The High School - My Most Difficult Journey...

And maybe not so surprisingly, where I feel like I've made the most impact.

It's funny how the project I was so close to quitting so many times turned out to be the project I'm most proud of and connected to in the end.

The kids that fought against me daily as if we were going into battle now hug me sometimes and say things like, "Teacher, I love you."  Yes, these are HS students.

The relationship shift is immense, but what I want to talk about here is their progress in communication and thinking skills in English.

There are three major projects in the last few weeks that have put me in awe of their growth.

First, we had a free verse poetry slam.  My friend, Alex, who was visiting me taught them how to write free verse poetry.  We watched a professional on a TED talk and they were inspired.  We talked about metaphors and hyperbole and they were off - writing like people who had something to say!

They memorized their poems and performed them over a potluck breakfast :]  Snapping all the while in support of their classmates.

Second, they wrote essays on their exams where they compared how the theme of governmental control was expressed in the movies, Maze Runner, Hunger Games, Divergent, and the Giver.  They couldn't even write paragraphs about themselves when we started together.  Now, they are writing analytical essays.  Of course their English is still rough, but they are doing it!  The director told me that analyzing literature is something they struggle with in Spanish class and that they don't really know how to write organized essays.  Yes!!!! They are doing it in their second language!

I think one thing that helped was that we had already done group projects where they made posters about the themes with examples from each movie and presented, so they already had the concepts.

Also, I made them organize their ideas on the exam by completing an outline where they had to list: Idea 1______________
Example from a movie___________
Example from a movie___________
Example from a movie ___________
Idea 2 _______________
and so on....

I learned this organization technique when I was teaching middle school writing.

Lastly, we watched one more movie called McFarland and discussed the ideas in the movie.
We could all relate to the story as it is about a coach and his family who move to a Mexican community of farm workers in CA because it is the only HS job the coach could get.  He struggles with being accepted into the community much like I did at the HS.  He sticks with it, though and beautiful relationships are formed.  Also, the kids in the movie are the firsts in their family to make it to college.

They wrote their own discussion questions - as they still need a lot of work in question writing.  They always leave out the do or did and still put the words in the wrong order no matter how many times we practice.  One day, they'll get it.  Anyways, during exam week they never want to do anything and are always studying for other subjects during my class. So.... we made a deal.  I told them that if they could have a good discussion for 30 minutes with  their notes for other classes in their bags, I would give them 30 minutes to study.  If not, they would have to do worksheets for points the whole class.

They unanimously chose the discussion option and I started the stopwatch.
It was amazing.  It was the most thoughtful and participatory discussion we've ever had.
They took turns asking their questions and passing the ball to someone to answer.
We used several tenses, naturally, including the conditional "What would you do if you were in his situation....? Would you move or stay with the team?"
They talked about how money isn't everything and how community is more important.
They talked about how important it is to have hope and something to work towards.
They talked about how their lives were easy compared to the kids in the movie who had to get up at 4 and work in the fields before school.
Before we ended, I asked them if any of them would be first generation college students like the kids in the story.  They went around and answered. Most of them will be.

When they smiled with pride as they responded, "Yes," I got goosebumps.

Even though I'm leaving this group, they have given me things I will carry with me forever.
I know that this is they type of population I want to work with - teens who are blazing a new path... Teens who need that little extra support to get that somewhere their hope can take them.