Today was the first day of summer school… Not the most exciting way to spend a summer, but it is important for many kids to not lose learning over the summer.  Unfortunately, many of the kids who need it most don’t actually want to be there!  This year’s program is called STEM Academy – everything will have a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).  One day in and things seem to be going well in the classrooms.  I’ve heard about what sound like some cool projects.  Hopefully the kids will stick with it throughout the next 6 weeks and be open to some creative learning.

During the official school day, I’m going to be doing behavior support.   Time will tell how this actually works out, but hopefully it will be about connecting with kids and helping them overcome barriers to classroom learning. There is also an “after-school” component this year run by Community Education and Beacons.  During this portion of the programming I’ll be working with up to 15 kids in Bike Class.  I’ll see them two times a week and hopefully we’ll get to ride our bikes at least 50% of the time.  I’ve been teaching “bike class” since the summer of 2009 and since my school received a fleet of 13 bikes last year I’ve been teaching an elective class serving almost 60 kids.  We talk about bike safety and maintenance, go for rides, work on bike handling skills, we’ve done some advocacy projects, and community service.  It is a lot of fun!

Hopefully the next 6 weeks will go smoothly and both the kids and staff will have a good time!!