Mr. McDonald: A Dedicated Educator

By Lucas Holmes, corps member serving on the PTC team 

Corps member helping a student sound out a work. Photo by Elliot Haney | 2013

“You have two minutes to focus,” Mr. McDonald tells his students in the hallway before entering the classroom. Consistent and clear expectations are one of the keys to Mr. McDonald’s success as an English as a second language (ESL) teacher at Dearborn School.

With a large percentage of ESL students attending Dearborn School, Mr. McDonald fills a significant and much needed role for the school. McDonald recognizes this, working tirelessly to improve the English of these English language learners.

Having the privilege to serve alongside Mr. McDonald this school year, I am fortunate to get to know him and his students. Patience, positivity, and warmth emanate from Mr. McDonald in the classroom, and students respond with an equal amount of respect and focused energy. Although Mr. McDonald’s students face a unique challenge compared to their native English-speaking peers, Mr. McDonald sees their potential to learn as equal, if not greater.

Mr. McDonald’s faith in his students was evident at the beginning of the year when Mr. McDonald worked with them to set an achievable goal of growth for their reading. Instead of setting a goal based on experience from teaching previous years, Mr. McDonald asked the students how much they wanted to grow by the end of the year and let the students decide on the number of words per minute (WPM) by which they wanted to improve.

The students eagerly set their own ambitious goals. With some guidance, Mr. McDonald and the students agreed on the goal of growing 100 WPM by the end of the year; a goal that Mr. McDonald knew would be a challenge to achieve, but certainly possible if the class worked extremely hard. With the students’ goal in mind, Mr. McDonald crafted expectations and lessons to help students meet their goal, requiring 20 minutes of reading per night.

To keep students accountable, Mr. McDonald visually displays the WPM of each student for each beginning and end of month to track the progress of his students. The growth of the class is apparent, but the display also shows that growth does not come easily.

Even though the rate of growth may not be on pace for the end goal of 100 WPM, this should not be a reason for discouragement. Students are encouraged by the fact that they set high expectations for themselves; it means they were willing to risk failure for the sake of pushing themselves to grow as much as they can. Regardless of whether or not the students reach their goal at the end of year, surely Mr. McDonald and I will be proud of the progress that they make.

About the author:
Lucas Holmes is a 2013-2014 corps member serving on the PTC team at Dearborn School in Roxbury. 

Mentoring Independent Thinkers

By Alex Loughran Lamothe, corps member serving on the Comcast NBCUniversal

Travis Fuller, corps member

Corp member Travis Fuller’s mentor changed his life. He will tell you that, plain and simple: “She taught me how to think; she taught me how to ask questions, [and] how to form solutions to those questions.” He has a special appreciation for the immense positive power that a mentor can have on a young person’s life.

His own positive experience has been critical to his service on the PTC team serving at Dearborn School in Roxbury. His goal: to support his students to become independent thinkers, as his mentor supported him.

During his college years at University of California, Los Angeles, Fuller worked as the Financial Supports Commissioner in student government, and, through that work, met his mentor. “She’s an absolutely amazing person and someone who I looked up to a lot,” he reflected. Whether he had business problems, school problems, or personal problems, he knew she was someone he could talk to and count on.

This year, Fuller is a mentor in his own right to the 8^th and 9^th grade students he serves at Dearborn. As he works to help students complete their math assignments and English essays, Fuller hopes to “walk in his students’ moccasins” and to understand where his students are coming from; he does not want to just tell his students how to be successful. Rather, he takes a page from his mentor’s book.

“I think the thing that was so effective about [my mentor’s and my] friendship and our relationship was that she would never give me the answer to something. She would guide me through a problem, but she would never give me a definitive solution,” Fuller remembered. Once he arrived upon his own idea, “She would throw her weight behind it and would help me achieve what I wanted to achieve.”

Fuller has taken this concept with him to the Dearborn. “I try to have [my students work through] with their own problems, because that is what they’re going to have to do in the future. They’re going to have to identify an issue, formulate a response to an issue, and to figure out what the best way to deal with that issue,” he said.

Fuller has been investing in his students long-term grown.  “I’m trying to get them to be independent thinkers, and that’s what my mentors, or at least the people whom I have considered mentors, have always done with me,” he said.

Mentoring may take many different forms, but perhaps this is a philosophy that we all can use in our own mentoring relationships.

Related articles:

• Thinking About Becoming a Mentor? Here are 5 Reasons To Consider (Start Co. Blog)
• How Do You Find a Mentor? (Women of Influence)

About the author:
Alex Loughran Lamothe is a 2013-2014 corps member serving on the Comcast NBCUniversal team at Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester. 

Creative Creations from our Students

Photos by Kate Tessman

Pencil and paper aren’t the only ways to create art. A growing artistic fad at my school is bracelet making, specifically bracelets made with small colorful rubber-bands. These handcrafted bracelets are designed and created per request by several of my students, and for many are great ways to show individuality, support of a sports team, or pride by wearing their native country’s colors.

Two students and their corps member model their new bracelets.

About the photographer.
Kate Tessman is a 2013-2014 corps member serving on the PTC team at Dearborn School in Roxbury. 

What Are You Thankful For?

By Rebecca Leclerc

Photo by Golshan Jalali

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I was curious to find out what the City Year Boston community is thankful for. I asked students, corps members, school faculty and school partners what they are grateful for and these are some of the answers I received:

“I’m thankful for being alive and all the things I have, even if they’re not always the things I want.”
-5^th grade student at the Trotter Elementary School

“I’m thankful for all the things our school has, like snack and going outside, because not all schools have them.”
-3^rd grade student at the Trotter Elementary School

“I’m thankful for my team for becoming my family when I’m so far away from my own.”
-Ashby Gaines, corps member serving on the Wellington Management team at Trotter Elementary School

“I’m thankful for my life and all the things my mom and dad have done for me.”
-5^th grade student at the Trotter Elementary School

“I’m thankful for all the positive energy in my life.”
-Playworks Coach, Coach TK

“I’m thankful for a great start to this year of service and for being able to participate in my fourth year of service.”
-Abe Fox, Program Manager for the Wellington Management team at Trotter Elementary School School.

“I’m thankful for each new day and all the new opportunities offered to me every day.”
-Krystal Figueroa, corps member serving on the Wellington Management team at Trotter Elementary School

“I’m thankful for my family and being able to go to school.”
-6^th grade student at Dearborn School

“I’m thankful for my family for always giving me the opportunities to pursue my dreams and goals. I’m thankful for my students, because I am learning so much from them everyday. And lastly, I’m thankful for my City Year team, friends and boyfriend for supporting me everyday.”
-Kim Schneider, corps member serving on the PTC team at Dearborn School

“I’m thankful for Thanksgiving day and the beautiful and delicious abundance of vegetables and grains I can prepare for my family and friends.”
-Ms. Cante, Teacher at Trotter Elementary School

“I’m thankful for being able to play football.”
-5^th grade student at Trotter Elementary School

“I’m thankful for coming to City Year and entering a warm and open group of people who share a common goal and look out for one another.”
-Phylicia Bischof, corps members serving on the Bank of America team at Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot K-8 School

“I’m thankful for my fellow 5th grade corps member and the support she offers me in our afterschool program. I’m thankful we balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”
-Emily Zinger, corps member serving on the Wellington Management team at Trotter Elementary School

About the author:
Rebecca Leclerc is a 2013-2014 corps member serving on the Wellington Management team at Trotter Elementary School.

The Value of Tangents

By Lucas Holmes

Photo by kevinzim | flickr

Some of the most valuable lessons that the students learn are the lessons that arise unexpectedly. While doing an activity that involved identifying adjectives that describe different illustrations with students in my English as a second language (ESL) sheltered immersion class, one student encountered the adjective “energy-efficient” and matched it with a picture of wind turbines. Another curious student asked why we need efficient energy.

Immediately, I lit up and exclaimed, “That is a great question!”

I took advantage of this rare opportunity to go beyond the basic vocabulary lesson and decided to delve into a meaningful conversation about changes in our climate. As I started asking them more questions and explaining global warming and pollution, I felt myself become passionate; I could see that the students were responding to my enthusiasm.

One student asked: “Are the plants and animals going to stay forever?” I believe that this type of thinking is what generates meaningful learning because it awakens passions. This genuine curiosity would not have manifested itself if the vocabulary lesson had not veered onto a slight tangent.

Sometimes tangents can go far beyond what is necessary and be distracting; simultaneously, this is why they are valuable. Too often we dismiss tangents as irrelevant. But I would argue that the benefits of tangents are frequently overlooked. Not only do the students become more engaged because the information is delivered in a spontaneous, unpredictable manner, but also the material itself dives deeper beneath the surface level lesson, making real world connections.

I believe learning should never be rigid. The students want to explore and think in new ways, and educators should accommodate this. Tangents are a valuable tool that teachers can use to keep the learning dynamic, relevant and interesting for the students.

About the author:
Lucas Holmes is a 2013-2014 corps member serving on the PTC team at the Dearborn School in Roxbury.