Adra Young's Blog, page 5

The Detroit Youth Speak on the Importance of Being Happy

Greetings to everyone this lovely Tuesday night.  It’s only the second day of the week  and I feel as if I’ve worked five.  This past weekend I went to Indiana.   Assuming the role as one of the selected brides maids, I had  the honor of  seeing  my brother re-new his marriage vows to his beautiful wife of over 14 years.   The ceremony was amazing.

On the other hand, I am in the process of writing a five to seven page unit in the content area of Science for re-certification purposes.   Folks I tell you I haven’t been academically challenged like this in years.  After-all, I’m a ELA instructor for peace sakes! 

Last week at the Detroit Impact Center, our topic of discussion was “Happiness.”  I knew there was something wonderful about this 2012 group.  They seem to the know the  secret to happiness already at such mild and tender ages.  After posing the question, I assumed a lot their responses would be following; shopping, nice cars, and  lot’s of  money.  Well…a few of them did mention money but, not as many as I thought.

The majority of the group stated that spending time with their families make them very happy.  Another stated that spending time with their darling baby girl makes them happier than anything on this entire planet.  One mentioned that reading a good book was the best. On an even funnier note,  a lot of my young people like me, love to eat.  Just about everyone said that eating a good meal makes them happy.   I was even more impressed with the fact that someone stated spending time with like-minded individuals makes their day just a little more brighter.  

As I mentioned earlier…this group already knows the secret to having a life filled with very happy and joyous days.  They’re smart enough to see that the simple things in life such as spending time with family, eating, and growing, is truly what being happy is all about.  Tomorrow our weekly topic of discussion is “The challenges of  Being  an Out-Cast in School.  Looking forward to sharing the results with everyone next week.

How are Poor People Suppose to Make it?

Okay everyone I just so happen to be in one of the Macomb Michigan Library branches the other day printing off some information on the Internet.  On my way  to placing money in the machine to retrieve my copies, I noticed a sign that totally blew me away!  Turns out effective September 6th 2012, individuals residing in this county will have to pay $1.95 per day to utilize the Internet service or, pay a yearly fee of $50.00.

Now let’s think about this people.  The majority of the people that use the public library Internet system can not afford Internet access at home.  I’m okay with charging for Internet copies however, charging people barely making it in this tough economy to utilize the Internet is what I have a problem with. This in my opinion people is so unfair. 

 

 

Addressing the Weekly Topic “Disappointments in Life” the Detroit Youth Speak Out!

 

An elder once told me that trust must be gained in order for youngsters to truly open up.  This individual was exactly right.  Last Wednesday at the Detroit Impact center, the group and I tackled the one topic that no one in life will ever be able to avoid.  The “Big D” people.  Unfortunately, disappointments in life will hit us all at one time or another.  

Last weeks session in particular took many turns.  The  first  issue  addressed was coping with a  girl or boyfriend who no longer wanted to be in a relationship.  Next, we discussed the difficult task of removing the wrong kind of  friends and love ones  from your personal space. 

At first the energy of this session was somewhat hilarious.  Both young males and females provided several  funny suggestions on how  to deal with getting dumped.  The funniest response of them all was made  by one of the young ladies  in the group.  Her response was the following, “If a guy dumps you on a Friday, make sure you have a new one to walk down the school hall with by Monday.”  

Some of the responses in regards to removing the wrong individuals out of your personal space were more on the serious side.  For example, choosing to stop seeing a young lady because they drank alcohol or smoked marijuana.  Perhaps dealing with your boyfriend getting another young lady pregnant while he’s dating you.  All of the young ladies stated that they would leave a young man alone for making such a poor choice.  Most of the  males stated that they would not respect a young lady that drinks and smokes and would definitely stop seeing her despite of her beauty. 

The bottom line and the one thing  we all agreed to was that making the choice to move the wrong kind of people out of our spaces is not always the easiest thing to do however it pays off in the long run.

 

 

 

This is what it’s truly all about.

Hello and happy Sunday to everyone.  As I mentioned briefly last week, tutoring  for the company that I  currently provide services for was preparing to shut down for the summer of 2012 .  Well everyone,  it ended this past Thursday.  On this last day of tutoring, I got a special surprise.   Picking one of my youngsters up to head to the library to complete our final session, he handed me this beautiful card.  Actually, there’s a picture of it directly above the words of this blog. I”m not sure if everyone can make the words out but,what the heck…I up-loaded it anyway.    

For those having complications with reading the card, the head of the family, “Grandma” stated the following, “We can never pay you for your help with Sylvester….have  a safe and happy summer.”  Reading this card made me instantly hold my head up with pride.  When you’ve been working with the youth a token of appreciation such as the one above is priceless.  Thanks ”Grandma” for reminding me of why I do what I do.  This is what it’s truly all about.

Why does all the fun stuff have to end so soon?

While participating  in a professional developement session this morning, a sudden thought entered my mind.  I started tutoring the week of June 25th.  Today is July 23rd and tutoring comes to a screeching holt July 26th.  I am really going to miss the youngsters I had a chance to teach over these past four weeks.   I truly hope that I made a difference with the time allotment provided.  More importantly, I truly enjoyed learning how to adapt to the way these youngsters learned best.

Well, there is a few more weeks left to this terrific yet busy summer of mines.   Really looking forward to what happens at the Detroit Impact Center this Wednesday.

 

Young Adults on the Topic of Dealing With Overwhelming Secrets

How is everyone on this super Sunday?  Yes it’s a hot one in the Detroit region today.  Even as I write this blog it is still in the high 80′s close to 9pm. Wow! Despite the fact that I am suppose to be on summer break, I am prepping myself to attend a lesson plan workshop at my school in the morning. The work of an educator, priceless!  

Last Wednesday made the second week of my socialization skills program at the Detroit Impact. Our session for the week was how to handle overwhelming secrets. 

The first thing we did as a group was determine the difference between appropriate and inappropriate secrets.  We discussed various scenarios such as abuse, homelessness, and not being able to read. The young adults were asked what they would do if they had friends who asked them to keep the situations listed above a secret.  Some said they would definitely not keep any abuse a secret.  Others mentioned that they would keep the homelessness factor under the table. A few mentioned that they would simply assist and tutor their illiterate friends with reading without ever letting it get out to anyone else.

As I mentioned last week, this 2012 group is dedicated to addressing real life issues and solving them correctly. This weeks session will be based upon handling disappointments in life.  Looking forward to sharing with everyone how it goes.

The 2012 Socialization Skills Program is off to one great start at the Detroit Impact Center

Hello everyone.  Yesterday was the official kickoff for my 2012 Socialization Skills program at the Detroit Impact Center.  I must admit that walking into a crowd of youngsters ranging from the ages of 14-19 gave me the butterflies just a little bit.  Normally, I service 10 youngsters per hour.  Yesterday, I serviced all 22 pupils within a two-hour time frame.

The first thing we addressed was fear and how it often keeps us all from reaching our fullest potential.  I started it off by letting the group know how servicing everyone at the same time resulted to me allowing  fear to set in  however, I refuse to let it get in the way of me providing the weekly social dynamic.  After providing my demonstration, all  22 students had an opportunity to share what their  personal biggest fear in life was. Within one hour of the session a major break through took place.

Directly afterwards, we discussed our first social dynamic for the week.  The “Big A”  also known as abandonment impacts many youngsters today in so many ways. After defining what it meant, I started off the session by asking everyone had they ever experienced it before.  Two pupils raised their hands to indicate yes. I read several monologues pertaining to abandonment from my first book, The Everyday Living of Children and Teens Monologues.  Together as a group we did some dialogue on those monologues.  It was one amazing session.  The question was  posed again at the end of the session.  This time at least 18 youngsters put their hands up.

What makes this 2012 group different from any other group I’ve had is that they have courage.  From what I see so far, facing the truth will not be a  difficult task for them at all.

My Male Students Have Taking a Liking to Writing

  Hello everyone.  I hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful Fourth of July Holiday.  After completing my re-certification course at Detroit’s own beautiful Belle Isle, I started tutoring the Detroit youth that following Wednesday.  Although it’s only my second week, I’m  proud of  the breakthrough I noticed with my male students.  They have embraced writing and they seem to  love it.   Typically, it is the female students that enjoy it.  After showing them how to write a paragraph correctly using the ” Five Point Inspection System” they can’t seem to get enough of paragraph writing passages.  Way to go boys!  

On another great note,  I start back my Socialization Skills program back at the Detroit Impact Center Wednesday July 11th.  I will follow-up with another blog posting letting everyone know how the first session goes next week.

The Urban Steward Program at Belle Isle in Detroit Michigan

 I don’t know about the rest of you teachers out there but I have not had room to breathe since the last day of school.  Just last week I  had the opportunity to participate in the 2012 Urban Steward’s program at the Belle Isle Nature zoo in Detroit Michigan.  Usually, when I’m on the Isle, it’s for picnics and friendly gatherings. 

For approximately one week, I had the opportunity as an educator to learn tree and leaf classifications. Digging in the dirt was great but getting a chance to plant tree’s with various teachers from all over the state of Michigan at Belle Isle was a memorable occasion.  Participating in this project also gave me a chance to do something I’d never done before.  I got a chance to go camping at Hawk Woods in Pontiac Michigan. It was one cool experience.  

 

End of the school year preparation. Oh what a Saturday!!

Greetings everyone.  I hope that everyone within the south-east region of Michigan got a chance to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather were having today.  June 15th is the last day of school for students attending Detroit Public schools.  As a teacher making strides to prepare for the fall, I’m always thinking of different ways to approach the forthcoming school year.  This morning, I attended a very informative in service titled “Students with HIV.”  Despite the fact that this virus has been in existence since the early 80′s, it can still be a very touchy topic.  In the fall, with the consent of my parents, I plan to teach my students about HIV by using the sixth grade curriculum and supplementary materials provided to me.

Moving on to a subject that’s not as touchy, this summer, I along with other teachers from this region will have the opportunity to participate in an Urban Forest Stewardwardship course at Belle Isle.  In other words, I’m going to be outside feeding the deer and getting my hands dirty.  The exciting part about this five-day course is that it does not end there.  My forthcoming students for the fall of 2012 are going to  greatly benefit from it all.  How?  They are going to have the opportunity to visit the Belle Isle Nature Zoo at least three times the 2012-13 school year and gain the skills necessary as Urban Forest Stewards. My students are going to be in for a real treat this fall.