Building Challenge!

I was anxious all last week- yet another half day awaited me, and the thought of entertaining weekend-ready middle schoolers for 6 hours after their short day had me slightly worried.  I had put together what I thought was a cool challenge (ideas adapted from the internet/my old teachers) but was unsure how the girls would take it or if they'd be excited at all*.  So I apprehensively bought my supplies at what are quickly becoming my frequent haunts, Target and Michaels**, and headed home to prep.

The day arrived and I proposed my idea to the girls: Two building challenges with limited materials.  Only four girls came that day, so the girls would work in pairs, the two cousins versus the non-cousins.  They were instantly intrigued despite my nervous pitch.  I think a little friendly competition had sparked their interest.

I stood before the table laden with soda and fries they had purchased at break, took a deep breath and began my six hours: "Okay everybody, each team will get the exact same supplies: 100 popsicle sticks and two rolls of clear tape.  Your challenge is to build a bridge between two chair and see which team's bridge can hold the most books."

"I thought it'd be a bridge!" one of the girls whispered to another in anticipation.

"Miss, you counted the popsicle sticks yourself, right?" asked another, skeptically.

"Yes," I replied, "Just this morning."

"You must have been bored... Uh just kidding!!"

"Wait Miss, hand them to us at the same time!"

The girls got their two chairs set up, their supplies, and I started the clock.

Team Cousins:

 And Team Non-Cousins:

The time came to try out some of the books.  Team Non-Cousins:

I stood in for Team Cousins (one girl left, the other girl took photos):

Tensions were mounting very high.  It was nearly unbearable for some of the girls; they started to pace back and forth saying, "My heart is beating so hard!"

We stacked the books carefully, one by one, from equal-weight piles until:

It was the end of the day for Team Non-Cousins.  However, Team 1/2 Cousins 1/2 Teacher forged ahead to hold some pretty hefty wordage with those Spanish-English dictionaries:

Alas, there was one dictionary too many.***

The leftovers.

A good challenge!  The girls were so excited they didn't even notice that the pizza had shown up while building.

After lunch we went right in to the second challenge of the day.  The girls had been trying to guess what it was and I gave them a hint.  "For this challenge, we're building horizontally.  For the next challenge...."

"Up!"

That's right.  First I made the girls even more nervous by making them lay newspaper on the ground.  "Miss, is this going to be messy?"

"Well," I replied, "not really."****

The challenge (which you now know because you checked out the **** above)?  Build the tallest tower using a pound of spaghetti and a bag of marshmallows.  Go!

Side note: it was about this time that the other teacher, Ms. Elizabeth, brought her friends and father by to see what she's up to while she volunteers in Philly for the year.

Team 1/2 Cousins 1/2 Teacher + a Helpful Comment or Two from Ms. Elizabeth's Dad:

Team Non-Cousins + Ms. Elizabeth's Friend:

Team 1/2 Cousins 1/2 Teacher + Occasional Assistance from Ms. Elizabeth's Dad:

Team Non-Cousins + Rule Breaking Aid from Chair + Soda Bottle + Possibly Ms. Elizabeth's Foot:

Team 1/3 Cousins 1/3 Teacher 1/3 Ms. Elizabeth's Dad:

Phew.

There didn't seem to be a clear winner (unless you want to DQ Team Non-Cousins for usage of non-challenge approved materials) since both structures unfortunately fell before anyone could find a measuring stick.  But all in all, a good time for everyone.  The theme of this month had been Love Your Neighbor, and after we had finished picking marshmallow bits from between our fingernails and out of our hair, we sat down to talk about what teamwork has to do with loving your neighbor.

"You have to have patience," one girl who had gotten frustrated numerous times said.

A girl from the other team said something to the effect of, "If you love your teammates, you'll listen better and work together better."

The afternoon passed by with a blink and everyone was super intrigued by the projects.  The fun didn't come so much in winning as in attempting to cut marshmallows into fourths or wondering how to use the tape sparingly.  Each team was given time to plan first, but both times they found that their original ideas didn't work very well.  Clear tape apparently doesn't stick to wood very easily.  Spaghetti is very fragile.  Time limits put pressure on good ideas.  But as they worked together, they saw what could be done and overcame the challenges together.

Oh.  And the Target cashier showed great restraint in not asking my why I was only buying spaghetti and marshmallows.

Also, to see a slideshow of just the images, click on an image.

---
*Did you know that when you search "getting them to do something is like pulling teeth" when looking for an image for a good linkout, the first three pix are of students?  Also, I didn't find a good linkout.  Probably because I'm not Jill.

**I keep not signing up for a rewards card because I think, "I can't imagine why I'll come back here again soon."  Really?  I have been here almost every week since Christmas.  I challenged myself to find the supplies I needed using only my Michael's Spidey Senses, aka, no peeking at what's in the aisle.  I got right there, right end of the shelf and everything.  That's scary.

***No books were harmed during the breaking of the bridges.

****Famous last words.

And sometimes we have fun, too

Today was Manayunk on Ice, which is an ice carving competition, and not show, as was my first impression.

This guy, after nearly losing his finger to the chainsaw (green thing on the table in the background, which he told us not to use at home) was now breaking every warning label and ironing a piece of ice.  Yup, that's right, ironing.  So today I learned that water + electricity + bloody chainsaw finger = beautiful ice carving.*

This guy's Mom was so proud of him.  "Look at the depth!  Look at the detail!!  I think this is your best one yet.  I really do.  With my amateur eyes.  But you didn't go overboard.  I mean, remember what happened last year?"

"Thanks, Mom."

"No really, you really did the best I've ever seen.  But it's a good thing you stopped here and didn't give the fish big wings** or anything.  Remember last year?  Remember?"

What happened last year???

This guy was unsuccessfully attempting to attach a flipper to whatever creature this was:

Beautiful work!

And finally, giraffes in love:

We finished out our Manayunk tour with a trip to Three Potato Four, which apparently does super cool antiquing in super hipster places, like this one:

And, despite my lactose intolerance***, I decided to indulge in what was the BEST GRILLED CHEESE I've ever had here:

I created a personal combo of provolone, avocado, and garlic mayo on super butter saturated Italian bread. MMMMM.  Sweet day!

---
*Yeah, don't try at home.  Or, every probably.

**Wings?  Perhaps I remembered wrong.

***Oh, enjoy I did.  Ask Emily.

Chalk!

After a month of encouraging our students to keep track of their progress towards their goals we decided to make a project to help them visualize their progress.  Knowing that writing stuff in a planner can be boring, Elizabeth came up with this great idea:

Chalkboard Calendars!  Receiving some great donations of chalkboard paint and chalk markers, the girls set to work on making their own creation.

The day was a fun one.  We ordered some pizza and wings and ate/painted/watched Narnia and shared some of our favorite music with each other.  Needless to say, my music got booed and replaced with something a little more enjoyed by the girls.  Elizabeth's Florence and the Machine was received semi-favorably.

The girls were so excited about their calendars that they couldn't wait to take them home and hang them up in their rooms.  Now here's to hoping that they remember to write their homework on it!

When Sorrow Comes

This past week, there was a terrible shooting in Juniata Park in Philly.  After a feud on Facebook, a car of 7 teens aged 14-16 showed up at a predetermined spot for a fistfight only to find their opponent's stepfather ambushing them with a sub machine handgun.  Two kids died that night and a third kid was taken off life support the next night around the same time as the man was found hiding in a hotel.

The community was outraged, and on Friday when I saw the girls again after the incident, we took some time to think about it.  We went on Facebook to one of the boy's pages where people were writing all over his wall. We watched a memorial video that someone had put together for the three of them.  In the pictures, some of the kids were drinking and smoking.  "Sometimes people didn't feel bad for them cuz they see what they doin'," said one of my girls, pointing at the pictures.

But we sat in stunned silence and grief watching the video.  It was a smaller crowd that day, just a few of us, trying to figure out how to deal with it.  "I gave him my bag of chips," the same girl whispered beneath her breath.

We finished the video and watched a news clip on the incident.  We talked about how the third boy had been taken off life support.  One of the other girls looked up at me with the most innocent look I'd ever seen her give, and she asked me, "Why'd they take him off life support, Miss?"  The other girl answered before I could.  "He had brain damage."  He had been struck in the back of the head.  The girl still looked shocked and muttered something about him maybe still being alive now if they hadn't taken him off the machines.  I didn't have the heart to explain to her about vegetative states or being brain dead.

When we started the program that day I wasn't prepared to help these girls deal with the emotional shock of such an awful incident.  They already knew almost all the details and had seen both videos before, but watching them together, safe in our room, touched us all a little deeper.  I hope that having that safe place to mourn and share would be something, at least.  They had my support.

"Oh man," the second girl continued as the others got back to work.  "I know my cousins do stuff like that.  I don't want one of them to get killed.  I don't know what I'd do if one of my cousins died."  She was lost in her own thoughts but she shook herself out of it.  I guess you can't dwell on that kind of stuff when you're powerless to change it.

I was so proud of how well the girls treated each other through our processing time.  No one called anyone a harsh name or made fun of anyone for feeling sad or asking questions.  We didn't end with a nice explanation or closure- how could you?  But I think we all drew a little closer together.

Moar Quotable Kids on MLK Jr Day!!

Last Friday I posted about MLK Jr Day, which is getting pretty big in Philly.  Yet again, the kids at the afterschool program where I volunteer decided to go on another awesome field trip!  And, yet again, my middle schoolers all bailed on me for more sleep.

Today's trip was to a nursing home just outside the city.  We had a small group today because some of the kids were nervous that the "old people are going to kidnap me!"  The brave ones, their teachers, and I, along again for the ride, took off for an afternoon of crafts.

The bus ride was pretty uneventful this time.  They weren't quite ready for us when we arrived, so we played with some Jacob's Ladders and pictures.  Still mostly uneventful, and I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have anything to blog about.  But I forgot that we were still missing one very important piece of the day: the residents.

The kids were a little nervous at first when entering the rec room.  The Activities Coordinator introduced us to a man and a woman sitting at one table playing cards.  The man, James*, looked up at us and asked who we were and where we were from.  Then he asked, "Where are these kids' mom?" and he looked expectantly up to me, as if to say, "these are your kids, right?"

"Yes," I thought, "I birthed all 7 of these same-aged Latino and African American kids.".

"It's an afterschool program," is what I actually said.

A few kids sat down at the table and one student, Carlos, was so excited about James that he started to tell him, "I want to be your friend!  You're going to be my friend!"

Another girl asked, "Do you have any teeth at all?"

"Nope, none.  I need to go to the dentist.  How can I do that?"  He asked me.  I told him I had no idea, I was with the kids.

"So wait, do you even have one tooth?"  The girl continued.

"Nope, none."

Meanwhile, Carlos was in mid construction of a little sign that he wanted to give to James expressing his desire to be friends.  He proudly finished with this:

After some gentle guidance from the teacher he made it a little clearer:

Unfortunately, James still couldn't figure out why we were there or what we were here for.  "What are you here for?  Is this therapy?"

"I guess," I replied.

"For you or for us?"

James did take a picture with Carlos and the sign** even though he didn't really understand.  Carlos didn't get why James was so distant, but he did tell me on the bus later, "I made a new friend today!  He's old, but he's still my friend."

Two of the lady residents had to be moved from the room.  One woman thought that all of the kids were her own and kept making them sit down next to her and be quiet.  She had quite a collection of sullen looking kids going on before the staff were able to explain to her that these children were not hers.  She still didn't understand, so she left.  Behind her was a woman who apparently only spoke Polish, and so adamantly that she was beginning to scare some of the kids, so she left, too.

Eventually, Michael Jackson made it on the radio and we were all chorused by the kids who sang along absentmindedly while working on their projects.  To say that MJ is a huge hit with these kids is an understatement.  Of course their was break dancing before the song was over, and that continued for the rest of the afternoon.  One resident sat in the corner watching the troupe yelling, clapping and laughing, "Beautiful!!  Beautiful!!"  She grabbed the hand of the man sitting next to her and pointed in delight.

After enough crafts and dancing for everyone we were escorted to the elevator out.  While waiting, we were directed by the Polish woman who was conducting the kids in what I can only imagine was the Polish National Anthem.  Unfortunately, we are not well versed in the song and the kids just stood there watching.  One kid was so confused that when she threw her arms open wide during the big finish he threw himself into them  for a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.  The woman only broke for a second to return the gesture before going right on back to her grand finale.

We got back to the bus before the older kids who came on informing us that "WE HAD ICE CREAM!"  It was going to be a good ride home.

---
*Some of the names are changed for privacy.

**Sorry I can't post any pics of the kids!  But take my word for it.  They are CUTE!

More than Just a Day Off

 I don't know about you,  but when I think about MLK Jr the first thing that pops into my mind isn't soup kitchens or homeless shelters or street cleaning.    Or at least, it wasn't.

For 16 years, Philadelphia has hosted the MLK Day of Service where instead of taking a day off from work or school people decide to donate their time to the service of their neighbors in need.

My senior year of high school some good friends and I spent a memorable day sorting inventorying* in-kind donations of office supplies** stacked floor to ceiling in a tiny room.  We were avoiding avalanches and valiantly leaping over boxes of pencils and stacks of desks spreading ourselves throughout the room to make sure no box was left unaccounted for.  Our fearless self-elected point person fielded shouts from unseen corners and marked accordingly on the clipboard, "I've got 16 uh, I guess these are notepad covers or something, over here."

What would have taken one person a lifetime and one of these to accomplish took the 6 of us just four or five hours.  Time that an understaffed, under resourced non-profit could probably use better.

The MLK Jr. quote everyone uses for this day is:

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'"

 I think Dr. King took this idea pretty seriously.  It's hard for us to think this way; I kind of want the day off on Monday.  But the truth about service is that it isn't just a day, it's a lifestyle.  It's a persistent question in our lives.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDPLVdJQpgg9BLH3_rQ_7byh8VPfPTg9YJUFWMwjonmqKLGDttxBU3Fl2pNJKHK1SyGgu_wDIkN9MsQGkdjvgaEZRB4to0N6VJ4gh32E3_uhzEkFL7N60tGVKaSo-U_d5_5v071D8l-4/s1600/002.JPG

Mural at 40th and Lancaster in Philadelphia

http://comeexplorewithme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/MLK-marker-at-Lancaster-Ave-and-39th-Street-2.jpg

Sign next to mural 

----
*I'm coining this new word.

**Apparently a box of Nat King Cole video cassettes is considered office supplies.

Welcome back!

It's back to the grindstone after, as the girls informed me yesterday, a 13 day break during which most of my students reported their high as "getting money for Christmas" and their low as "missing their friends."  This month we are working on Goals.  Each of the girls gets a calendar and every day we will write what we did that  day to help reach our goals for the month.  I'm already a step behind in working out 3 times a week, but some of the girls are on the right track with getting their homework done in order to boost their grades by the end of the month.

The last day before the break was really fun.  We got to take three of the girls who were still around after school on a field trip to see the light shows and Christmas Village in Center City.  The relaxing day was what we all needed to have some fun before heading home.

The light show at Macy's.

The girls also did a great job with telling thing Christmas story.  One girl was Mary (with a little attitude!) and another was a part of the choir of angels.  One of the girls was a soldier wearing kids plastic play armor, and the rest sang solos or directed props.

I'm excited for the rest of the year!