Pride, yeah, pride.

Hello readers! I apologize for my absence from the blogosphere! Math seems to have taken over my life, and writing of all kind has been on the back burner. But today was a day filled with lots of joys, so I decided to muster and type it out.

I feel like a proud mama about to brag about her kids latest accomplishments, and in some way that is exactly what I am about to do right now. 
Student 1:
This student has really been struggling. So everyday I have been tutoring her during lunch and we have been going over her homework and reinforcing concepts learned in class. Her teacher handed back two tests to the class to get signed by their parents for some extra credit. Her teacher was only going to count the highest grade. The first test for this girl was from before I had started tutoring her. On this test she got a 0%. The next test I had been tutoring her for about a week and a half. She got an 80%. Nuff said. An 80% increase!
Student 2:
When this girl first came to tutoring she really frustrated me. She was on her phone the whole time and would basically refuse to do the work unless I did exclusive one on one work with her. We've been tutoring for about three weeks. Today she came in with a new attitude. She worked first on her English, and got it all done. Next she came to the math table. Uh oh. She sat down right next to me and I instructed her to form the table to set up her problem. I looked away and worked with another student for about five minutes. I had almost forgotten that she was there because she was so focused and quiet. I turned around and suddenly my jaw dropped. She was almost done with the six problems. Tears flooded to my eyes and I kind of did a little happy jump. She just rolled her eyes and was like "Alright, whatever miss". But I knew she knew it was a big deal too. This girl has literally transformed right before my eyes into someone with a phenomenal work ethic and I couldn't be prouder.

A big struggle:
City Year as an organization focuses on Tier Two kids. Those are typically kids with Cs and maybe Ds, who we push to being A or B students. Those who are sliding who with a little support can be pushed up. I totally understand that, that is where I can make the most impact and it's a large reason why I joined the program- because City Year has decreasing the drop out rate so strategically worked out. However, my heart every day goes out to my Tier Three kids. Those kids who are so far off track and who need much more than a little push in the right direction to succeed, but I've already formed relationships with them, so it is truly hard to have to remind myself that I need to be where I can have the most impact. It's hard and I know I will continue to struggle with the fact that I need to focus my efforts where I can be effective. But if anything City Year thus far has only infused me more and more with the desire to go into therapy. I love the Tier Three kids and I want to work with them for the rest of my life. Even though they put my heart through the wringer, that is where I know I want to be. Those kids who everybody else labels trouble, those are the ones I want under my wings. But I know my wings for now are only supposed to be where I will have effective winging.

Lesson Plans:
For the month of October our focus for the lesson plans are Pop Culture. My week is doing slang in pop culture. I have poured my absolute heart and soul into this lesson plan. The first day we are doing funny, silly slang and how it has transformed over the decades. The second day will be devoted to a more serious discussion about the use of words such as retarded and faggot (and a scavenger hunt!). Those are probably the two most popular words at Davis and it really gets under my skin. I have been trying to continuously brainstorm creative ways to address that those words are inappropriate to be used, and this lesson plan seemed like a great opportunity. An important thing that I learned a while back that I am using a lot here, "Don't do anything unless you are passionate about it". If I'm passionate about tutoring/serving/lesson plans/WHATEVER IT MAY BE, then I can find a way to make it work. And this whole year is all about passionate service, doing my best to do the best for my kids.

Daily Hero:
Those honest kids. Maybe sometimes too honest, but those are the ones who keep me grounded and idealistic, not too much heads in the clouds but boots on the ground.