The Time Between

The time between holidays is a magical? wonderous? exhausting time. Yep, tiring. The kids have early-onset cabin fever. You've got a gazillion things to accomplish, both in school and out. It can be tough! So here are some tips and resources to get you through until our holiday break.

Keep those Bad Kermits at bay

Stay tuned in - All that stuff we teach our kids about acknowledging emotions and listening to our bodies works for you, too. If you're feeling an unpleasant emotion, take a few minutes to explore why that it. Get to the root of the problem by inviting your inner therapist/coach/good angel/whatever to ask, "Why?" Keep inquiring and answering the questions until you get to the thing that intuitively feels like it's triggering you. Once you diagnose the issue, you can identify a strategy to address it. Here's a cool article about harnessing your internal dialogue, if you'd like to learn more.

Maintain routines - "Belief in one’s ability to exert control over the environment and to produce desired results is essential for an individual’s well being. It has been repeatedly argued that the perception of control is not only desirable, but it is likely a psychological and biological necessity." You've worked hard this semester to implement classroom routines and procedures. You *will* have to revisit these with your kids during this in-between season. It's completely normal and OK to take a day for this! You also need routine in your life. How can you provide yourself order? A weekly class? A regular meditation? Making time for your favorite hobby? Shutting and locking the classroom door between classes so you can get a few minutes to yourself each day? 

Dang, I miss this show!

Accentuate the positive - I know I talk constantly about positive reinforcement, but that's because it works. It works SO WELL. I've personally seen scores of kids turn it around simply because I was a warm demander who acknowledged their efforts. But you don't have to take my word for it. Check out this article or this one. This works for teachers, too. How often do you take time to reflect on the 3 Good Things you've done that day? Or 3 Good Things about working with kids? Or 3 Good Things you notice about your body? 

Make sure your expectations are appropriate - Middle school friends, you will probably not be able to get your squirrelly kids to sit still and be quiet for a whole-group discussion. High school folks, your kids might sit still, but they are likely zoned out. The absolute greatest thing about being a non-profit person in a school is that you can work with it. You don't have state standards. You're not on the big spring tests. Play basketball or soccer! Do teambuilders! Bake cookies (yes, I did this - it was a germ-laden hoot)! Watch a music video! Have a joke contest! Play Kahoot! Be careful to continue holding kids accountable, though. This isn't a free for all and you should be able to get through a few lessons. Like everything else, this applies to you, too. Determine what you can let go of while also maintaining a high level of professionalism.

I never know how to end these things, so goodnight and good luck.

The Power of "Yet"

I'm sure you've heard of Carol Dweck and her research on Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset. If you haven't, click here.

Anybody want a poster? We have a fancy
printer in the office now.

Basically, her theory is that people who have a Fixed Mindset believe they have a very limited capacity to change or grow. I'll out my husband who used to say, "I am who I am" (fortunately, he's come around to the Growth side). Folks who have a Growth Mindset understand that, with support and effort, they can improve in whatever area of their life they'd like to work on.

It's really a wonderful theory and one that is rooted in neuroscience. After all, neurons that fire
together wire together. Not to mention that practice makes better (my old band director used to remind us that perfection is impossible - how uplifting).

Mr. Traini, ca 2000, shouting to go
back to set #1 again because practice
makes better.

I just got back from visiting seven schools and, as I left the final one, I had a thought: I wish I were better at offering support. Why don't I ask my people what they need from me? I suck. That's rather fixed, yes? Happily, Carol Dweck's voice popped into my head soon after and offered me yet. So, now I'm reworking (my therapist would say ruminating) how I interact with other people. I'm setting an intention to ask: "What are your needs at the moment?" during 65% of my future interactions with colleagues.

One of my biggest projects this year is procuring a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Specialist to work with Carlo and myself on systemic changes within our agency. The goal is one I firmly believe in and so I've devoted many hours to research, writing, conversing, updating y'all, and seeking funding sources. Despite my efforts, I'm basically nowhere. I've encountered block after block and I've been intensely frustrated with this entire process. I genuinely want to deliver on this promise and I will absolutely keep working at it. In the meantime, I am setting another intention: To give myself the same grace I offer everyone else. It's going to come in the form of yet. The processes I've tried haven't worked yet. The people I've contacted have failed to get back to me yet.

For every problem, there's a solution. I'm already feeling more hopeful, which almost always leads to creative problem-solving.

Random and relevant

Activities Update

Greetings! I'm going to take a break from dropping resources this go-around to share with you a bit about what I've been up to. In the last month, I've attended several professional development opportunities, co-taught, observed, coached, and (of course) attended a slew of meetings.

Is this not perfect?

One of the highlights was getting to co-teach at Kearney for a couple of days. The kids can be challenging, but I loved being the "Jolly Rancher Lady" and getting back into the proverbial trenches with Michael.

Another high point was attending a course called "Managing Remote Employees" through Employer's Council. Carlo graciously paid for half of this training and I learned an enormous amount about conducting performance planning and reviews, daily communications with staff, giving good feedback/asking good questions, and even how to conduct behavioral interviews to screen for good remote employees. I walked away with loads of techniques and am having a blast rolling out some of the simpler ones. 

I live in that zone.

More recently, I spent a couple of days with Dr. Diane Bassett. We travelled to multiple schools and were thoroughly impressed with the work being done. The kids were, as always, curious, wise, intelligent, and adorable. Visiting classrooms is by far my favorite thing.

The last bit I'll share with you is that I'm working with some CMAMI partners to assemble a presentation for the National Mentoring Summit, which will take place in January. The topic will be all about how understanding identity can strengthen match relationships. I'm stoked to be working with two fabulous ladies on this project!

Coming up, I've got more co-teaching, site visits, and meetings. I'm excited for two of those things - Can you guess which ones? :-)

More Resources

I've had an absolutely fantastic week of being in classrooms and learning how to manage remote employees, which has left me with exactly zero minutes for writing to you all during working hours. SO. This is going to be quick 'n dirty. Hold onto your hats!

20 Tips to Help De-escalate Interactions with Anxious or Defiant Students - An ounce of prevention is the best way to deal, but these are also very good.

A Simple Way to Map out Your Career Ambitions - Yes, of course I want you to stay! The reality is we have to curate our careers like a fine art collection. This is a cool way to plan what's next.

3 Ways to Boost Students' Conceptual Thinking - I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Yemi Stembridge last year and this human is amazing. He spoke frequently of the need to link concepts the kids already knew with ones we're trying to teach. The example he gave involved going to a foreign place like Tokyo. His friends would ask him, "What's it like?" and he would have to relate it to cities they've visited in order to get them to truly understand this unseen land. What would student learning be like if we were able to relate some of these big SEL topics to things the kids experience every day?

6 Opening and Closing Routines - These are great. Try one on at a time for 2-3 weeks each and see what works.

Why It's So Important that Teachers Cultivate Their Own Resilience - If you don't know, I quit teaching after my fifth year in Ohio. Sure, there were a lot of factors like poor admins, literally no job security, and obnoxiously low pay... but, you know the biggest factor? I hadn't built up my tolerance to discomfort. This lovely article may have just the tip you need.

Why I Scrapped my Classroom Library - Ignore the title and focus on the completely amazing learning circle technique described within.

Relationships Matter More than Rules - Yep.

Our First Resource Dump of the Year

Hello!

If you're new here, welcome! If you're familiar with my charming writing, flawless sense of humor, and perfect memes, welcome back!


I tried writing these each Monday last year, but it became waaay too much so you can expect to see these in your email accounts every two weeks.

A lovely graphic for your "Whole Pie Eaters"

Since it's the beginning of the year, I have boatloads of articles that I've been saving for you over the summer. So, take a look at the following list. If you find anything particularly meaningful, try it on for size!

How Do You Get Middle School Students to Stop Talking?  - I love a lot of these ideas, especially the hairspray technique!

8 Proactive Classroom Management Tips - I cannot stress the importance of proactive management strongly enough. If you're brand new to your program, this is an excellent guide. It takes a while to master these tips, but they will likely reduce the number of stress-related headaches you experience. Heck, even if you've been around the block a few times, refresh yourself!

Lizzo: Self Care Has to be Rooted in Self Preservation, Not Just Mimosas and Spa Days - Preach it, Lizzo! We all have to learn how to care for ourselves in the moment. The better *we* are at this, the easier it is for us to teach our youth how to do it. Here's my favorite quote from this article:

"I feel like my job is to push the narrative about self-care further and not just give up because it's mainstream now. I can't be like, Cool. Love yourself! Bye! I have to have answers when people ask, How? How do I love myself?
And I have to be able to start to answer those questions for myself: How do I love myself on the days when I hate myself? How do I love myself on the days where I'm dealing with some boy and he's not treating me the way I deserve to be treated? How do I love myself in a world that doesn't love me? How do I love myself in the face of systemic racism and misogyny? How do I love myself amid fat-phobia? How do I love myself still?"

What a stellar message for our kiddos.

Free Growth Mindset Posters - These are pretty cute, if you have access to a color printer!

Never Take a Bad Work Day Home Again, Using These 3 Steps - Would you believe me if I told you I do a seven-minute self reflection before signing off work every single day? I do. And it helps. We have difficult, stressful, oh-so-rewarding jobs and I urge you to refill your cup before going home.

The Power of Short Writing Assignments - Many of you have students write when they enter the room. That's awesome! Consider trying some of these techniques to get them practicing skills that will generalize to other classes.

Calm Schools Initiative - I guess this was a raging success because they've stopped taking applications for the free teacher version of the app. Anyway, I believe there's a free version AND and you can scope out this cool explanation of the benefits of mindfulness. There are tons and tons of mindfulness activities you can find online, as well.

How Teachers can Help Kids Find Their Political Voices - Here's a really cool TED Talk that supports the social justice work we incorporate. My fave quote is...

"Working for justice, engaging in activism, helps students build skills like leadership and critical thinking, and it correlates positively with their political participation and their civic engagement and their commitment to their communities later in life. So in other words, students are telling us that social justice matters to them and researchers are telling us that it helps students learn.

Ok, I've got, like, 15 more things to share, but I'll end with this for the week...

My uncle says my family is "not very smart, but we're persistent."
Persistence is your best friend when working with kids.
Keep norming your classrooms and your efforts will reward you ten-fold!

Wrapping it All Up

Greetings! The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of awesome! I had the pleasure of conducting final classroom visits, planning June PDs, assisting with two end-of-year celebrations, and looking ahead to next year. If you're hoping for articles and images to help you wrap up your year, keep reading!

Are your students being judgy? This is a cool metaphor.

An image that highlighted this practice made the rounds a while back, but here's a nifty article that discusses the impact. Take a minute to think about whether or not this fits within your classroom practice.

Doing a Circle Talk? Keep this in mind. Oh, and start at the top of the circle. :-)

You are doing such difficult, vital work. Be gentle with yourselves right now.

Tuck these free printables in your back pocket for next school year. And if you have time this summer, try reading one of Brene Brown's books or watching her TED talk!

This is less of a resource and more of a think piece about some data surrounding restorative justice. I'd encourage you to read it, reflect on what's working in your practice, and what you'd like to improve upon. I've seen RJ work on a student level, but the school-wide piece is certainly a challenge to do effectively. Anyway, I welcome discussion on this topic!

End of April

This is going to be a quick update. Ready... Set... Go!

I've visited WLA, North, Westy, and Lincoln over the last week and it's astounding to hear how quickly the seniors' last day is approaching. Every program has numerous success stories and I'm beyond impressed with the work you all have done.

I had an opportunity to apply for a Technical Assistance opportunity, which would allow us to receive free resources and help from MENTOR Colorado. We're looking at working with this group to revise/refine MOUs with schools and to deepen our on-boarding processes.

I forget if I've already shared this resource, but it might be worth a second (definitely a first) read. It talks all about why schools should prioritize relationships. Mr. Medina and I even had a chat about how student success is totally tied to SEL skills. In his words, "You have to peel back the layers of the onion. When you get to the center, then you can move kids forward." Brilliant!

Anxiety

If you've known me for more than 72.4 seconds, you likely know that I struggle with anxiety. My brain has been fairly nasty the last few weeks and the universe has responded by dropping all kinds of resources and loving humans into my lap. Thanks, universe!

Do they still make these things?

I recently read an article about allowing kids with anxiety to sit with their discomfort and learn from it. I remember when I was in fifth grade and my math teacher made a joke about how high up the pencil sharpener was mounted on the wall. He said, "That must feel like a mountain to her!" Maybe this is why I hate math? Anyway, my mom (who is also short) stormed into the school the following week to yell at him. That was a missed opportunity for me to work through my feelings and practice some coping mechanisms. Now that I'm grown and have taught youth to work through situations like these, I wish that she had educated me instead of turning into momma bear. It's the same with teaching, we mustn't allow our students off the hook just because they're uncomfortable.

I've seen a lot of educators over the years who struggle to find the balance between pushover and tough love drill sergeant. Toward the end of my tenure in the classroom, I adopted the question, "Where is the learning here?"

          If a student just stormed out of their Literacy classroom   

          because the teacher made them angry, the learning may 

          have been in how to interact effectively with people we don't like.

          For the student who sat alone at lunch every day (and hated it - I 

          totally agree that some kids enjoy solitude), the learning was in 

          identifying their unique strengths (read: confidence).

          The kid who feels like eyes are always on them? The one who is  

          terrified to look dumb in front of their peers? The learning could 

          be in how to fail with grace and fortitude. Or it could be how to 

          engage with logic during an amygdala hijack. Or it could be 

          mindfulness. Or some combination of these things.

          You catch my drift.

So what do you do as an educator? First, remove peer spectators. Then show compassion for what they're feeling by making your student feel heard and respected. Stay calm (even if you're feeling anxious!) and speak low and slow. Once the youth is feeling more relaxed, you can tap into the rapport you've built and coach them in how to create an action plan. Remember they can be easily re-escalated during this time, so continue being compassionate, respectful, and calm. Your student might need to be referred to a counselor for more one-on-one assistance (please refrain from making diagnoses). Want more information? Check out this series of slides.

On another note, I built some raised beds on Friday, then Jeff and I moved seven tons of river rock over the next two days. Here is Kate playing with plastic eggs inside one of the boxes. Like you do.

Holy Cats. It's April!

Last week began like any other week: In the office. I helped Carlo tackle some of the Luncheon tasks, sifted through email, yelled at Google... You know, the usual.

On Tuesday, I went to the eye doctor and picked out some new specs. It was nearly as much fun as buying shoes! Then, I worked on our summer training schedule, chatted with a few of you all, and wrote a letter of recommendation for one of my old YESS students.

I went over to Ranum on Wednesday to see what ol' Joe is up to. Turns out, he's still doing a lot of good work over there! Loved seeing your kids engaging with one another and that rad daily agenda!

I drove downtown (what an awful place) for a meeting on Thursday morning. While there, I got to spend some quality time with Patricia while learning more about a few of the other agencies doing work under the MYDF Grant (formerly known as DABH).

• First, I heard about the Boys and Girls Club PACE Program. This is a place where students are sent when the school has exhausted their resources. Students remain in a specialized PACE place (ha) for a few weeks and are then reintegrated into their schools. PACE continues to support the students for the rest of the year. Another program I learned about 
• Next up, a representative from the Denver Public Schools spoke about some of the work she and her health services providers have been doing to mitigate drug use among youth. She shared that her program is growing, especially since marijuana is so readily available these days.
• Lastly, we heard from Brent, who works at Youth on Record. This non-profit partner uses music to inspire youth to be engaged in a productive activity. Carlo says, "They've got the cool factor" and it's absolutely true. I'm intrigued by these folks. 

Of course, today was the big luncheon day. Everybody did a magnificent job! Thank you to those who worked hard to make today successful, but were unable to attend! And thank goodness the weather held off for a bit!

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

When I rolled into last week, I was excited because I was going to get through some of the important, but not urgent items on my to-do list. But, you know what happened? I missed all of you! I mean, I still got a lot done, but I missed hearing about your successes, challenges, and questions each day. All that to say, I hope you had a lovely break and I'm glad you're back.

So here's what I did on Monday, I sent my parents off to Montrose for a few days, then spent time looking through all the PD materials I've collected over the last six months. For instance, here's a little gem that illustrates situations you've encountered a million times in your classroom. 

Amy Brady, the presenter and an educational/leadership consultant, says there are four primary ways people respond to constructive feedback:

No growth! #Sad

1. "I suck" - You might hear phrases like, "I can't do this" or "There is nothing I can do to change this." This person has effectively shut down and there will be no growth or change. 

2. "You suck" - You may hear, "You don't support me" or "There are issues in how YOU do YOUR job" or even the dreaded, "Whatever." This person is defensive and will not grow or change.

3. "I'm trying" - This person may say things like, "I'm doing my best" or "It was just a bad day/week" or "Let's focus on the positive." During these conversations, the person is rationalizing, which leaves little room for growth or change.

We want our scholars to grow just like these
lovely crocuses!

4. "What can I learn?" - As you can imagine, this is where we want our scholars and ourselves to be. You'll hear things like, "I appreciate the feedback" and "How can I grow from this?" They may reflect on, "What would I do differently next time?" This type of conversation is all about seeing opportunity and allows for loads of growth and change.

I also stumbled upon this nifty little item from CASEL. If that acronym looks familiar, it's because we're utilizing this group's research to support the work we do in our programs. I really like the way they describe the three practices and (even though you're already doing versions of these) I'd like to work with you all on finding effective ways of incorporating these into our programs next year.

On Tuesday, I channeled my inner Simon Sinek and worked on a magnificent Circle of Why for our programs. What's that you say? You haven't seen his TED Talk?! Click here and behold. I've really tried to incorporate this concept into everything I do and it seems to help a lot, especially when planning for the future. We'll talk more about the "Why" of YESS in June. (Edited to add: Wowza! That video is dated! Here is Stacey Abram's sharing a similar, equally powerful message.)

Wednesday was payroll day. A fun time was had by all. Carlo even learned how atrocious my math skills are.

I took some time to have a mommy/daughter day on Thursday and my folks came back to my place that evening. The highlight of the whole week was partially finishing a segment of our basement. It's now a play room and Kate is constantly asking if we would like to hang out while she makes tea. Super cute!

Guess. What. Day. It. Is.

Hey Mike!

Greetings! Are you happier than a camel on Hump Day? Are you grateful that you can bare your legs without developing frostbite? Are you thrilled that you have a WHOLE WEEK to relax, explore, or binge watch some fabulous tv show? I hope so. On another note, sorry this is a bit late. Here's actual footage of me at work the last couple of days...

Hilarious. Also, there are clubs for
this activity. Anybody up for a YESS
team building activity?

So, here's the scoop. I sent a rad list of resources to you all last week. Did anyone get to peruse them? If not, please do! This is not a job requirement. It will not show up on your evaluation, but it will likely address some concerns you've had at some point in the year. And here are a few more to add:

This article, from Teaching Tolerance, discusses how to support students as they watch this whole college admissions rigging thing unfold. What a hot mess. Within this article, you will find a list of strategies you can use to assist scholars in dealing with the emotions that have come up.

Here's another article from Teaching Tolerance. This one is about how to implement a "call-in" culture, as opposed to a "call-out" culture. I'm thinking specifically of some of you who have white scholars who struggle to identify their privilege and/or say things that are completely out of line. There are some really neat sentence starters that mentors could be trained to utilize. It's important to note that this article does *not* condone people of color being required to expend emotional labor to teach white students about systemic racism. I'm sharing it with you all so you can reflect on whether or not these strategies might work for you and your students.

The last resource for this post is an article from TED about the stories of our lives. Story-telling is a stupendous way to teach concepts. While this article isn't necessarily related to pedagogy, it is related to the way we reflect on our lives, which (naturally) affects the way we show up for our students. This is cool food for thought, if you're into personal growth.

I know you're all dying to learn about my activities last week, so I'll conclude with this quick bit:
Monday - MEETINGS! And a lunch 'n learn about retirement planning, which was a near-total waste of time because it was designed for people aged 55+. It does get me thinking about how to support you all in this manner, though. Stay tuned.

I'm so done with winter.

Tuesday - MS and HS team meetings and a webinar about quality program improvement.
Wednesday - See image of Holly Blvd, near my house ➜
Thursday - Catching up on everything I didn't do M-W
Friday - TGYS funder visit at Ranum (thanks, Joe!)

That's it from my neck of the woods. Hold on for the ride and enjoy your break!

Resource Dump

Hi, all. I mentioned that I've been harboring some resources and that I would share them with you. I mean, what good are they if they're sitting in a folder on my web browser, really?

This guide to facilitating a circle talk is a great resource if you're unsure of how to start. It would also be a good "brush up" guide if you've done circles before, but didn't feel like it was super successful. There is some language about a particular incident involving police brutality, but I found the suggestions to be broad enough that you can utilize them with other topics.

Teaching Tolerance is one of my fave resources of all time. This guide is specifically formulated for discussing race and racism, but again, there are some strategies here that can be generalized. I especially like the section about teacher self-care.

Do you need a quick list of interesting games to play with your students? Try this.

Some intriguing things here

Are you trying to boost your teaching prowess? I really like this list of strategies. Also, you can find the word "social loafing" here, which is kind of amusing.

This one is written for business managers, but stay with me! There are boatloads of questions you can use to get kids thinking about how they can make a difference in their lives. If I were still teaching, I'd memorize 2-3 of these questions and use them during one-on-one chats. I might also do some mentor training with them. Last thing about this resource, you'll notice that everything starts with a goal. True for grown-ups and kids alike!

This is why what you're doing is SO important!

This article talks about self-care. It's geared specifically toward women, but I think there are some gold nuggets for all our men friends, too.

I've read this article on several occasions and I take something new from it each time. The most recent reading reminded me that we don't need to earn love, but rather trust that it will be there when we connect authentically with others.

I think Emily may have shared these already, but here are some posters produced by a group called A Mighty Girl. They welcome you to print them free of charge. If you'd like a cool Facebook group to follow, sign up for this one.

Anybody want to make glitter jars with me over the summer?! This article makes a convincing case for having one. **Warning: It's a New York Times article, so it will count as one of your freebies. Does anybody else try to scrape by without a subscription?**

Brene Brown has tons of downloads on her site. Her books/articles are usually great, as well!

Here's another neat trick that's meant for business people, but would be fantastic in a classroom.

Ok, last one. Ever heard the phrase, "If you can name it, you can tame it?" This article is all about boosting your ability to handle anger, which seems appropriate for people working with adolescents. ;-)

Welp. That oughta keep you busy for a while. I'd love to discuss any and all of these resources with you, if you'd like!

Does anybody really know what time it is?

I'll just leave this here.

Now for the real fun! Last week was super busy and fun!

On Monday, I got to meet up with Jamie and Carlo for our regularly-scheduled chat. Then, Ms. Emily joined us to discuss the revival of the STAR Team (thanks, Alex, for being the first to sign up!). After all that, I caught up on emails, which is what I typically do on Mondays. Try not to be jealous.

Tuesday was a day for classroom visits. First, I went to North and had a delightful time with Vince and his scholars. After a quick caffeine run, I went over to Scott Carpenter for a lovely visit with Alex and her kiddos. My favorite sanity-saving portion of this job is seeing all of you expand your teaching skills, by the way. Thank you for always being open to my suggestions.

I attended a rather long meeting/PD on Wednesday, then met up with Carlo and Drew DeMarie. Drew is the Training Director at Mentor Colorado (our statewide mentoring partnership) and he taught me that we have the ability to apply for a grant that will allow us to receive free technical assistance. I'm  so stoked that we will be able to analyze what's going well in our programs and then address some of the issues we face! Growth makes me happy.

I began Thursday morning with stupidly slow traffic and then a wonderful chat with Joe. That was followed up with a trip to Kearney MS to meet with a slew of people about the programs there and at Adams City MS. It looks like the district is unable to overcome some scheduling issues, which means Portia and Michael will have the opportunity to modify our model while still achieving our mission! I'm thrilled to work with them on this project. :-)

On Friday (I know, I know...), I went over to West to see Carlos work his magic. I know you've all already taught the Apple Pie lesson, but I just want to toot his horn a bit. Why? Because Joey doesn't share food and it's a perfect example of a Whole Pie Eater! I'm so glad he was able to maintain fidelity while also bringing in this kid-approved resource.

That's it from here. I've got a load of resources to drop on you all, but I don't want to tack it to the end of a typical post. Stay tuned for a bonus edition of my blog!

More Memes and a Ginormous Thank You

I got so much positive feedback about the "meme" blog a while ago, I thought I'd try something similar! I realize I haven't written to you in a while and the reason is:

We went to DC for President's Day and visited our besties! Kate brought bronchitis into our home a few days before the trip, so that was fun...

Ok, this isn't a meme but she sure is cute!

After many days of being coughed on, I caught the crud and took a some time off.

Last week was finally productive, so I'll just tell you what I got into... Monday was full o' meetings and a funeral. Tuesday, I tried to host a Google Hangout with the HS Team and technology completely failed us! I researched a product called Zoom and it seems like a solid replacement - Stay tuned for more info. I also got to meet up with Portia and her guidance counseling team over at ACMS. On Wednesday, I went to KMS to see Michael, then went over to SCMS to chill with Alex and Carlo. Thursday was spent at WLA with Carlos and Diane (fun!) and then filing paperwork/catching up on tasks (less fun!).

I'd also like to take a moment to publicly thank those of you who have raised issues regarding everything from curriculum to on-boarding. I'm extremely grateful that so many of you have approached me about ways to improve the agency and I hope you all realize that YOU are the reason YESS is able to be successful. No joke. I love working with each and every one of you!

So Much Winning

Me feeling good about my life choices

Hi again! Last week was one of those rare times when I felt like I actually accomplished the majority of my goals. Weird, isn't it?

On Monday, I had four (4!) meetings, all of which were meaningful. I am always grateful for time to connect with Carlo and Jamie! Then, I drove to ACHS to chat with Erica and I even got to connect with a former board member to discuss the wonderful world of non-profit work.

On Tuesday, I had three more meeting-like things! Of course, these were also highly enjoyable. I started my day with Diane, who has been a huge blessing for me this year. After that, I ventured to Vince's classroom to see him in action. Finally, I had a chance to spend some time with Portia.

My thinking about my new shoes

Wednesday, the snowy day which nearly ruined my new red flats, was also great! I had a chance to spend the majority of my day with Alex and I must say, I really miss the classroom life (even though I love learning about this side of the biz). I also learned to look at the weather forecast before leaving the house.

On Thursday, I took some time to catch up on all the email that had piled up throughout the week and Carlo gave me a chance to help create a proposal for a new school. I also got to see Michael and hook him up
with some reading material. Anybody need a book to read? I've got recommendations.

Friday (yes, Friday), I headed over to WLA to see Carlos do his thing and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I also got a minute to check in with Patricia!

Future me contemplating the current
state of our country

So, there's the rundown. I have more of the same in the coming days, but am excitedly planning a trip to Washington DC. I'll be leaving town on Thursday, the 14th and returning on Tuesday, the 19th. Thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else did last week!

Short Week

Not a whole lot to report from last week.  I was able to wrap up our mid-year reviews last week and continue working on juggling my work load. Oh, and Kate caught the crud so I stayed home with her for a day.

Up this week: year-end celebrations, team meeting plans, classroom visits, and more! Woot!

Holy January, Batman!

Last week was short, but still jam-packed!

You didn't seem me, but I totally snapped this
pic of YESS Staff running toward
professional attainment during our trainings!

On Tuesday, I dropped my momma off at the airport then headed over to Shaw to see an AWESOME lesson on goal-setting. Thank you, Megan, for welcoming me to your room!

Wednesday began with a half-day PD about working with boys of color in the classroom. The presentation, given by SimsFayola Foundation, was enlightening and I hope you'll try to take advantage of their expertise by registering for the workshop they're presenting. Then, I had a chance to sit down with some peeps to chat about the High School End of Year Celebration. It's going to be a lot of worthwhile effort on all our parts and I can't wait to get this show on the road!

On Thursday, I had several meetings/mid-year reviews. Can I just say how much I love the growth mindset everyone brings to these evaluations? Y'all are commendable people. I wrapped up the week by meeting with Portia at Adams City MS and later with Michael and the administrators at Kearney MS.

If you enjoy Robin's "Holy ___" phrases like I do, please take a moment to chuckle at this list of outlandish sayings!

The Importance of Story-Telling

Gather 'round; let me tell you a tale...

On Friday, at around 3:30 pm, it was confirmed that I was responsible for writing the narrative for a mid-year report, which was due at 5:00 pm. For those of you who know me, you can imagine my heart dropping into my stomach as I asked my mom (who was visiting over the weekend) to keep Kate quiet enough for me to work. I don't typically miss deadlines; one of my most intense Hot Buttons is "Irresponsible." I logged on to the grant portal and was completely lost. I had no clue how to answer the series of short answer questions I was looking at with integrity. I messaged Becky, who graciously responded to my plea for assistance and reminded me that I have access to all of the programs' Monthly Reports. What a god-send those reports turned out to be! I was able to read stories about kids who have started turning in work, improved attendance, built relationships with other students, and more! Thanks to those reports, I was able to complete the narratives and have a relaxing weekend.

Why do I share this with you? Because I am no in charge of writing stories that show our funders the good work you do each day. I had AMAZING things from some programs, while I had virtually nothing (or literally nothing) from others. If you're reading this and thinking, "I don't remember the last time I completed my Monthly Report," please pick up the ball you've dropped. If you're thinking, "Nobody reads these things anyway," I can assure you that I did on Friday and I'm supremely grateful for the information that was there.

Carlo says these stories "feed the machine" and, now that I'm on the other side, I see how vital they are to the programs' and agency's success. I love you guys and gals and I'll be monitoring these more closely throughout the spring semester.