Surprise!

When Tosca and I started talking in the spring about starting a yoga club, we both agreed that we would be happy if we had 5 students show up on a regular basis. Last Thursday when 8 students came, we were ecstatic. Today we had even more show up, 17 in all, most of who were in appropriate clothes. (no jeans, sweat pants or long shorts)

It's hard to take credit for this early achievement. Even though we want to think that the kids are really into the yoga, or they're in the class because we're teaching it, we have to remember that we did put a carrot out there for them. If a student has good attendance (attends 32 out of 36 classes) they can receive PE credit towards graduation. Unfortunately, several students have failed PE in the past and all of them want to take our yoga class to make up their credit. I'm cool with this. I'm glad for a captive audience to experiment with. This is an invaluable experience that will really help who I will become as a yoga teacher, if that is what I intend to do in the future.

The picture below was taken today in my classroom. The yoga club takes place in my classroom because I have 6th Period prep and students to help move the desks and sweep the floor. There are not many large spaces available that aren't already booked with sports teams. So hopefully, we can maintain 20 students in this space. On Tuesdays, my friend Tosca (a spanish teacher down the hall) leads the class. She is in the center top row in the picture. On Thursdays, I take the helm. Then we debrief for a few minutes after class. All in all it has been a fun time.

(PS sorry for all the butts in the picture-- these are kids and there are laws about taking pictures of kids, so until we get signed waivers from parents, there will be no faces!)