Poster making AND 2nd to last week

The last PA session went too quickly and I didn't help things by arriving a few minutes late to my group.

I told my group the days agenda to include:
1) Check-in
2) Poster making
3) Decide where in their community they wanted posters
4) Whether we wanted to have three posters publicly displayed with MCTC's addiction counseling group on the day we present

The first thing the students wanted to know was whether we had a meeting with the principal. No one had gotten back to me when I left messages with them the previous week and the students wanted an immediate answer. This became the first thing on the agenda after we did check-in.

We trotted up to the office and waited after the graffiti group met with the temporary principal. He and the students talked about what they wanted to do and what statements they had on their posters. He agreed that they could be up if they brought some next time that were laminated.

When we returned to the class, I brought out two maps of the neighborhood. The students thought that the best locations for placing posters would be near parks. Specifically, Phelps park and Powderhorn park were chosen. They also wanted to place one poster near the Dairy Queen across the street from Bancroft because they saw enough pedestrian traffic there.

The next thing the students decided was that they wanted to be meet the addiction counseling group at MCTC and provide posters to display. No one thought this was an issue. I think they will find it to be a pretty interesting time on the day we present.

Our last focus was to work on posters. Thankfully there were other markers in the classroom available to use. I also discovered the colored pencils, which they also wanted to use.

One thing I thought took up excessive amount of time was the stenciling. When I made a poster for a college project, it took as much or more time than it would have to write a draft paper. This time consuming act could easily be simplified if I bring in some pre-printed letters and commonly used words. If we are to create more posters next week, it would be best to circumvent extensive stenciling and coloring in of letters.

I also doubt we will have enough time to make most posters if we leave the school to put any up. This is something I will have to talk to our group about next time. The students will need to prioritize what they want to do and I will let them decide. Also, next time I would like to video each group member in preparation for our group presentation. We only have an hour left, so I hope to use it as effectively as possible.

Poster Creation Day #1

Honestly, this was probably the best day ever for my group. I think they could all tell it was great, too because they were able to spend more than 40 minutes (our usual group time) on creating posters! What we do with the other 15 minutes or so?

1) We went to the office to set up a time to meet with the principal so we could put up posters. I will get a phone call about which day this will be, since no one could confirm this then.

2) We created a list of words and phrases that students thought would be useful on posters.

3) Some wanted to use paint on their posters, so we met with their art instructor who asked us to outline what we would paint on our posters first. Then, if they wanted to paint them, I have the e-mail address of the instructor to schedule a time to meet.

Interestingly, none of the students wanted to paint after they began to make their posters. They wanted to use markers instead. I asked them at the end of our session if anyone wanted wanted to paint their poster the following week, none of them wanted to.

4) Posters were made.

At first, the students broke into two groups: boys and girls. However, the boys found that they all had different ideas about what they wanted to put down and so they splintered off until they were each working on their own poster. They were all focused on making posters, except one student who was at a loss as to what he wanted to do - he was the last to break off onto his own.

He was usually quite active in the group but towards the end of today he really wasn't. I didn't realize this until I saw he had stopped working on his poster. We talked for a bit about this because he said he did not know where to start. He started working on draft ideas on a piece of paper a little after and was the only group member not to start a poster.

Everyone else was mostly finished with their own posters by the end of our time. Most felt that our time together went very well and was quite effective. However, my most active group member was a bit jumpy and disruptive. I had to intervene with him and another student a few times when they were harassing/disrupting other group members. I had to use a warning as well for the one student who was not respecting another student.

Other ways I helped cool things down and redirect students' attention was moving students (I arranged seating at the beginning and revised it after another student arrived).  I also moved next to two students who were not getting along for a moment.

While it probably sounds like things did not go well, they really did. When they were working on their posters, they were so engaged that they were fairly quiet and busy. I moved around to see how their progress was. This was also when I helped them find supplies they needed, added words to our word list for spelling, chatted with them, and intervened for behavior reasons.

At the beginning, check-in went very well also. I really feel it has helped every member of the group open up a lot more than they otherwise would have. Everyone is looking forward to next Friday.

Next week:

1) We will continue work on posters

2) Possibly meet with the principal (or know when we are)

3) Have more discussion about the project presentation

4) Have a larger discussion about where in their community they want to put up posters 

Project Chosen

This week was pretty difficult, yet rewarding. Even though I am conscious of how little time we have, I still start with check-ins because I feel it helps with group cohesion. It also gives me insight into how each of the students are doing. One student told me about a personal health issue he was dealing with before class and did not share it with the group. This could be why he was pretty quiet the entire session, and more so than any of our other prior meetings.

I had the students write down their ideas for the project after going over possibilities and directions they could take it. Also, I felt it smart for them to refresh their memories about what facts, problems, and solutions they heard from our two visitors. They really could not remember until I reminded them of a few of their points, then more came back.

Each student, after given time to write down their thoughts, stated what they thought. We then discussed each of these points. The boys in the group came up with ideas for a project that they talked about the first day, things that were not practical or legal, like vigilante justice in taking on drug dealers. However, the idea of having a poster prevailed and the students mentioned that they wanted these not only in the school but out in the community. I didn't foresee them wanting to do this and now have to think about how to get this done effectively.

For instance, we will have to decide where we want to put posters in the community and I will have to get student permission slips to make that happen for that specific day. If we are to put posters up in the school, we will need to get permission from the principal and have a meeting. We also have to make the posters and ensure that they convey what we have learned and a message we feel would have the intended effect of reducing drug abuse and addiction.

What I did have a difficult time with was with the behavior of two of our group members. They were distracting the others throughout our time. I redirected them back to what we were doing, but they continually made random comments completely unrelated to what we were doing. This is something I need to work on, but I do not want to have these two members leave the group as was suggested at our meeting. Michelle and I spoke about this on the bus ride after and felt that we should do what we can to make sure students aren't holding back others but also not excluded entirely. We didn't feel this should be an option or a "way out" of our more troubling students - especially when they were actually interested in these projects.

So, I will include this as a part of my research project and find a way to ensure all members of this group are included. I could definitely do more to make sure that this happens, as Kristy mentioned to me. I could amend seating arrangements and use my tone more effectively in speaking to them.

So, this was a challenging week but we now have a project to move forward on. The previously quietest group member asked me after our session what materials we might use on the posters. She wanted to bring some markers and other items the next time we meet. Clearly there is some excitement brewing to get this project going! 

Action Research Project

I have been coaching students at Bancroft for  seven sessions now. Something I would like to focus more on is adequately engaging all of the students in my group. This is a pretty all-encompassing goal, because it includes getting the quieter students involved as well as those who are much more distracted/distracting in our group. I feel like I have improved on getting one student more engaged and interacting with the group, but have lost another student. Then I have two who have the opposite issue, they talk and interrupt what we are doing with off-topic conversation points that it take us off-track. Sometimes they aren't paying attention and ask exactly what someone else already has.

What I will do to keep track of my progress, will take some notes during and especially after our sessions. I will take some video and also blog about my challenges in working towards progress in this area. I will also do some online research (likely school databases to start with) to find techniques are strategies pertinent to this skill set. I will reflect and assess how well I implemented these strategies and whether they were or could be effective. Much of this will be posted on this blog. 

Now's the time to focus on choosing a project

This last week's PA went remarkably well, which I had predicted. We had an excellent conversation about drug rehabilitation thanks to our visitor whose job was an addiction counselor. Everyone participated in the conversation, except one student who normally isn't completely quiet. Still, I found everyone to be quite engaged in the conversation - more so than when we had our community policing specialist visit a couple weeks ago.

Also, this week my students walked up the steps instead of running the halls. I asked them before we left the classroom where our group meets to walk together instead of what happened last time - and it worked.

Another excellent point was that my previously quietest student came up to tell me her week was going well (we didn't do a check-in due to lack of time) and that her notebook needed replacement. She said its pages were falling out, so I'll bring more next time - especially if we are going to have a specific project.

I want to have a brainstorming session where we discuss what potential PA projects we can take on. The PA site says these brainstorming discussions and planning take an hour each, so I am hoping that this next meeting we can in 40 minutes - which is likely unrealistic.

I want to show them a video first of what another PA group did. It has excellent production values, except a bit weak on original substance. The "just say no" line seems worn and could be added or amended. Still, I like that an individual asked his friends to back him up in not accepting drugs - even if the situation also seems contrived.

There are a great many things we could do to focus on preventing or reducing drug abuse in our community. It all depends what focus these students choose to go after. To make it easier, we could list all potential targets, all potential projects that would focus on them, and which ones we feel could be done most effectively given we only have a couple more sessions. I would like to meet with them more once we have chosen something, which is difficult but not impossible to do as the end of semester projects start taking greater precedent. I'd like them to be able to do something and enjoy having accomplished it.

A meeting with Karen Notsch

This week, our group met up with Karen Notsch a community policing specialist with the Minneapolis Police Department. She spoke to my "No drugs" group in addition to the  "No Gangs" group which chose to organize this.

Most of my personal time with my group was spent before and after the meeting. Before the meeting I told them we would be moving to the media center for the meeting, instead of the classroom. As soon as we left, I realized that I should have stated that we would walk together and not run down the hallways - which is what happened with half of my group. The remainder stayed with me and were able to find our meeting spot at the same time.

I felt like she wanted to say a great deal more, but wasn't sure what to say or not say to pre-adolescents. She let us coaches know beforehand that she had looked for information that was relevant to this age group, but could not find a whole lot. She considered our PA groups could work on creating at least one piece of literature directed to this age group, which she would help distribute city-wide. This sounds like a potential project, but her pitch to the students didn't seem to go over as well as she had wanted. We will see if either of our group's will be interested in doing this during our last few sessions.

After class, I let my group know that we would also be speaking with an addiction counselor the next time we meet. Speaking individually to some of my group members who were participated less, they each said they liked the speaker coming. I am hoping thy are more enthusiastic next time.

No PA this week....

The biggest bummer this semester had to be when Kristy told us we would have two fewer PA sessions than we had originally planned for. We only get 40 minutes a week with students, which I do not think is sufficient given that we now have fewer sessions. How do we get a project going and done in this time?

The issue with my group at the moment isn't that we haven't discussed the issues of drugs and how it affects the community, society, and world in multiple different ways. What we cannot seem to get to is finding something we want to do about it. There are some things mentioned by other PA coaches like making posters, but I would rather not suggest an explicit project. I want the students to think more about this problem and how they want to address it.

So, I really want them to get a lot from having two individuals visit our group to talk about the problem of drugs in our community from two different perspectives: one from the Minneapolis Police Department and one from a chemical dependency counselor. These are being arranged for two different days. To me, setting up two different days of the five we have left for these visits is a risky gamble. But given where my group's conversations have gone and what these two visits could mean, I am willing to take the risk. If these students are to hit the jackpot of ideas, it could very well be after they are exposed to the statements of those with first hand knowledge of the problem and solutions. 

A less effective group session

This last Wednesday, our group probably had its least effective time period since I began using a stricter agenda. I started out mentioning what I had on the agenda and asking what they wanted to add - no one had any further additions. I also asked them if they knew whose project this was, they all knew it was theirs and that I was only there to assist them. I am glad that they are conscious of this, but I feel it wise to remind them that this project is all theirs.

 We were missing a different group member this time than last, which didn't hinder our work. However, the students were pretty sure she was still at school, except that she left thirty minutes prior for something. They asked me to wait, but no one could say when she was coming back - which she never did. So, we continued with check-in, which went pretty well.

Then I back tracked to what we had discussed the first meetings about our essential agreements. I had never had them sign it, and thought this would be useful in addition to having our newest member introduced to it. There were no major amendments made, though a 20 minute time out was proposed, which would essentially kick out a group member at the 2nd warning. I felt this might be too excessive and mentioned how we only had 40 minutes to meet, so we left it at 2 minutes.

I then mentioned that Madalynn of the no-gangs group had a speaker coming in a couple weeks from the Minneapolis Police Department's 3rd Precinct: Karen Notsch. I spoke with her about having my group also participate in what she had to speak about since our topics were similar. She was okay with this so, and I informed my group that we would hae to be respectful while participating with another group focused on a different but similar topic.

 Our newest group member seemed disconcerted about bringing a cop to school, but we all talked about how this was pertinent to our subject matter. For some reason, he just wanted to make a big deal out of nothing. Literally, he said that the cops had "trespassed him from the city." Obviously, this could not happen, so I asked him what he meant. What it sounded like was that he and some friends were somewhere that cops told them they shouldn't be. He was never given any formal trespass notification from anywhere, which was all I could gather from some simple questions.

After this discussion, I continued on about the police officer visiting and how we should have prepared questions. Mistakenly, I made this a group discussion. In hindsight, I should have had them each write down some questions on their own and then brought them together as a group. We did come up with questions and picked a few we thought were most important. Then we chose two members who could ask them.

Then I introduced the mind-mapping concept to them - of connecting different people, places, and things that are related to our topic of drug abuse. My group seemed very distracted with too many side conversations. I could get most of the group interested at most times but they all seemed overly hyper on this day. We got a decent start on things, but by no means was our brainstorming as comprehensive as I had hoped for.

We had completed what we wanted on the agenda with a few minutes left to go over how things went. The students said that our group was not as focused as usual. They said they were not paying as much attention and that this really was something they needed to work more on. That they offered this tells me that they know what is expected of them, and that they needed to find better ways of interacting as a group to be more effective.

The students wanted to play a game toward the end. I said we would do this after we finished discussing our thoughts on today. They played a couple rounds of "ten" before the session ended at 10:40.

One stumbling block for our group cohesion was our quieter student. She offered few ideas throughout our meeting, and at the beginning she didn't offer how her week was going. She did offer after we asked her again that things were "okay." At the end, she did not want to play the game - even though she could have played to get "out" in the first round. At the end, I asked her if she could bring an idea for a game or something next time and we would try that.  Perhaps this will help if she has an idea. At least I know she wants to be in this group

What I think we need more than anything else is to gain some sort of experience on the subject matter beyond what is already known. Having someone who is knowledgeable speak to them about this subject more and offer their thoughts on what they could do might just get them thinking more. We still haven't decided on anything specific to work on yet - which is irking me. I really didn't like losing two more sessions due to field trips - it makes this much more urgent. I feel like when the group does have an epiphany it will be when we only have a week or two to realize it. It does make it more difficult to happen without a specific group time, but if they are motivated I'd be willing to meet with them more often during those stages.

Difficulty in Researching

This last week was probably the toughest group session yet. It really did not go as planned at all. For instance, we were unable to get much searching done for organizations that we could contact and assist our group in finding out more information about drug and dependency issues to include potential project ideas.

What was difficult was that students had a hard time understanding how to use Google searches. I did spend some time showing them some tips, which helped one group member find a local site. However, the others did not

Half of our group did come up with a short list of questions if we are to call anyone up. I wanted to go through a script as well - which I will have prepared for the next meeting.

Another unexpected event was the addition of a new group member. This is great news because he chose our group and wasn't simply placed in it. (He'd be the only member who chose our group first!) Still, this presents a new challenge in that none of the other group members know this student at all.

What made things a bit awkward was that he poked fun at the size of my nose. I'm not sure what kind of test this was. He even asked me if it blocked my vision. Maybe it's the oddest nose he's seen, but I didn't keep conversation there because it moved on its own. I then brought things back on track with our agenda.

Next week, I would like to do something more team building like. I would also like to do something that is on-topic to our group. Another classmate has someone coming to speak to their group and think that this speaker would be useful to my group as well. This is something I am trying to coordinate in addition to team-building ideas. At the very least, our new team member will get and decorate his notebook next week. 

Organizing the Team

This wasn't the first time I had an agenda planned for PA. It was the first time I organized each item with specific time and had a time-keeper. Things went very well, though I might bring an actual timer next time to assist things. My time-keeper used my cell-phone and couldn't help but play with some of the features.

I think what continues a great group atmosphere is our check-ins. Other groups are finding it helps in keeping thing running smoothly.

This was also the first time I introduced some of the cooperative learning roles. Students were excited for specific roles, including those we did not require for this day. However, it helps to find out their interests as well as introducing this concept of group learning organization.

We touched on our essential agreements again, with everyone in agreement of them and not wishing to add anything at this time. Consequences were never really discussed, so we talked about this and quickly agreed to these as well. What I find interesting is at the 3rd consequence, the teacher would be informed. This fear of teachers was something I didn't initially understand, but it is probably a lot like the fear of the unknown: what will their teacher do?!? (There is probably a list every students has in their head of possibilities that they dread happening, like a call home or missing out on something.)

We talked about what their lives, community, state, country, and world would look like if drug use and abuse ended. The students already know that the drug trade is an international as well local issue. They have the gist of things, which I think is excellent. However, it is the specifics we want to delve into now.

One thing we could not come up with was a group name. I don't want to push them in any direction - nor do I want a mascot of any sort. I will let them ponder this more and bring it up again in the future. Perhaps when our project crystalizes.

I brought mini-notebooks for each group member. My goal was to ensure that they were personalized, so also brought along markers, colored pens, and most importantly stickers! This worked all too well, in fact it added a bit more chaos than my group normally has. There was a great deal of sharing and politeness to it, but conversations abound about specific animal stickers.

At the end of our meeting, we brain stormed some questions we wanted to have answered and do some research on. Each student took a question to look up by next meeting. They even wrote them in their notebooks! I've been told this doesn't always work as planned by some of my fellow coaches, which means next week I should plan for additional research. Perhaps a trip to the library/media center is needed!?! (Do they have computers there also?) Still, I find assigning research questions to be an excellent first step in our group's endeavor to tackle this issue.

My goal for next week is to continue a discussion about issues surrounding drug use and misuse with the mind mapping PA project. Each question will help us see the issue in different ways. These include: Why do people tend to use/abuse them? Why do people sell them? Why do people make/grow them? Where do they come from? Which are most abused?

Thanks to Kristy, I was able to record the majority of the session! I had a camera person role, which made things even more chaotic. Some of my students were concerned about being videod, but I assured that nothing would be made public via YouTube. Only my fellow classmates would see them, if at all. I also know that the video photage will be shaky with one camera person, but not one of the fill ins. I will rotate this position because it is extremely popular!

One of the best things that happened today was my quietest student opening up a bit. She volunteered to take up a question in addition to being our recorder. As we get closer to what our project will be, I am excited for her to take more active a role as time goes on. All of my group members seem very excited to do something and I want to make sure that they all find this project to be satisfactory to their end goals! Yes, today went very well. Perhaps my group is loud and boisterous, but they remain on course!

Getting to Know Each Other

My group spent this last week getting to know each other a little better. I still start out our meeting with asking how everyone's week is going. I feel like there is a consistent trend among some of the students regarding their week. If they were feeling overwhelmed and stressed last week, it is the same this week. Same thing if their week is fine. Still, I like keeping this communication open with the group. Also, asking if they had any ideas about the project since we last met.

We all drew time lines about our "public" lives. I came with mine already done and introduced myself a bit more to them. They obviously had more questions but also didn't ask any inappropriate questions as adults even do. (Things like "Did you ever shoot anyone?"  with regards to my military experience.)

After students started making their own, some volunteered information about themselves without putting it down. Some weren't sure what else to put than where they were born. Still, having them refocus on what were important events and favorite moments in life made it easier.

These 5th graders all have had quite busy lives. Some have traveled between living in Minnesota and Mexico and then back. One student had a very difficult time in earlier grades with teachers described as "mean." One student wants to be an architect. They all had experiences of changing and moving schools. I am unsure if this is a consequence of district reshuffling, though I know others mentioned moving in the city (From apartments, to a home, to an apartment again).

With everyone going individually to present, my quieter student started to get talked over. I had to remind them that they had to be respectful of everyone and listen to what they had to say. This one word "respect" seem to have an instantaneous effect on the group. Everyone was quiet and listened.

While I enjoyed my group, I need to hone my time management skills. Therefore, I will come with an agenda with explicit times for each bullet item. A time keeper other than myself would probably be very helpful.

On this  week's agenda:

-State the agenda and ask for any other items to be added. (1 minute)

-Check-in (5 minutes)

-I will issue small notebooks for all the students to write down their ideas and notes throughout the week for this project. I will bring markers and stickers so group members can personalize them. (2 minutes)

-Introduce the cooperative learning roles that we will work with and assign roles for that day (5 Minutes)

-Revisit our "essential agreements" again and write them down on the large flip paper notebook. (10 minutes)

-Discuss our issue and what it would look like if it were resolved locally, nationally, globally, etc. (25 minutes)

- [ If time permits, I would like to bring up the idea of a group team name. ]

-Mention the draft agenda for next week  (1 minute)

Week One: A new project begins!

My purpose the first time meeting with my team at Bancroft was getting to know them and a little why they wanted to be a part of the "No Drugs" group. We could talk about what they hoped we might do or achieve, as a positive end goal. Also, I wanted to initiate a discussion about our group expectations.  I also wanted to get a good feel for this group and what their personalities were like.

We had maybe 40 minutes to meet. Two students arrived pretty late to our group because they were mistakenly put on more than one team or weren't there to vote.

Some things I was surprised about was that these 5th graders watched some awfully violent television. Who let's their kids watch "The Walking Dead?" I certainly wouldn't, because I can barely watch it. Some team members are extremely busy with after-school activities, while others have a great deal of free time.

We discussed the issues of drugs, with two main perspective:  one of selling them and one of using them. Interestingly, they were split by gender. The boys wanted to end the selling of drugs wanted to discuss police actions and CCTV cameras. The girls were interested in tackling the usage of drugs, and wanted to inform others of how unhealthy they were. This will have to be something we discuss more in depth and reconcile, because there are many different ways of looking at the issue of drug use and abuse in our society.

We spent a bit of time creating frozen statues of things in which students should not be doing in group time. They really didn't get too far out of the box, becoming those fighting, standing on their chairs, sleeping, or yelling at each other. However, it began a conversation about our group norms or expectations when working. We decided being active/awake was important, along with working together well (on our intended goal of tackling this issue), and being respectful.

I also stressed how important it was to be thinking about this project outside of our Wednesday meeting time. The students were surprised that we would be meeting every week for eleven more weeks. They don't seem to see it the big picture quite yet, that we have time to create something big and doable. I will continue to stress the urgency.

Next week, I want to continue our group getting to know each other. I want to circle back to group expectations and add onto what we have with greater discussion. Having each member take a  cooperative learning role would add more organization and get them more engaged in the process. I also want to briefly ask their thoughts on the group project, but not spend a great deal of time. I want to stress the amount of time we have yet, but that we need to be thinking about ideas and keeping our eyes open to news relevant to this topic.

I'm still not sure exactly what I will do, but am looking at the Public Achievement site for some. I do think Tay using the life map lesson would be effective.

Bancroft Neighborhood

Bancroft Elementary is located in the Bancroft Neighborhood in southern Minneapolis. It has an official neighborhood association of the same name. The neighborhood has a fifteen member community council that meets regularly to discuss local issues. The neighborhood was actually named for the elementary school. Bancroft is located at the corner of 38th Street and 13th Avenue, and is marked by a green house with a flag on it. The other location at 4137 Bloomington Avenue with the same symbol is El Colegio, a Spanish charter high school.

Elected Officials

Their elected officials are all members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party. Their city council member is Elizabeth Glidden. The area's House of representatives is Jean Wagenius and in the MN Senate Patricia Torres Ray.  Nationally, this community is represented by Keith Ellison in the U.S. House as all of Minneapolis is. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Al Franken have a great deal of support here while they represent the state of Minnesota in Washington D.C.

School

The school itself, is within Zone 2D of Minneapolis Public Schools. Students attend Bancroft from the neighborhoods of Powderhorn and Nokomis which can further be broken down into the smaller neighborhoods. These specifically are Bancroft, the southern half of Powderhorn Park, Standish, Northrup, and Ericsson.

Grocers

The closest grocery store with produce is Cup Foods located on Bloomington and 38th street. The cashier at Mercadito mi Ayochiapan on 38th and Bloomington, which is slightly closer to the school, said that there are fresh vegetables often available during the summer time, but not winters.

Cleaning Services

The closest laundromat is Ultra Wash Coin in the middle of a strip mall at 4036 Bloomington.

I asked those who lived in this neighborhood where the closest dry cleaner was. Many either did not know where one was or knew of one a couple miles or more from the neighborhood. When I lived in East Phillips, I used to go to Nokomis Cleaners on 38th and Bloomington. I found a notice that they had recently closed.



Fitness and Indoor Recreation

The closest location for indoor activities is Phelps Park located on 39th Street between Chicago and Park Avenues. It is formerly run by the Boys and Girls Club of the Twin Cities.  It is open 2PM until 6:30 for those 6-12 years and 9PM for teens. The organization focuses on providing after-school activities for youth and intends to be a positive force in the communities they serve. Youth must become a member of the organization, but membership dues are pretty low at $5 a year. This location is open more often during the summer: 11am until 7PM.

Five Elements Martial Arts

One thing I did not expect to find was so many yoga and martial arts centers nearby. Svasti Yoga is located at 3751 Bloomington. Five Element Martial Arts & Healing Center shares space with the Feminist Eclectic Five Element Martial Arts School at 3743 Cedar. Aikido Yoshokai of Minnesota is just down the street at 540 East 36th Street. Hiawatha Yoga is at 2223 E. 35th Street.

Financial 

There is no need for an Occupy protest against big banks here. There are none within a mile of the neighborhood. The closest bank is US Bank at Elliott and Chicago just over a mile from the school. There is one ATM in the neighborhood at 35th and Cedar. If I were a credit union, I might consider this location.

Crime

 

Those I met did not speak much about the high crime in this community. Most crime seemed to happen north of the school boundaries in northern Powderhorn closer to Lake Street. I checked out the Minneapolis Police Department site to find out more detailed information. It seems that what most thought was pretty accurate, crime is pretty low here.

One resident I spoke to said that the biggest issue that neighbors were talking about was noise pollution. Last year the MSP airport decided to re-route many flights. This has added to the noise level in this neighborhood enough to anger residents.

I am looking at Winter data,  when things are pretty mild. Students at Bancroft are concerned about gangs and illegal drugs usage in the community. The issues may not be on the spread sheets, but they exist nonetheless.

Housing

A majority of the homes were built before 1940. The neighborhood was built between the streetcar lines on Bloomington and Cedar Avenues. The census data from ten years ago shows that the majority of those living in this community are home-owners. I did not see a great deal of newer condominium developments or apartments at all, so I suspect that rental rate is still fairly low at about 20%.

I did find one newer apartment building at 38th and 23rd Avenue. It is primarily marketed towards senior living, showing another demographic transition in this community as people live longer. Other residents tell me that most of the new apartments and condos tend to be built closer to the light-rail station further down 38th street.

Demographics

The population of this community has remained pretty stable since the 1980s (parts of the neighborhood were given to the adjacent Powderhorn Park neighborhood, causing the population to drop in 1990 significantly), although there has been a consistent negative growth in the single digits. The population has been primarily white but is shifting toward a greater number of African American, Asian, and Hispanics. Essentially the area is become more diverse, which has accelerated since the 1990s. One need only walk the neighborhood to see the businesses are catering to these communities.

The obvious signs of diversity are the store fronts. La Loma Tamales restaurant is located across the street from a former southeast Asian food store (which still make food for other locations). Most corner stores offer products and services in Spanish.

Medical

The closest hospitals are Abbott-Northwestern and the Children's Hospital. These are both major regional hospitals located just north of Lake Street on Chicago Avenue. They are both just over a mile from the school.

Near the laundromat within the strip mall on 40th and Bloomington is Hope Health Care and Adult Day Center. They offer services to elderly adults in the community when families are unable to. These services include transportation, making meals, and providing social activities. Not only do they provide PCA services, but they also have English classes. Their services include six languages such as Somali, Swahili, Arabic, Aramic, Oromo, Ethiopian, and Creole.

News

The Southside Pride newpaper has served a large swathe of south Minneapolis for the past 22 years. You can find this newspaper at countless corner stores and coffee shops throughout this and other communities. The paper's publisher, Ed Felein, is a long-time resident of the city and an activist/journalist.

Since many more people get their news online, the Southside Pride has joined up with TC Daily Planet. You can find a majority of their articles on that site in addition to other community news.

The latest news pertinent to the community is that Folwell, a school closed in 2010, will re-open as the new home of Ramsey Fine Arts Magnet school. The district shuttered many schools the last few years due to falling enrollment. With census data showing a growing number of children entering and to enter the district shortly, there is now a shortage of school space with buildings being re-opened to accommodate this change.

The online forum e-democracy is also available to resident to discuss local issues. Since Bancroft is a part of the larger Powderhorn neighborhood, residents participate on that site. Residents throughout Minneapolis can discuss city-wide issues on the city forum. These sites have active moderators and dislike any discussion of state-wide or national issues unless they specifically pertain to their communities.

Events

For the last 37 years, every first Sunday in May, the In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater hosts the May Day Festival and parade in south Minneapolis. It is the largest May Day celebration in the United States and is easily one of the most popular festivals in the city. The parade begins at 25th and Bloomington and proceeds to Powderhorn Park where the annual Tree of Life ceremony is performed.

The parade contains a host of giant puppets that tells a story, typically the story is a critique of our society from an alternative perspective. The parade and ceremony can be seen as a reflection of what ways in which our society can be more sustainable in various ways. This is especially accentuated in that no motorized vehicles are allowed in the parade, and is entirely people or pedal powered. At the tail end of the parade is the "free speech" portion, where any local organization can march in to spread their message. Politicians as well as local organizations participate in the parade. The May Day parade and festival is attended by about 50,000 people.

Hangout Places

What is Monster Den?

I was pretty curious about this building. At first glance, I thought it was an auto body repair shop. However, I saw the hours and decided it must be something sinister. I was more right than I had ever imagined. It is a hangout place for Magic the Gathering and other card gamers. Yes, they have tournaments. Probably some D&D and Renaissance Fair gatherings. A site for the lovers of LAN parties and WOW. Need I say more?

The Bar Scene

The closest bar to Bancroft is the Cedar Inn at 42nd and Cedar. I have never gone there, nor do I visit bars very often. However, for those who aren't into magic games, this is probably your place. There really aren't a lot of options for bar goers, as you'd have to venture further north on Cedar to fin another bar. 

The Caffeinated Scene

I'm not a huge drinker, although I do like Summit occasionally. I'm also not a hard core gamer, although I love playing board games like Catan. I'm more likely to be found in a coffee shop, either to meet up with friends, do homework, or checking out the latest news and twitter feeds. Of course, this all goes hand in hand with awesome coffee! I have to say, the Blue Ox coffee shop is a very clean and spiffy place at 38th and Chicago. It's not as grungy/hippy as the lovely Cafetto's, but they still have nice coffee. 

A few Organizations

The Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center is located at 38th and Chicago. It is a volunteer-run organization committed to educating others about creating works of art. They wish to create a positive environment for current and future artists. They also want to be a positive force in the community. The center started a year ago in addition to two other art studios across the street.

The Aliveness Project is headquartered at 38th and Chicago also, and serves the HIV/AIDS community with programs and services.


Youth Farm Market Project  has a plot on 37th and Chicago Avenue. Youth Farm is an organization that seeks to teach and mentor youth through growing, preparing, and selling food. It would not surprise me if many of the students at Bancroft have or will participate in this or a similar community project.


Full Cycle is located at 35th and Chicago Avenue. They provide homeless youth with the opportunity to learn to repair bikes.

Transportation Alternatives

When I spoke with people here, many said they loved the transit here. Perhaps those I spoke with were biased, because they were waiting for the bus. However, there are many bus lines that pass through the neighborhood to include the 5, 14, 23, 46, 111, and133. It is also very near the light-rail station that will gain more value as it becomes a part of a larger system in the years to come.

However, my critique of the neighborhood is that it is not very walkable. According to WalkScore, it has a rating of 57 and is the 63rd most walkable neighborhood in the city. Minneapolis has an average score of 69, and is the 9th most walkable city in the United States.

Since I moved to Minneapolis in 2002, I have lived in highly walkable areas since I live car free. Bancroft would not rank high on my list, as I would have to walk a mile or more to do errands. Adjacent neighborhoods have better ratings, making this neighborhood a walking "dead zone" by comparison.

 
I discovered that 40th Street is a bicycle corridor, with wider lanes and markings designed to be more bike friendly. I live on Bryant Avenue, which is another bike corridor. I prefer to stay on these streets than try riding on street like Lyndale, which are a death trap. I don't consider 38th street to be as bad or as busy.


Murals

There are a lot of murals in this and the adjacent neighborhoods. Perhaps there are more murals in Bancroft per square mile than anywhere in the United States! Even car repair shops have murals or some artwork on their building. Everything seems meant to have an artistic feel to it. Not only do they improve the visuals of the community, they also reflect their values, beliefs, feelings, and passions.

I asked some residents what they thought about the connection between this art form and the many artists who call this neighborhood home. Many thought it was great and maybe did inspire some to move there. Others thought it might be the cheaper rents and affordable homes.

Behind El Colegio

Behind El Colegio

Bancroft Introductions

So, this was my first week at Bancroft Elementary in Minneapolis. I will be working with 5th graders on their very own Public Achievement project! I have no idea what this project will be, but am excited nonetheless. Our first day consisted primarily of meeting with students to brainstorm issues that they can take on in their community and/or school.

As I reported in class, the group I worked with was rather serious. They didn't even want to START with introductions but wanted to delve right into talking about issues. (My introduction activity was talking about favorite and least favorite foods.) In fact, this activity did not influence the issues they thought were most important.

They wanted to talk about bullying, drug use, gangs, name calling, racism, and child abuse. These are some pretty intense issues. Some of them are ones I do not want to be the coach in charge of pursuing a solution (not that none of them are worthy, but I really don't want to lead a group on child abuse).

I even tried to lighten the mood of my serious group by asking about what positive things they would like to see. What things they dreamed, hoped for, and wanted to see exist. They again wanted to see negative things disappear, instead.

Every member of my group was able to speak. However, this was easy because I only had three students. Still, the boys tended to be louder in voicing their perspective. I had to stop them to allow or ask questions of their female classmate what she thought.

When the class came together, our group also reached consensus on what we thought were the most important issues. In fact, the issues they wanted to keep weren't considered the biggest issues from our group. For our classroom overall, it was a very easy process to pick their top 8 issues. I can't imagine it is always as simple.

Since I do not have a group yet, I am curious about what dynamics it will have. I want next week to be primarily about getting to know each other and how we would like to operate as a group. I will bring my own questions and suggestions, especially if conversation isn't going anywhere. I also need to check out the Public Achievement site to get some more ideas.

One thing I have been concerned about is what activities might keep them less bored. I understand switching gears helps, from talking about something to writing or drawing. I am not exactly sure how we will do this each week.

For this next week, I had thought about asking them to show me how NOT to act in our group - but this might actually cause more problems than prevent them. Perhaps a drawing about why they chose this group would be something we could do in addition to a conversation about this.