Wrapping Up One Week, & On To The Next!

Sundays become natural PAUSES, beats of REST, during the school year, places from which to reflect more calmly and removedly (my word :)) on what's transpired, in the style of tornado or at a tempo of tedium, in the week previous and to map out and guess at what is to come in that ahead. So, here I sit on the Sunday evening, the first of MY new school year, enjoying the late rays of a still-summer sun through the north-western window, attempting to articulate these very things.

The week's finale of Friday was something that gave me such a sense of needed optimism for the week, and even for the year ahead. My major goal was to make it to all of my classes on time (in spite of there being no designated passing time between the periods!) and in this I succeeded! WOOT for me! But more than that-- the feeling I had throughout the day, while undeniably tinged with a constant anxiety and insecurity, neither of which I try to let show, was POSITIVE! I met three new classes-- First (!), Fifth, and Eighth-- and got to try my hand at Grade 2 again. Grade 2 came first after my arrival at school and my work as one of the rangers on the playground at snack time, and I certainly felt better about what came out of that session than the first. I had been able to plan for it based on my prior knowledge of the group-- a brief but illuminating (joltingly so!) experience on Wednesday. In terms of material, I attempted to strike continuity between the two lessons and was sort of able to do so. The rhythms of these younger grades are so interesting because more so than the older kids, the younger students fall in and out of engagement and focus so so quickly-- and it's hard to keep up! One minute, they are in a chaotic fit of giggles, or pinching each other, or even sobbing, and then the next they are totally hanging on my every word and moment. I guess my challenge it just to try to measure when these moments happen; and work out some crazy alchemy through which to stretch these moments into a constant flow-- for every one of this group of 30 + kids. Piece of cake. ;) Grade 1 definitely fell into this description perfectly, though they are markedly less devious and mischievous than the Second Graders (I say this with admiration and love for those in Grade 2!) Big mistake in this class of 34 was to try to have them all patiently wait through a name game (my attempt to learn all of these names, each equally beautiful and totally out-there)-- too long, Ms. Nelson (yes, I'm changing back to this title based on support from the Grade 1 teacher, a perfectly delightful Englishman in his 60s who thinks this "Ms. or Mr. First Name business" is nonsense ;) )! In any event, I was able to get them back easily enough through an imaginative running game, but my lessons in the future will certainly look differently as a result.

Grade Eight was pure fun! These guys are the mini-adults with kid spirit whom I just love. The group is smaller-- 23-- and each one of them was polite and engaged and generally enthusiastic. We did some stretching and yoga, some running work and a little core, and then we had RELAY RACES, which they were totally into! It was inspiring to see these 14 year olds hopping like bunnies or crawling like crabs or barreling forward like wheelbarrows with such ferocious intensity! And they had great feedback, and seemed be excited about the fitness program I have planned for them. We have some really athletic kids in this group and fantastic attitudes so I'm excited to see where this year takes us.

Grade Five was possibly my favorite lesson of the day-- I felt like it had a rhythm and a logical structure, the timing was good and the focus and fun were present for the majority of the time. Maybe it was the kids being particularly well-behaved and adorably enthusiastic that day or maybe it was me feeling a little more comfortable in my skin-- probably it was both-- but I hopehopehope we can recreate it again. We played a much more dynamic and fun name-game-- fast-paced and kind of crazy involving patterns of throwing and catching playground balls in a large circle-- total madness once we got the two balls going in opposite directions on the path! Took them through some stretching and partner warm-ups and then them running also with relay races of a similar kind-- more teams with this larger group. Goodness, I still cannot get over the beaming feeling I had after this lesson ended and I took them back to their classroom-- on time and in an orderly manner ;)-- it was the perfect note on which to end the week.

This weekend has been a wonderful break from all of this-- this avalanche of transition; Alex is finally home after a six-week absence (training in Northern Cali) and we spend the days catching up and catching sun and waves (well, some of us ;). We did make our way to the international competition down at Lower Trestles though! Kelly Slater is there (the only surfer I've ever really heard of) but we missed him). Tomorrow marks a new start for him at Pendleton, and for me in a full week, complete with a Parent Night event (yikes!). But for these last hours, better to live in the moment if possible so I will stop with the anticipation for now, and let what unfolds unfold as it will. And I will keep you posted.