Let's see...

Today we had a breakthrough in my theater group...

I am so proud of these students and the things that they overcome before they come to school.

These kids have HARD LIVES. Every day, piece by piece I hear more about their parents, their families, what they go through when they are at home, and I become more and more proud of them for the efforts that they make on a daily basis. Hoping that I can offer them any kind of solace when they are in school and that they allow school to maintain as their place of peace and safety...

Mid-October sickness has arrived as it does yearly, so coping with lots of vitamin C and plenty of rest is always the perfect remedy. Happy to see my parents this coming weekend, happy to have a little break coming up. Planning for the future little by little and learning something EVERY day. No matter how hard it can be sometimes, I know that compared to the stress I handle, these kids are handling 10 times more.

ALSO everyone who can should see the film, "Waiting for Superman." It's an excellent documentary about the achievement gap and what educational reformers all around the country are doing about it. Definitely take time to see it.

Tonight I am thinking about KB and hoping her father is taking care of her and loving her, DR and KA, hoping that they feel loved.

Paz

C

Good day for theatre!

Yay, I'm finally seeing something in these girls in my theatre class!

After a jaded last 2 days at RBN, filled with several, pretty serious fights, I think I brought at least 7 girls some safety. I wrote them all notes today and delivered them to their classes to remind them to come to theatre class today, and they all came! We acknowledged those that hadn't come, and how we would feel their void and think about why they weren't with us (they had been in fights, and probably didn't feel safe to stay after school) then we carried out business as usual, playing theatre games and doing spatial and body awareness exercises and reflections. They were hilarious, made me laugh, made me think, challenged each other.

I LOVE DOING THIS. At the end of class, we stood in a circle and touched one person that made us smile, one person that made us laugh and one person that made us feel safe, and they all touched me... :)

If I'm not doing anything else other than making them feel safe, that's a success to me.

Last week I facilitated a group in the Teach for America professional development for first years, and I had 3 attendees. While that sounds bad, it was actually wonderful. All of the participants were happy to learn from me and try new things. They were all enthusiastic about getting into the work, asked questions and we had a great experience together. They gave me such good ratings that I was asked to go to Albuquerque to present to other TFA-ers in the Southwest!!! What an honor! Not sure if I am going to take it but this Sunday I start my first DCA group with some TFA friends/ teachers and I am really looking forward to seeing how it unravels...

Starting to cool off here in Colorado, still some 80-90 degree days, but the leaves are changing and it is pretty spectacular looking outside. Hope to do some things out and about these next few weekends....

Peace and non-violent thoughts and energy to the students at my school -

C

when it rains it pours

This isn't going to be the most uplifting blog to date, so if you don't want to hear it, run now!
I just need a space to vent, as no one is answering their phone tonight, and I'm not at my house.

I miss EVERYTHING about fall 2008 right now.

-the amazing students at Marcy Open School

-the amazing teaching artists from CTC

-college life/living

-Minnesota fall weather

-not bottling up tons of negativity about my job ... but LOVING a job/internship/weekly schedule that made me look forward to the next day and the next day...

-Rarig Center

-seeing performances, musical, theatrical

-being more IN MY BODY

-having people I love always near me, supporting me every day in what I love to do

I know I should feel so lucky to have this opportunity to do all these workshops and classes, but structures out here are so much different, and don't make it easy. Right now I am finding that there is too much structure or not enough structure for my class to work out. I'm unhappy with the lack of support I am receiving in all directions- teaching, being a special ed teacher, being a workshop facilitator for TFA, being an enrichment teacher for Beacons.

It's not that I can't balance all of these things, but rather that it's I am not receiving constructive feedback on how I'm doing, or encouragement to keep doing what I am doing. Instead, people are making clumsy mistakes that reflect on me, other people are giving me more responsibilities that I don't want to have to take on. I guess I am realizing that I cannot be a one-woman-show, and I need people around me who are on the same page, who care about me and who want to see me succeed in being who I am and doing what I do.

I miss my friends, but I know I took on this challenge of being far away.

I miss CTC, Minneapolis, St. Paul, but I know I took on this challenge of doing the work in Denver.

I miss being more confident in what I am doing and feeling a sense of success in my work, but I know I have to be patient, because it will come later.

I just miss. but it will get better.

Happy first day of fall 2010,
C

Amazing Challenges ahead!

The school year has gotten off to a good start. Here is what my day looks like:

1st half hour- 'home room' type class, all 8th grade general education boys, we work on things like doing community service and outreach, character development and just building positive relationships. I love these guys already, I call them all my 'brothers.' Or as Jonathan said, 'brother from another mother of a different color.' They are a hilarious and awesome way to start each day.

2nd period - I teach 7th grade special education students in a Language Arts intervention class. There are 7 students right now, 4 girls and 3 boys. They are very low in their reading and writing skills, but the small class size and their excellent behavior excites me for the possibilities for growth they have this year. We have already completed half a unit in the first 2 weeks! They are flying!

3rd period - Mondays and Fridays I do inclusion support for one 8th grade algebra class, on the other days I use that period for IEP planning time and other paper work I have to do.

4th period - Lunch

5th period- Tuesday-Thursday I do inclusion support for another 8th grade algebra class for 8 students that are designated special education but just need extra help in math.

6th period - 8th grade team meeting/collaborating with teachers.

7th period - Inclusion support for 8th grade general education Language Arts.

Tuesday after school will be my IEP meetings, which I have one every Tuesday for the next 2 months. bummer.

Here comes the exciting news....... drum roolllllll......

I have been asked this year by the Beacon program at our school to teach on Mondays and Wednesdays after school a THEATER CLASS!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited, it starts the week after next. Busy planning that, will fill you in on more details later.

The other exciting commitment I have made this fall is through Teach for America. I will be doing 2 different workshops about Theatre of the Oppressed. This is the work I did my senior year in college, which dealt with using theatre games and techniques to 'rehearse for reality.' I am using 1 professional development seminar night to present one workshop to interested corps members in their 1st or 2nd year. I am then leading a group that will meet 3 times in October to do Theatre of the Oppressed work more in-depth and in a less formal setting. I am SO excited to teach about this and see what my colleagues think about it and have to contribute to what I already know! I am very intimidated with this challenge but know that this is what I came here to do and experiment with and I feel so lucky to have found these opportunities to give it a try.

In the mean time, busy busy planning for all of these things, getting into a new routine and enjoying the end of summer the best I can.

Bought my ski pass and a new ski jacket, so once the crazy fall is over, I'll be ready to hit the slopes. Things are great, things seem to really be falling in to place outside of school and into my passions and interests that got me here in the first place .

Peace-

C

Back in Action!

aaaaaaand we're back, for year number 2!

I had a fabulous summer, spending about half in Denver doing various things like hikes, baseball games, MOVING to a new and fabulous house, volunteering at El Museo de las Americas for their summer art camp, and enjoying little work! The other half I spent at home in Grayslake/Chicago, a quick trip back to Minneapolis, and then some exciting trips to places near here. I went on a camping trip with Joanna to 5 National Parks in 5 days- we spanned most of Colorado and some of Utah. . . Then I went up to Yellowstone with my grandma and then enjoyed Estes Park/Rocky Mountain NP with the rest of my family. It was definitely an eventful summer that contained the perfect balance of friends, family, nature and city life. I am so grateful!

School officially started for teachers on Friday, so we have had some all-day, intensive orientations since then, just getting back into the swing of things, moving classrooms, meeting new teachers, learning new systems, protocols, procedures, etc. Because my school has received a grant for "transformation" this year, the expectations for professionalism and quality instruction are very high, and so the administration is really cracking down on the teachers and that they are all working hard.

For sped teachers, this is a bit different. Schedules aren't yet complete, we've been moved into one office, I don't have my own classroom this year, I will only be teaching one class of language arts to 7th graders that are reading below a 3rd grade reading level, and then the rest of the day I will work as a consultant to the 8th grade teachers with special education students in their classes, either going in to support or pulling out small groups. I will have much more time to create good paperwork for the students, but I will have much less contact with students than I did last year. This is good and bad for many reasons, but mainly just adjusting to a new year and new expectations and finding the positive in all of it has been my main focus as of late. I definitely feel like I have more responsibility this year to lead as a 2nd year teacher, and I am not scared to speak out if there is something I believe that needs to be heard. I am also much more confident in my planning for my one class, because I have taught it before and I have a year of teaching under my belt. There are 5 Teach for America new teachers at our school and 3 are on the 8th grade team, so it is exciting to have the chance to work with them on differentiating for the special education students. While I won't have as much time or contact with students, or have my own classroom to welcome them into, I will have more energy and time to fill other responsibilities and balance a bit better. There are so many good opportunities to take advantage of this year, so why dwell on the negative things...

On that note! Still lots to do, but without a feeling of impossibility. Getting late, will post soon about how my students are this year! I get to meet them all on Tuesday.

Paz-

C

Catch up time

Lots to catch up on.

So the last week of school was so many things- busy, fun, stressful, odd, emotional, but it went by super quickly. We had finished our last class test, which I was pretty happy about - my class averaged 78% mastery on all the learning objectives I taught them this year. Not 80% but, very close. I was proud of all of them, but especially a few of them who made significant growth since the beginning of the school year.

Noel Idol was that Monday, I helped out by just helping to organize the students and put them on stage when they needed to go. It was very fun to see different groups of students who I didn't know, but also get to see a few of my students singing or dancing, really in their element. At the last performance, Mr. Madden played the piano and I sang a pop song with the kids on stage. It was pretty funny.

Tuesday was the 8th grade Continuation which I also helped out with, making sure all the kids were in their correct seats so they walked across the stage at the correct time. I also got to give each 8th grader their certificate as they shook the principal's hand. It was a really nice event, went by super fast, but the most rewarding part was when 2 of my students and their families came up to me and thanked me for my help this year. Made it all feel worth it!

Wednesday we took all the 8th graders to Six Flags for their big field trip. I only got to ride 2 rides with students, but it was a pretty fun day which ended in returning to the school and seeing them all in the hallway for a real tornado warning.

Thursday was only 6th graders in the school, mostly just cleaning out classrooms, moving things across the school to new classrooms, etc. The 8th grade teachers all went out to lunch, which was nice. Friday was no students, just some intense planning meetings and tying up lose ends for the summer.

I am volunteering go to do some work for the 'transformation' of the school based on our audit from the department of education this year. So this summer I will be volunteering for Noel, for TFA and at the Latin American Art museum in Denver. I'll also be all moved into the new house on Clarkson Street probably by the end of this week, and doing hikes all over Colorado. I have enjoyed my time at home, visiting friends in the city, relaxing around Grayslake, caught onto Blackhawk fever, and just unwinding a little. I will be back in IL a few more times in the upcoming months for 2 weddings- one I am in and one I am going to with my dad. Glad I can see my family since this year I have really not been able to spend a lot of time with them.

I am proud that I finished year one! There were lots of challenges that I overcame, and I think will make me a better teacher next year. I am so grateful for my students and all that we learned from each other. I will truly miss their hilarity and presences in my classroom- BUT I am actually excited to try some new things next year and possibly loop with some of the 6th graders I had this year and teach them in the 7th grade.

So the rest is in pictures! Enjoy- will probably update the ol' blog when it gets closer to the beginning of the school year.

Frida!
The girls outside the new house.

The living room in the new house.
My bedroom which is the upstairs of the house.
The beautiful kitchen.
At the reception with a student after the Continuation.

One of my students who was pretty much the star of Noel Idol, he MOONWALKED! It was amazing..
One of my students and I on the last day in my classroom, cleaning everything up and jamming out to Justin Bieber and Ke$ha. I will miss this one a lot.

quick update before I forget!

Too busy to make a big blog tonight, BUT I wanted to post some info on here before I forgot.

I will be in Grayslake/Chicago area from May 30th -June 9th, probably no visit to Minnesota in those 10 days, but look forward to one later in the summer. I need some time to relax at home and be with my family, as I feel like I have neglected them all year!

I am moving! June 15th will be my last day in the little apartment on 11th Ave, and I start my lease on a new house on June 5th, so I wanted to post the new address on here for snail mailers:

Caroline Younts

35 S Clarkson St.

Denver, CO 80209

ALSO I am a kitty mama! My friend John's dad rescued some kittens 2 weeks ago, and they have been kind enough to pass one kitten on to me. I will be picking her up when I get back to Denver- her name is Frida. :)

That's all! Will post about Noel Idol, Continuation and everything else later this week!

PEACE