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Week 8 -- 02/25/2019 -- 03/01/2019

Good afternoon West Community,


Last week, the class turned into one big studying session. Monday and Tuesday was dedicated to my students pairing up with their mentors and mentees and catching up on their classwork, as the quarter here at WLA is coming to an end. We take pride in offering a space where students can work not only on the classwork but also, the craft of being a well-rounded student.

Classroom Instruction:


Wednesday and Thursday: My class covered the Hot + Cool Buttons Lesson! The lesson essentially asks students how do we reinforce out limiting and empowering beliefs? What are or hot & cool buttons? And ultimately ask students to critically think about how their trigger points about themselves can become empowering rather than being limiting in just how much we belief in ourselves.

The questionnaire is split up into 8 different sections, all of which have 8 statements to chose from that are relate able to the person taking the questionnaire -- However, they may only chose 4 statements per section. They are as follows:


1.  Not being good enough
2. Experiencing Failure
3. Not being liked or loved
4. Being called insensitive names such as dumb or stupid
5. Being powerless in a situation
6. Being irresponsible
7. Feeling unimportant to the world
8. Feeling disregarded

The results varied but some of my students did have a hard time choosing 4 statements per section. The way that we combated this issue is by having a discussion about some of these trigger points. Ultimately, we decided that the reason why they had a hard time with it is because it is not a trigger point for them.

Personally, I do not have an issue with #4, which is being called insensitive names. I know my abilities and I know of what I am capable of doing. However, I am triggered by #5, being powerless in a situation. I shared some stories with my students of why this is something I struggle with and essentially opened up about why I am triggered by being powerless. I do believe it made all the difference in the world seeing it come from an adult, who is willing to share some personal stories about what it means to be human. Not only that, the idea that every single of one us has to look within before we look outward for growth, a component of what we want our students to learn and spread around their spheres of influence.

The class finished off by identifying how their negative, emotional reactions to trigger points have consequences that may affect them long-term. Rather, we are seeking for our students to come to the realization that being cool, calm and collected in the face of adversity is a better alternative. The "cool button" must be hit rather than the "hot button." It takes time, it takes dedication, it takes willingness, and ultimately, it takes a lot of practice to re-wire a reaction out of a person. However, it is possible, one way or another.

We did have parent-teacher conferences and we are happy to report that we had many parents come down to meet the new class we have, as well as having an opportunity to meet myself. I really enjoyed meeting my student's families. I look forward to meeting more, as I do believe WLA and our wonderful program have positively impacted students lives.

Next week, we will be covering our Love Cup lesson.

Happy reading, y'all.

Cowboys, Out.

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