As we are planning out our days I'm starting to relax a little more. I tend to think of these students as operating on a higher cognitive level than they are probably capable of. I need to keep this in check. I need to remind myself that these are young people still and some of the deep reflection and connections that I want to think they should be making are not something they are ready for yet. And still they surprise me sometimes!
I don't intend to post each and every day's activities, but today was a lot more fun for the students and we are quickly becoming more comfortable with our students.
So, if you have a second, I am totally interested in the activities/discussions you started out the class with! How did you set the stage for the coming semester?
ReplyDeleteWe're shaping that still. Truthfully, Gary and I have had NO time to even discuss the class since back in April/May... WE ARE VERY BUSY with the bigger picture of Leadership for the entire school!! Sure, we should have planned this out more, but I feel like he wanted to take the role of teacher/leader and sweat the details through a bit on his own. You probably realize I'm not in my comfort zone with our lack of planning (I'm not totally anal, but I need some kind of plan since I'm new to all this), but it's his baby really. Ya' know I am only part time and I have other interests...
ReplyDeleteYesterday was a lot of Gary talking to them. Some of the "teasers" that were mentioned was them being a big part of the leadership team (minions to do our bidding if you will). We need them to develop and team to interview students who are ready to earn a Falcon Feather #1 and #2. We will have them design and create a "ceremony" to celebrate when our students earn their feathers and LOTS more of these types of activities (locker decorations, tracking progress, ...) Some of this seemed a bit overwhelming and I think he hit them hard with the notion that "if this isn't for you, then you might want to drop this class now". [No one has dropped].
We (I) realized we needed to mix in some fun. We also needed to build them as a team and get them acquainted with each other because they will be each taking turns leading the class in small teams and tasks (like the ones I just mentioned). So today we focused on the team building and connections with them. This will continue into the week as we model "ice breakers" then turn it over to them to continue this so they get a chance at leading an activity.
So it's too early to say we've accomplished all we need in just two short days with the gang. The conversation is only beginning... and the stage is still being set.
What I am enjoying is the ride we're on. It's interesting to watch how some kids display their leadership style. How they are stepping up while others may be shrinking back a bit when an activity doesn't suit their skills. It is fun to see Gary and I switch on/off as leaders - to read each other's reactions "on the fly". It's fun to vision and goal-set as the semester begins... That's the stuff I like.