Extreme Team Fun

by Brandford (Highlander)

One of my after school programs was called Extreme Team Fun. Students worked together to complete various activities that demanded communication, listening skills, team work, and strategy. One obstacle that students played was called Lone Island. Working together students would have to get from one side of the gym to the other. There were 11 students and they only had 9 place mats as their traveling source. The gym floor was transformed into hot molten lava and the only thing they could use was the plates to get across, but the plate only worked if there was contact from a human. So if students dropped the plate and did not have a foot or hand on it I would take it away leaving one less place mat.

When I first introduced this game to the students some stated that they wouldn't be able to make it across but as I assured them that they could it would only take communication, patience, and excellent ram work to make it possible. Two of the older students began to exemplify their leadership skills and organized the group. They begun to strategize a plan to make it across the molten hot lava and with the succession of their planning almost all of the students made it.

Even though students didn't make it all the way across I assured them that sometimes the accomplishment is in the journey itself. You all first believed that you wouldn't be able to make it half way. Not only did you surpass that but given if we had more time you all would have made it.

Reflection Friday: Why do you serve?

Dianny (International): I serve because I knew it was the right thing for me to do. Serving through Charter Corps allows me the opportunity to be a positive role model in the life of many children and hopefully inspire them to do the same in the future. Not only am I giving, but by serving I am gaining experience and discovering my true passion(s) in life; service is reciprocal.  

Leah (International): I serve because my presence and engagement in the classroom and in after school has mattered to hundreds of kids. These two years have been vital in developing my interests and investment in working with children in my career, and without them, I would have a much more superficial understanding of what meaningful work really looks like.

Itza (International): Why I serve is best summarized by Mahatma Gandhi, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

Kimberly (Highlander): Why Do I serve? I serve because I want to make a difference in my community, and show that things may never be perfect but you can always take one step forward towards a better future. 

Francesca (International): I serve because it is an excellent opportunity to give back to my community while exploring possible career choices in my future.

Deyan (Serve Rhode Island): I serve because I believe young people deserve to be listened to and respected. Through my service, both directly with youth and through the lesson plans and trainings I develop, I am helping to build an environment where that kind of respect and cooperation is possible. I strive to learn as much from the young people I serve as they do from me.

Yairy (Segue): I serve because I enjoy helping others. Service to others is a way others can benefit from my strengths. 

Jill (Highlander): I serve because I want to make a difference in the life of my students. I want to inspire and educate them, and help them be the best they can.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

by Leah (ICS)

The International Charter School is certainly a very unique place, and a feature that adds to that distinctiveness is the ICS Children’s Garden. The garden was started in 2007 to promote the idea of an “outdoor classroom” at ICS, and it serves to bring hands-on experience of planting and tending to a garden as well as the appreciation for where our food comes from. The kids are very proud of their garden, as it plays a significant part in the ICS student identity.

The fourth graders recently had a garden clean up day, where they plucked and pruned all of the overgrown weeds and debris that accumulated over the winter. The idea was to clear away any unnecessary stuff that might get in the way of organized planting, and they did a heck of a good job. I figure it would have taken me days if I had to do it myself…! Alright, weeks.

ICS fourth graders exerting the same energy per minute that Ms. Leah exerts per month (in joules, respectively).

The students were supplied with big bags, rakes, and brooms before they began clearing out their garden space. Then, they went to town. It was an impressive thing to watch, as I didn’t see a single kid out of the 34 total that pulled back out of boredom, laziness, or fear of the dirty-dirt. They were so into it!

I think the students were so quick to clean the garden because it’s something that they’re proud of. They know the food it yields, and that the food belongs to them. This year the fourth graders made french fries out of the potatoes they planted last year, and this spring they’ll be planting again to enjoy another treat to look forward to in fifth grade. The typical products that come out of the garden are corn, salad greens, tomatoes, sunflowers, and happiness.

This now desolate, barren flatland will soon be glowing with lush vegetable extravagance.

This garden is just another thing that makes ICS so awesome. Especially in a world so saturated with ipods, cell phones, and video games, it’s nice to have the kids connect to something of the earth. The garden is something they can call their own, and for them, that’s just one more thing that strengthens their community.

And honestly, who could say no to french fries?

After school kindergarteners admire the budding flowers that have started to grow this month…

just call them kinders in the garten.

Math Fair!

by Brandford (Highlander)

How could you make addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, positive/negative integers, fractions, probability and percentages into a game? Having the ability to work closely with the Math Fair organizing lead teacher I was able to see students from 6th - 8th grade engage in a side of math that I wasn't accustom to seeing.

Students that would struggle with math during school or had tutors all focused and became young mathematicians and engineers during the process; which was the most impressive thing for me. Students built a Planko Board, designed a Dinosaur world with a time machine, and constructed a ski ball machine.

Students had approximately 20 schools days to design a game using math concepts such as: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, positive/negative integers, fractions, probability and percentages. Students games would have to be able to be played by both kindergarten through 5th grade and parents.

During the math fair I also had the privilege of being one of the judges. I had to play as many games as possible. The best game that I played which was also the first place winner from my 6th grade classroom was a game called Call Me Maybe. When you sat at the game you would first have to solve ten problems ranging from fractions, multiplying/ dividing positive and negative integers and percentages. Once you solved the ten problems you would take your ten answers and place them on a giant phone board, If the ten numbers was correct you would win and get a ticket for the raffle.

Measuring Spacesuits

by Yairy (Segue)

During February vacation I worked with third and second graders for a week. One of the activites we improved was measuring and converting measuresments. Students were in pairs. They each traced eachother on butcher paper and then measured the length of eachother. Overall, the students enjoyed the activity.

Reflection Friday: What is one thing you learned from a teacher you worked alongside this year?

Leah (International): Working with Mr. Ben this year has taught me the value of giving kids frequent cycles of mind and body rejuvenation. Between just about every lesson he plays a game, sings a song, or gets the kids moving in some way - and it really helps them focus! He is not afraid to be silly, and that's something I'm more than happy to emulate. His practices have taught me the importance of those little in-between moments, and how even transition times can be spent in effective ways.

Brandford (Highlander): One thing that I learned from a teacher that I worked along with is to laugh when things are funny, laugh when things are serious, and laugh when you don't know what to do. Embrace the moments of the day and don't stress over the little stuff.

Jill (Highlander): My cooperating teacher spent the year encouraging me to work independently, and working with her has allowed me to learn more about perspectives in student learning. Although she is obviously the primary teacher, I am given a lot of chances to co-teach and teach independently, and through various methods, we work together to teach concepts in a variety of ways to play into student's varied learning styles. This has allowed me to learn how to teach from different angles in order to best facilitate student learning, and it has allowed me to become a better educator.

Francesca (International): Connie has been a terrific teacher to work alongside during my service in the Charter Corps. She has taught me how to work towards the perfect balance she achieves between disciplinarian and a warm, welcoming teacher.

Deyan (SRI, formerly Highlander): I learned the value of rotations while working with Mr. Bovay, this year. If there are enough teachers in the room to lead 3 or 4 stations, there’s no reason not to make rotations a part of your class routine. The small groups at each station make it so much easier to give students the individualized attention they need!

Nellie (Highlander): One thing that I learned from my teacher that I work with is to take some time during class for silence. Not as a punishment but as a way of getting centered, focused, and relaxed before starting the lesson/day.

Yairy (Segue): The one thing I learned from a teacher I work with this academic year is about systems. The systems' goal is to get students on task and to improve. One of the systems is the token system, where the student receives two talk tokens as a reminder to participate during class. Once the student participates the teacher rakes the token away and so on for the next token. The goal is to have the student participate twice for every class.

Dianny (International): This year I learned that you need to improvise when plans don't go the way you foresaw and that your agenda needs to be flexible in order to accommodate these changes. Basically, you need to be prepare for anything and everything to happen during your class!

Itza (International): Communication is key.

Building Bridges

by Dianny (International)

Ladies and gentlemen, we might have the next generation of engineers in our own ICS. Yes, you read it right! Last week in my afterschool science club my kindergartners to fifth graders were faced with the challenge of constructing a bridge that was at least a foot long. Besides the length requirement, the bridge had to hold up the weight of three small hard cover books and follow one of the bridge designs I gave them; be it as simple as a beam bridge to as complicated as a cantilever bridge. Now you might be asking yourself, how did these students manage to build a bridge? Well the answer is easy, with dedication and hard work just like our school motto says. But dedication and hard work can't be everything...yes, yes, I know. The parameters for this project were broader then your typical bridge building science project because the students only had one hour to accomplish this laborious task. They were only allowed to use 100 popsicle sticks or less, tape, glue, glue dots, and two pieces of construction paper.

To my surprise, the bridges came out phenomenal and students were really engage in building them; there's nothing like hands-on learning! They really enjoyed working on the bridges and also working with their team members. By the end of the project there was even a friendly competition going on between the groups.

My students say that it reminded them of art class and that "they didn't like it, they loved it!" We are all happy campers!