West Leadership Weekly Round Up: August 27th - 31st

Greetings!

We had a fun and busy second week here at WLA as we spent time getting to know one another and continuing to build our YESS community.

On Monday and Tuesday, students reviewed the classroom expectations and were introduced to our general mentoring guidelines for the year. The purpose was to get them to start thinking about being mentors and envision themselves in the role so when we begin our mentor training they are ready to start off strong. Additionally, we spent time setting up our journals and playing a fun "Secret Identity" game. Each student has a YESS only journal that they will be using quite frequently throughout the year - everything from DO NOW's to discussing gratitude to just generally writing their thoughts and experiences. I'm very much looking forward to reading and providing feedback each week.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent reviewing our Academic Grade Tracker and if students were recently added to the class, we made sure they got theirs set up in the back of their notebooks. From there I had students choose one social justice issue they don't know much about and spend some time researching and preparing a short Google slide with a partner or small group. Since social justice is an ongoing theme in this course, it's important to gradually introduce the students to the issues and provide relevant examples throughout the school year. This way they can then find a topic that they are truly interested in and hopefully dive deep into helping solve it during our Stand Up project at the end of the year. I was pretty impressed with some of the topics selected already and the conversations that they lead to.

Friday we wrapped up the week by having some fun. Students completed their journal entries for the day and then we answered random fishbowl questions as well as played the "Remember Me?" blanket game. After that, we enjoyed the weather and got outside to Sunken Gardens for some sun!

It's been a good start at WLA thus far and I'm looking forward into diving into the curriculum next week! Stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: August 20th - 24th

Greetings!

We had a fun and exciting first week back to school here at West Leadership Academy! The semester is off to a fun start with new students, a new classroom, and new opportunities to grow and learn.

8th period listing out their courses and grade goals for the year

With West Leadership Academy moving towards block scheduling Monday - Thursday and all classes on Friday, students and teachers took this first week to get to know each other and acclimate to the new system. On Monday and Tuesday I was able to meet with all of my classes and introduce myself, the YESS program, and the exciting plans we have in store for the school year. Many of my former mentees and mentors returned which is very exciting and will definitely help to ensure a strong start to the semester.

 On Wednesday and Thursday our class time was spent getting to know each other through a variety of games and activities. We started with a fun "Whodunit" game where students were asked to write down something interesting, funny, or silly about themselves and then other students would guess "whodunit". It was already cool to see some new students open up and share some really fascinating insights into their lives. We certainly have some pretty awesome students. From there we had a fun general trivia Kahoot that got pretty competitive (it always does when snacks are on the line) and students seemed to enjoy some of the silly questions I wrote for them. In addition to the fun and games, some students already had questions about academics and grades so I also took the time on Wednesday and Thursday to have students write out their courses, goal grades for each course, and goal GPA. We broke down how to calculate GPA and will certainly continue to revisit these topics during our tutoring time. It was good to see students being interested about their grades already and I think with our new block schedule we will have even more time to focus on accomplishing these academic goals.

Students chatting and getting to know each other

Finally on Friday we had all classes for shortened 50 min periods. During this time we started off with our Fishbowl Friday activity where students are asked to write down a question, a topic, or just a general talking point that they'd like to be brought up anonymously to the class. Additionally we spent some time playing a social barometer game called Take A Stand where students choose a position (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree) on various topics. This was pretty fun to see students have differing opinions on the issues and explain/justify their position.

Overall a great first week here at WLA and with that I am very excited to see what's to come! Stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: August 13th - 17th

Snow Mountain Ranch at YMCA of the Rockies

Hi all!

We are back for another school year here at West Leadership Academy!

Over the past week we didn't have any students. Instead, the teachers met for a professional development retreat at the YMCA of the Rockies! 

Over the course of two days we participated in several workshops on various topics and also mapped out some logistical issues for the upcoming school year. The location was quite beautiful and serene so it was certainly a good place to spend a couple of days. Additionally, team and community building was a big focus so it was nice to let loose and spend time with fellow teachers and staff talking about non-school related things.

The more we get to know each other over the course of the year, the better able we will be to help each other and in turn help our students.

Our own YESS classroom! 

On Friday we got back to the school and spent our day decorating our classroom and preparing for Monday's first day! After getting a room just for YESS students this year, I am certainly looking forward to offering a space where they can visit and receive help throughout the entire day and not just during certain periods. It should be a great year ahead, stay tuned! -Ben