July 13th

Well Hello to everyone back at home. Today is thursday July 13th, and tomorrow we are going on our first field trip to the Imax and the Aquarium, I already visited those the last time that I was here but it is pretty cool that I am able to take the kids there. I am a little nervous about taking them, because we have been dealing with a lot of behavior problems, especially in my homeroom. Yesterday, I got really stressed out about the events that were occurring, and I almost lost it, but there are some very influential children in the class who could see my frustration and they stepped up to all of their classmates and told them to calm down and start the lesson. Yesterday at the staff meeting we were talking about whether or not to keep some of the older boys back from the field trip, due to the disrespect that they have been showing. Personally, these boys are very strong mentally, although a few of them cant read, they have a very strong presence and they definitely are received very well by their students. I voted to not hold them back because I know for sure that these said young men are involved very deep in the street life and are in gangs. I feel that this camp may be a road block for them and the streets, that intervention that is keeping them from doing things that are not very healthy for their future. I know people may be thinking, how do I know this about the young men? I have seen them display signs and rags depicting their affiliation. Growing up in Minneapolis and having family members who are gang affiliated I heard a lot of talk from people who pretend to be affiliated, but the kinds of things that these children are talking about leads me to believe that they are in fact experienced when it comes to gangs. I personally am going to have a talk with them about leadership today in class. I am not going to make any accusations about their lifestyles, but I believe that these boys are so influential to their classmates, and they are always respectful to the teaching staff here, I just believe that when they are in their personal circles they are making some decisions that I would think of as not very good for the future. I am going to give them some leadership positions around the camp and hopefully I can instill the mentality of being a positive role model. Well I am going to go start the pep rally for the day, and keep a positive mindset that today we will be a better day then yesterday when it comes to behavior I love these kids and have faith in that they respect me and trust me also.

TOny