Archive for March, 2008
« Previous EntriesMy Top 5 Reasons why students drop out of our school district
By Lisa Pfister | Monday, March 31st, 2008
Hillsboro School District: (Grades K-6th, population I currently work with.)
1) Students from dysfunctional families
2) Behavioral and Social problems
3) Frequent moves from school-to-school
4) Drug and alcohol problems
5) Self-esteem issues
What are your school’s main reasons for drop out?
Topics: Questions | No Comments »
Additional Reasons students may drop out of school
By Lisa Pfister | Monday, March 31st, 2008
Reasons students drop out of school: homelessness, poverty, needing to care for younger siblings while parents work, learning disabilities, or un-diagnosed learning disabilities, family does not have an education over the third grade and can’t help their children with their school work, mental health issues, attention deficit disorders, domestic violence in the home, drug and alcohol abuse by family or student, physical abuse, mental and sexual abuse, lack of medical attention, etc…
Additional reasons: high rate of absenteeisms, lack of motivation to be in-school, low or failing grades, negativity towards school, lack of parental involvement, lack of parenting, and the neighborhoods the students reside in, including lack of positive peer interactions.
*Looking for other elementary professionals to list their reasons for possible drop out rates for their school districts.
Topics: Dropouts | No Comments »
Chalkboard Project - Giving away 5 Making Connections scholarships
By Lydia Brooks | Thursday, March 27th, 2008
If you or someone you know would like free access to Making Connections send your story about why mentoring is important to you to The Chalkboard Project, info@chalkboardproject.org
The first 5 people to send in their stories will be given scholarships to Making Connections!
Topics: Mentor Stories, Things to do | No Comments »
Educating Children on Their Cultural Heritage
By Tobi Kibel Piatek | Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
I am huge fan of streaming audio. It allows me to listen to my favorite radio programs, any time, any place. Yesterday, while surfing for ideas, I came across this wonderful broadcast on NPR’s Tell Me More, hosted by Michel Martin. I think it is definitely worth sharing.
This program features an interview with the Mocha Moms, Jolene Ivey, Cheli English-Figaro and Davina McFarlan. They are members of a support group for stay at home mothers of color. They share information on child rearing and other family topics. Special guest, Dr. Marguerite White a child psychologist, added to the conversation.
In this interview, the discussion is about navigating issues of color, appearance and self worth, and how to teach children to become culturally conscious. The conversation includes practical tips as well as anecdotes from home and school. Its lively and personal.
Though this discussion is targeted at parents, the information and ideas are relevant to teachers and mentors. Dr. White offers advice on how healthy parenting can help create a culturally sound household and positive interactions with teachers.
Listen to Tell Me More online at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16038285
Click the Listen on the Tell Me More page (above) to hear Dr. White’s tips for participating in parent-teacher conferences
Topics: Resources for Teacher, Culturally Competent, Resources for Mentor | No Comments »
Youth Today includes Mentoring Resources Page
By Tobi Kibel Piatek | Monday, March 24th, 2008
Thanks Lydia for directing us to Youth Today. I notice that there is a full page of mentoring resources at http://youthtoday.org/publication/results.cfm?topic=23
I also notice that to access these many resources, you need to subscribe to the publication. A year’s subscription, $29.50) includes monthly print editions and 24/7/365 access to Youth Today Online.
A 10 day free trial is available - http://youthtoday.org/publication/register.cfm
Topics: Resources for Teacher, Resources for Mentor | No Comments »
Youth Today Newspaper
By Lydia Brooks | Monday, March 24th, 2008
Youth Today Newspaper is a publication geared toward people doing youth work. They also have a great support website.http://youthtoday.org
Topics: Recommended reading, Mentor Stories, Culturally Competent, Resources for Mentor | No Comments »
Great speaker
By Corey Goldberg | Monday, March 17th, 2008
I recently attended a conference presented by the U.S. Department of Education, for recent grantees and their mentoring programs. I had the opportunity to sit in on a seminar with an amazing speaker. His name is Charlie Appelstein and he spoke about strenght-based mentoring. He has a website www.charliea.com and has written some books. He was one of the most engaging, humorous, and inspirational speakers I have ever heard.
Topics: Recommended reading | No Comments »
Classroom management and creating relationships
By Lydia Brooks | Monday, March 17th, 2008
I’m a little late to the party but there is a great conversation happening on educators Dan Meyer’s (http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=665#comment-66900) and TMAO’s blogs (http://www.roomd2.blogspot.com/) regarding relationship building and classroom management.
I especially liked this point TMAO made in the comments on Dan’s blog:
” ‘Christian also writes: “What [many teachers] fail to do is validate their students in the process.’
Now we’re getting somewhere. This is the start of how you validate yourself, because you need to validate yourself. Not as someone with a title and the capacity to punish, because that is a given, but as a real person. You need to validate yourself as someone who works for kids, who is there to benefit and assist. That is NOT a given in many, many communities.”
Topics: Things to do | No Comments »
Sometimes a Mentor Needs a Mentor too!
By Tobi Kibel Piatek | Monday, March 10th, 2008
I recently attended a basic mentor training for people who volunteer to work with kids. It was an interesting evening that brought home the point that whether we teach, volunteer, coach or mentor, the key to the work is not the skills we teach, but the relationships we make. And this can be very challenging.
I left the training thinking that in spite of my education, and my broad and varied experience working with kids, I wish I had had the chance to learn more about how to connect with kids, and how to handle the impact of their lives and behavior on my own emotions.
I have worked with kids all my life, starting as a pre-teen babysitter and moving on to day camp counselor, and then a summer camp counselor. I ran an after school arts and crafts program at the Y. I worked one-on-one with a very ill child (and his six siblings). I fulfilled my educational psychology requirements by volunteering with children in the psychiatric ward of a large NYC hospital.
After college, I spent several years doing recreation and occupational therapy in an adolescent psychiatric hospital. I’ve been a TAG teacher, an Olympics of the Mind coach, a mother helper, an artist in the schools; I’ve raised two children, and been part of the lives of numerous friends, scouts, classmates and neighbors.
In my many kid related jobs, I received lots of training, all of it related to research, skills and responsibilities of my job. None, as far as I can remember, was about relating to the kids. Now, when I look back, what stands out the most in my memory was not the days when everything went well, when the art projects got done, when all the kids were happy to play volleyball or write and share poetry, or hike all day. What I remember are the times when things went wrong, and I was unsure about the right thing to do, and where to turn for help.
Those of us who mentor, teach or work with kids make a commitment to do the best possible job we can. We sign up because we want to help kids, to teach them, to enrich their lives, to make the world better. We bring our skills, talents, and good intentions. But in spite of this, and even in the most ideal circumstances, things can (and do) go wrong. I was often unprepared to deal with the ‘surprise events’ that occurred; the moments that were not covered by my job description or training.
Though I was a whiz at creating a work of art out of mismatched tempera paints, dried out brushes, oatmeal boxes and scraps of wood, I had no idea what I supposed to do when a an angry parent arrived in the room yelling … at the kid, or at me.
Though I could organize games, or brainstorm seventeen things to do with a lemon and a paperclip, how could I best help the child who cried to me because her mother had “bumps in her breast?” What was the protocol to deal with a suicide threat written into a short story, or the time a kid ran away from a group outing?
No one ever taught me how to encourage a kid to talk, or get a reluctant kid to join a game. How was I to make a new kid feel welcome, or help a kid fit in, or defuse a fight between two kids who were bigger than me?
In each of these experiences, I did the best I could. My results cover the spectrum from inspiration to “I could have done better.”
The mentor training made me realize that my job might have been easier and my results better if I had had a mentor – someone who talked to me about the challenges I faced when I chose to work with kids. Someone who had ideas, and knowledge and experiences that would have prepared me before I had to react, not after.
So these are my questions:
- What kinds of mentor training do you know about?
- If you were training someone to be a mentor, what is the most important thing you would share?
- Were you taught how to mentor? How, where? What did you learn?
- What do you wish you had learned?
Please use this blog to share your thoughts.
Topics: Mentor Stories | No Comments »
Connecting With Kids
By Anna Christenson | Monday, March 10th, 2008
When I was writing my journal about the moments I enjoyed in school, memories came to mind of teachers telling jokes, or getting excited at the overhead projector, or showing us something from their personal life/extending themselves. Then it hit me, the best moments are when teachers are being natural with children and showing students that they love teaching. Those are the times when kids love learning, because they feel like they can bring something to the life of the teacher; they become part of a team between teacher and student. A team that works together in a reciprocal relationship.
I thought I would share this reflection as it relates to how educators, mentors, and parents (in my opinion), make the greatest impact on kids. If we show them that we love to work with them, they will attach that love to their self identity and begin to appreciate themselves as well.
Anna Christenson
AmeriCorps Member YWCA LearnLinks
Topics: Quality Time | No Comments »
« Previous Entries