My back doesn't like that...

Yoga was rough today -- I think cuz I'm a slouchy person who cannot sit on her knees. Apparently my knee thing is inherited, upon discussion with my dad he's always had the same problem.

Word from the Tacoma Schools HR guy today is that they only hired FOUR (4) elementary school teachers last year. Seeing as how my buddy is in UPS's MIT program, endorsed in elementary currently student teaching in Tacoma, the chances of me getting one of those jobs equals very unprobable. So now I'm thinking bigger, or likely I'll end up out of state. Go big or go home, eh?

Here's the excerpt from my Frank's Landing seminar prep paper:

In the spirit of reflecting on student teaching experiences, the school I taught at had a tradition I had never witnessed in any other school before. One classroom at each grade level (1-6) would come together once a month to engage in what was called Family Celebration. This event was steeped in a sense of tradition and pride, and it followed a nearly formulaic ceremony each time. Therefore, the magic of family celebration always seemed apparent. I did not bother to pay Family Celebration special mind until I read this: “Ceremony, too, has a calming, bonding effect. It need not be an elaborate, day-long event. It can be a private, highly personal show of respect and honor, and it can be spontaneous, just a wave of support to a blue heron working the mud flats, a round of applause for late summer’s first huckleberries, or ‘thank you’ spoken into the water noises of your river” (p. 100). Somehow this clarified for me why students seemed to appreciate this time so much. It also challenged me to consider, for my own classroom, ways in which ceremony might be significantly incorporated. (Ideally ideas and thoughts forthcoming to a classroom near you this spring…)