Amanda Chandler – 2015 & 2016 MSPP Academic Mentor, 2017 Lead Academic Mentor Coordinator.
Sunday & Monday, October 15 – 16th (MSPP Preparation Days)
- Check the PYB instagram to see what my kids engaged in on Saturdays. Check it out HERE!
- Read through and select potential social justice modules for the MSPP Tuesday reading assignment.
- Brainstorm fun activities and lesson plans that will get the students out of their seats to engage with the material.
- Create agenda and lesson plan for Tuesday’s MSPP classroom session.
Tuesday, October 17th (MSPP Day 1 – Week 2)
3:00 – Arrive at Jay Cooke Elementary School
3:05 – Greeted by our MSPP student-athletes. One of the girls comments on how I style my hair and asks about what I do when I’m not working with her and her friends.
3:10 – Gather and settle all MSPP student-athletes. One of the boys teases me about my camo pants and then runs off to join his friends at the snack table.
3:15 – Student-athletes eat a nutritious snack and change into their gym clothes
3:30 – Group 1 goes to on-court session/ Group 2 stay in classroom with me
3:35 – Students silently read the article selected for the module of the day
Students volunteer to read the column aloud
3:45 – Group discussion. Students share what they think about the social justice module of the day. I work to quiet down the group as one young lady shares what loyalty means to her.
3:50 – Student-athletes complete a writing assignment focused on the daily prompt. Sometimes the student-athletes are reluctant to write and I have to encourage them to write in full sentences and use their own voice rather than what was their friends shared in the previous discussion.
4:00 – Student-athletes play a game that I am not familiar with as the wait to switch sessions for the second part of the day.
4:15 – On and off court groups switch.
4:15 to 4:50 – Repeat all academic lessons for Group 1. After finishing their on court session, Group 1 is a little harder to settle down and are full on energy.
4:50 – Student-athletes clean up school supplies and break down court equipment before they can be dismissed for they day.
5:00 – At dismissal the student-athletes hang out in the schoolyard. On my walk to the subway I hear student-athletes talk about school drama. They think I don’t hear them, but I’m listening!
5:15 – I sit on the subway with headphones in my ears, while giggling at the jokes my student-athletes bantered at each other as they felt comfortable in my classroom after a long school day.
Thank you for following a day in my PYB life. I hope you enjoyed learning about my experience as a Middle School Partnership Program as much as I enjoy living it!
#IamPYB – Amanda Chandler