A report from SYP teacher Helen K.

This past Saturday at LearningWorks we tried out a new schedule, and a new focus.  All teachers taught the same lesson plan about mindsets and we had more time set aside specifically for advisory. Advisory time was the best part of the day, allowing students and teachers to talk about what they did during their winter breaks, and to spend some time together. As students left the classroom it was great to hear them all talking about mindsets because even if they weren’t in the same class they learned the same thing. In short, the new schedule was a complete success. Students had more time with advisors, three teachers in their classroom, and fun options for activity time.

No matter what my mood is when entering LearningWorks, I am always in the best mood when I leave. I was in an especially good mood leaving last Saturday after getting extra time with my advisees. Hearing about their breaks and having them really open up was so rewarding. Even in class I heard students talk about how surprised they were that a person’s mindset could affect their work. It was yet another wonderful SYP Saturday revamped with a new schedule!

This fall, the staff at LearningWorks decided to extend Advisory time, so we could have more one-on-one time with our students outside the classroom.  At first I was skeptical, but then I started to think back on my own time as a LearningWorks student. I don’t even remember my advisor’s name. What I’m trying to get at is, Learning Works needs the extended Advisory time so teachers can actually get to know their advisees. Student teacher interaction is crucial outside of a classroom environment. Although it seems obvious, students often forget that, like them, LearningWorks teachers are also students, and are always learning as well. Students need encouragement and Advisory, with its focus on relationship building, gives students the opportunity to spend time with someone who’s had the exact same, or similar upbringing as them.   If their teacher can successful, then the student feels empowered to be successful, too. This is the main reason we NEED the extended Advisory time.  Students absolutely need to feel that teachers are human; they need to be able to see themselves in their teachers.  For example, my advisee Joe will be attending South High school for the 2013-2014 school year – this is where I go to school now. To me, this is a great connection to have with Joe. The fact that we’ll be students in the same school will help show him that we are constantly learning and expanding our knowledge, together.

The goal of my SYP teaching team (Dharani and I) was to help our students master the writing of introduction paragraphs.  We taught the three basic parts of the paragraph (Hook, Line, and Linker) and played scavenger hunt games in the Martha Bennett Gallery to reinforce our lesson.  During a recent SYP, we instructed our students to write an introduction paragraph for an essay persuading students to apply to Learning Works.  We let them write while we observed.

Two students easily finished their paragraphs in about five minutes, while two others struggled with the assignment.  As teachers, this was a new situation for us.  How do you teach a lesson to a class where some students have had previous exposure to the skills you’re trying to teach, and some have not?  After SYP we got advice from our teaching mentor, Shelly.  She suggested that for the next SYP we introduce an “extra challenge activity” to the students who’d finished early, so that they might continue to stay engaged.

At the next SYP we followed her advice.  Again, certain students finished early so we approached them and inquired about their favorite and least favorite classes in school. We then instructed them to write an introduction paragraph for an essay about why their least favorite class is the best subject in school.  By having these students support an opinion different from their own, our “extra challenge activity” helped them apply their writing skills in a new way.  It worked great.  The advice we received from Shelley greatly improved our lesson, and taught us a teaching skill neither of us will ever forget.

A report from teachers Brenda C. and Katie L.

For SYP this week, our teaching team decided to incorporate more     creative writing into our English class. After reviewing the definitions of plot, character, setting and theme, we wanted to see how our students might use these important components to formulate their own narratives. Even though we were crunched for time (class was only 35 minutes, due to an extended Advisory), the students managed to create wonderfully polished pieces of work. We were so excited when one of our students wanted to keep on writing, even though it meant he’d miss part of snack time.  It’s a remarkable thing to see a student who wants to work on a class assignment even after class is over.

Later, while preparing for the next SYP, our teaching team decided to review the student stories we’d collected. They blew us away. Not only were the students able to meet the goals we’d set for them, but they also applied creativity and heart to the structures we’d taught them.   After reading the stories, we were curious if the characters our students wrote about were a reflection of themselves and their own feelings. We were so excited by the success of the assignment that we wanted to share the stories with Max.  He was equally impressed. As teachers, it’s rewarding to be able to hold the results of our planning and class work in our hands. We can’t wait to teach this lesson again; we’re hoping for the same great results!

As I watched the snow-covered buses leave Kenwood Parkway to take students back home after another fun-filled SYP, I could still see the smiles in my mind. I could hear the stories in Advisory, the cheers in ASM, and the laughter when another teacher and I debated whether 27 or 48 was a better number. (For the record, it’s 48. Look at all those factors!) While it’s definitely a Challenge by Choice to live here during the winter, Minnesota’s returning chill did not dampen our student’s spirits.

The winter SYPs always impress me most. It takes real resolve to go to school on a Saturday when it hurts to go outside because of the cold, and it takes even more determination to be so enthusiastic about it. I don’t think I could have talked on a stage or so eagerly participated in an improv session when I was in middle school!

Even when I think that I have power as a teacher, when I write math equations on the whiteboard and talk in a commanding teacher voice, the students are really in control. They choose to come to SYP, and they choose to listen to me. (Which is really humbling.) We, as teachers, only provide the lessons. We can show students the path, but the students have to follow it even if it is now covered with snow.

As the novelty of the beginning of school wears off, and more difficult work begins, it’s good to see that the students are still so eager to learn. As the buses left Kenwood Pkwy I had another thought: “I can’t wait for SYP again!”

Every Saturday morning, I check the date when I wake up: ten, seventeen, fifteen, twenty-nine, twelve, three, seventeen.   These are the numbers that fall victim to my yellow highlighter, and, when they are SYP dates, give me hope for an educated tomorrow.

Knowing that in one hour, some of the brightest children from Minneapolis are about to teach you more than any classroom could, certainly comes with a sense of irony. It’s funny, because teachers sometimes come with a fixed objective. Yet the students who come to LW, wishing to learn, even on a Saturday morning, almost seem to do our job better we can.

It’s the students that teach us how to teach, not our superiors. Optimism. Who knew it was so powerful? In a world increasingly filled with fear, insecurity, and suppression, it is here that the students create the garden, a variety of subjects, all to taste for consideration and curiosity… All watered by this optimism –optimism for self-improvement, achievement, and fulfillment. It’s the realization that taking advantage of potential creates more opportunity, and opportunity creates optimism. It’s the conscious decision to ignore negligence, even if it means taking the bus to and from school at 8:00 in the morning. It’s inner weirds. It’s cheers for creativity. It’s our home colors.

With Halloween as the dress up theme for the last SYP the kids had a blast showcasing their costumes in a fashion show during morning assembly. The staff, as well, had just as much fun with 100% turning out in costumes. Among my favorite staff costumes were the Harry Potter costumes, a samurai outfit, Jaimee’s 80’s rocker ensemble, and, of course, yours truly, who was decked out in a dementor costume!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because of the candy and the fun I get from dressing up as someone or something else. Every year, I make my own costumes.  Seeing my idea come into physical being is awesome!  For a day, we can be someone else; we can pretend that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter DOES exist; we can indulge in our fantasies and for a night, they really do come true.  The costumes the kids chose to wear—a nurse, a doctor, a bunny—showed kids stretching their imaginations.  By wielding a wand and Hogwarts uniform our students realized that their dreams can come true.

When I think about it, I realize that the reason why I especially enjoy some classes in school is because something about the topic (or the teacher’s teaching) really engages my imagination; it inspires me to explore literature more deeply, or the peasant revolts of Europe in a different way. Halloween similarly inspires me. And, hopefully, the fun of dressing up while learning will continue to show our students that their dreams really can come true.

As a first-time teacher for LearningWorks I was not quite sure what to expect. The training you get prepares you enough, and helps you get technical skills down well enough. However, it isn’t until you actually start teaching that you really start to understand the ropes and get a feel for what you’re supposed to be doing. I became less intimidated after I had been teaching for around 5 minutes!

For the most part the first day went really well, and I learned what was going on pretty quickly. Mostly I was just so happy to see all of the kids enjoying themselves. I felt proud of all the kids and their excitement to learn. It got me excited to teach and as a result I had a lot of fun with them. Overall the first day was great, and I’m really excited to do it again!

This past Saturday, September 10, was the first time the 2011 School Year Program faculty met! It was great to walk in and see how many great teachers from last year had returned and how many new teachers had decided to join the LearningWorks community. The day was packed full of excitement.  We learned about  LearningWorks’ values and talked about the best ways to approach teaching. We were also paired up with our teaching partners and were told what subjects we’d be teaching together.  I’m excited to be teaching reading this year!  New this year, we have six veteran LearningWorks teachers who will serve as mentors for the younger or less experienced teachers; it should be a great addition to the program.  We also received  the names of our student advisees; we can’t wait to get to know them. The main feeling that I got from all the teachers was just how excited everyone is to be at LearningWorks. Some teachers have just come off of teaching the entire summer, but some, like me, have gone without LearningWorks since last school year!  It is such a great group of people.  I can already tell that this year is going to be great.

This summer has been a whirlwind.  As I finish planning my last three lessons I have come to fully realize how fast it went and how much I will miss my students and the LW community. I continue to joke that everyone will think I’m strange when I go back to school and try to energetically give people high fives at 8am or call for a spirit check. I have become so comfortable in my different classes. We know each other’s jokes — they always laugh at the predictability of my Harry Potter references. Beyond the amazing community I have found myself in, I have learned about the field I am most interested in pursuing after college, educational reform. Education is so important; it’s how people get ahead, succeed and survive in this world. For me, teaching has always been about believing in the students and their abilities, and that has certainly been proven true this summer. All the students I meet continue to demonstrate how smart and insightful they are. It has come to the point that it doesn’t even feel as though I’m teaching in my English course, but rather providing the students with opportunities to think deeply, read critically and display their thoughtful and poetic writing. I am so grateful to have learned not only the technical side of lesson planning, but also to have learned and been inspired by the work, dedication and perseverance of the amazing LW students.