We left school around two and headed to HQ to get our assignments. I was on outside greeting crew, which was where most of the corps was. Some people were holding signs helping to direct cars, other people were taking pictures with guests as they walked in. What was I doing? I was dancing and doing PT in the front to get people energized. If you know me at all, you know I'm not a dancer. I dance if that's what people are doing, but never in my right mind would I choose to dance in public for two hours by choice. The fact that I was assigned to dance for two hours in the open was just not what I wanted to be doing, but it turned out to be a lot of fun (of course!). I was EXHAUSTED by the end of the two hours and when the music stopped for us to do PT every ten minutes, I thought I might just collapse, but it was a blast having the guests walk by and dance as they walked into the museum.
Around seven, we had the option of staying and listening to the speakers with the hopes of getting a table, or we could leave. There was a high school student from the English and then a parent from NHCS was speaking, so a bunch of us stayed (forget the superintendent or the governor, we were there for the student and parent...duhhh). Hearing the student speak about the impact his CMs have had on him brought me to tears, but it was listening to the parent speak about the effect Pat has had on her son that brought on the true water works. If I was sitting in one of those seats contemplating over whether to donate to City Year or not, those speeches would have had me giving away my car, house and life savings.
Friday we had a late start and we ended up working a total of 5.5 hours, one of which was an hour lunch break. We listened to CMs audition to be the graduation speaker and then voted. All of them were awesome, so I'm excited to see who ends up winning. Sam and I wrapped up Friday with margaritas and mexican food, which was truly delicious!
Here are some more first grade profiles! Enjoy!
Justin- Justin is notorious for saying he does something a certain way because "I'm from Cape Verde." He holds his knife, ties his shoes, and wears his jacket a certain way all because he's "from Cape Verde." While his dad is from Cape Verde, Justin was born in the United States and his mom who he lives with is from the Dominican Republic. Justin has a lot of energy, is constantly getting in trouble for talking and not paying attention, but can usually make you smile because he loves to dance, talk, and entertain. He is one of our lowest readers, even though he's a year older than most of our students and his mom doesn't speak English. This often leads to incomplete projects and homework assignments because of the language barrier. Justin is one that drives me crazy, but I gotta love his energy and passion for life.
Kevin- I could write a book about how much I love this kid, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum. I've written a lot about Kevin because he is a constant source of trouble in our classroom, but is one of the smartest, funniest kids I know. Ms. Moulton and I have this suspicion that he may have Asperger's because his social cues are lacking, but his intelligence is out the roof. Although he may have some sort of biological thing going on, he also doesn't have the most stable home life to help him. His mom is a single mom working as a minimum wage cashier. He has two older sisters with two different last names that are different than his last name. One of his sisters seems like his primary care giver, even though she is in high school. In school, Kevin is always getting trouble for being out of his seat, talking out of turn, and not getting along with his class mates. Despite all of this, he is one of the most loving students I have and can make me laugh like no one else can. His love for cars can be seen in his writing and on all of his school supplies. My wish for Kevin is that someone is able to help him learn the social cues that are necessary for school, because if that happens, he can do anything.
Jackson- Jackson is one of those students that you can always count on to be behaving and doing what he's supposed to. He does well in school academically and socially. He is fluent in Spanish, thanks to both of his parents being from outside the US, but is very humble about his ability to speak two languages. He is quiet, but not shy. He is such a sweetheart and a joy to have in class. Every so often, he'll have a little lapse where he tries to take advantage of my inexperience or lax behavior management, but overall, he is a rare gem in the classroom. If every student was like Jackson, there would be no education crisis and no need for City Year.
Catherine- One of the seven girls in my class and such a little fashionista! Being tiny in size along with her curly curly hair makes her a cutie! She is always dressed like a diva and is little miss popular. I sometimes have to put out fires at recess because she can be a little exclusive, but nothing out of the ordinary from first graders. The biggest struggle with Catherine is her slow pace. Everything Catherine does is at a slower pace. Her ability to recite math facts is slower, not because she doesn't know them, but it just takes longer for her to read the fact, process it and say the answer out loud. It's not a learning disability, it's just Catherine. The same goes for her reading. It's probably something she'll outgrow or get over, but it can be a source of frustration when I see her struggling. Catherine is another gem in the classroom and is a definite cutie!
Instead of ending on a quote, my dad sent me this video that has a great message! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihGCj5mfCk8&sns=tw
Around seven, we had the option of staying and listening to the speakers with the hopes of getting a table, or we could leave. There was a high school student from the English and then a parent from NHCS was speaking, so a bunch of us stayed (forget the superintendent or the governor, we were there for the student and parent...duhhh). Hearing the student speak about the impact his CMs have had on him brought me to tears, but it was listening to the parent speak about the effect Pat has had on her son that brought on the true water works. If I was sitting in one of those seats contemplating over whether to donate to City Year or not, those speeches would have had me giving away my car, house and life savings.
Friday we had a late start and we ended up working a total of 5.5 hours, one of which was an hour lunch break. We listened to CMs audition to be the graduation speaker and then voted. All of them were awesome, so I'm excited to see who ends up winning. Sam and I wrapped up Friday with margaritas and mexican food, which was truly delicious!
Here are some more first grade profiles! Enjoy!
Justin- Justin is notorious for saying he does something a certain way because "I'm from Cape Verde." He holds his knife, ties his shoes, and wears his jacket a certain way all because he's "from Cape Verde." While his dad is from Cape Verde, Justin was born in the United States and his mom who he lives with is from the Dominican Republic. Justin has a lot of energy, is constantly getting in trouble for talking and not paying attention, but can usually make you smile because he loves to dance, talk, and entertain. He is one of our lowest readers, even though he's a year older than most of our students and his mom doesn't speak English. This often leads to incomplete projects and homework assignments because of the language barrier. Justin is one that drives me crazy, but I gotta love his energy and passion for life.
Kevin- I could write a book about how much I love this kid, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum. I've written a lot about Kevin because he is a constant source of trouble in our classroom, but is one of the smartest, funniest kids I know. Ms. Moulton and I have this suspicion that he may have Asperger's because his social cues are lacking, but his intelligence is out the roof. Although he may have some sort of biological thing going on, he also doesn't have the most stable home life to help him. His mom is a single mom working as a minimum wage cashier. He has two older sisters with two different last names that are different than his last name. One of his sisters seems like his primary care giver, even though she is in high school. In school, Kevin is always getting trouble for being out of his seat, talking out of turn, and not getting along with his class mates. Despite all of this, he is one of the most loving students I have and can make me laugh like no one else can. His love for cars can be seen in his writing and on all of his school supplies. My wish for Kevin is that someone is able to help him learn the social cues that are necessary for school, because if that happens, he can do anything.
Jackson- Jackson is one of those students that you can always count on to be behaving and doing what he's supposed to. He does well in school academically and socially. He is fluent in Spanish, thanks to both of his parents being from outside the US, but is very humble about his ability to speak two languages. He is quiet, but not shy. He is such a sweetheart and a joy to have in class. Every so often, he'll have a little lapse where he tries to take advantage of my inexperience or lax behavior management, but overall, he is a rare gem in the classroom. If every student was like Jackson, there would be no education crisis and no need for City Year.
Catherine- One of the seven girls in my class and such a little fashionista! Being tiny in size along with her curly curly hair makes her a cutie! She is always dressed like a diva and is little miss popular. I sometimes have to put out fires at recess because she can be a little exclusive, but nothing out of the ordinary from first graders. The biggest struggle with Catherine is her slow pace. Everything Catherine does is at a slower pace. Her ability to recite math facts is slower, not because she doesn't know them, but it just takes longer for her to read the fact, process it and say the answer out loud. It's not a learning disability, it's just Catherine. The same goes for her reading. It's probably something she'll outgrow or get over, but it can be a source of frustration when I see her struggling. Catherine is another gem in the classroom and is a definite cutie!
Instead of ending on a quote, my dad sent me this video that has a great message! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihGCj5mfCk8&sns=tw
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| Angela, Ethan, Margaret and I at Starry Starry Night waiting to greet some million dollar donars! |
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| The wind is blowing and the music is blaring. I think it's time to dance! |
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| GIVE US YOUR MONEY!! |
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