of the line. They got into teams and had to get the starfish from one end, run back to their team and place the starfish on a plate at the end of the line. This way, they had to take turns and it was a COMPETITION! This is probably the biggest thing with boys. Luckily, there were no sore losers today, even when some of the boys were bragging about their wins.

Overall, today felt like a breakthrough. After such a rough time last week, it was great to see the outcome of the day. We also played a game with carpet squares where they had to get across to the other side of the gym without touching the floor. They really had to work as a team to figure out how to get across. The best part for me was when a boy who didn't want to participate at all ended up winning the game. He was so excited and all the boys were really getting into the competition.

City Year is proving to be just as challenging as they promised. I can tell it's going to be a great year, I've already learned SO much and it's just the beginning. But we are doing so much work, especially because of the way our teams are set up. I am working on a teamlet with one other girl, Jen. Normally, when writing starfish lessons, the team would only need to write (or revise for the first unit) one set of lessons for all of their groups. Jen and I are working with 4/5 grade boys, 4/5 grade girls and also 6th graders. This goes back a ways but the first day I worked at the Riis (our after school facility; we work with their staff and into their program) was a... challenge. I sat in on the 6th grade classes art lesson. To say they were disruptive is an incredible understatement. They were lectured the whole time and hardly got through any of their lesson. It was clear that the respect for the teachers was lacking.

So when I heard that we were doing starfish with the 6th graders, I knew it would not work. Jen and I decided to change the program from the beginning. We didn't really know what we were changing it to but the introduction was pretty easy to wing. We tried to put the emphasis on community service and things they would like to talk about. We cut out a lot of the things they had done before, such as the pledge and PT (physical training). Anyway, because we are working with this group as well, we are writing extra lesson plans every week. It means we have to be extra creative and think of things that entertain a group that we have very little experience with. Because of the things the kids in this program are exposed to, it is unlike any situation I have been in or any kids I have worked with. It is going to take a while to gain their trust and figure out what they are really interested in but I have faith that we're going to find a way around our obstacles. Tomorrow will be our second day so we'll see how things go.

While the Riis is the most challenging part of my day, I'm also working for 4 periods with a 4th grade class at P.S. 111. They are amazing. The kids are really fun to be around. I walk around during their reading or writing sessions and have them read their work to me. There are quite a few who always want me to work with them which is great. I know I need to build the relationships so that I can help the substitute teacher when my current teacher goes on maternity leave in November. Overall, they're a great class. I feel very lucky because I sat through some pretty difficult classes during our observations.

While the students can be challenging, the teachers are probably everyone's biggest complaint. The disrespect, sarcasm and straight up rudeness is so sad to see. Burnout is so apparant in some of the teachers at the school. One of the girls in the program, Ana, is trying to get moved from her 2nd grade classroom because the teacher is extremely difficult to work with. The worst part for me is seeing how they are disrespected and how privileged I was as a student. It's so sad.

Remind me to tell you the story of how they take disruptive kids to the hospital...

Getting into P.S. 111

Sorry for the long delay in posts! So much has happened which is really exciting but it also means that we've been incredibly busy. Last week was our first official week in the school. We spent a lot of time in our "office". It's actually an old locker room. It's great though, nice and spacious and we have our own bathroom. Our mini-fridge and coffee maker are probably the highlights. We spent a lot of time planning last week. We were getting ready for the programs we are starting this week.

On Thursday, we had an assembly to introduce ourselves to the school (well, k-5). We were all a little nervous because most of the students already know City Year pretty well and the assembly was 50 minutes long. Fortunately, it went really well! The kids were as well behaved as could be expected for sitting in seats the whole time. We played Peel the Bananas with them which must be their favorite City Year activity. They all knew it and went crazy, even the 5th graders.
It goes: peel bananas, peel, peel bananas (repeat), smash bananas, smash, smash bananas (repeat) eat bananas, eat, eat bananas (repeat), Go bananas! Go, go bananas!
That is just so you all know the words when I come home and need someone to do the banana dance with. It's hilarious and the kids love it.

I'll post more soon (hopefully tomorrow!). I miss you all and love you!


(the crazy P.S 111 team)