Almost... fall really starts on Sunday but it might as well have started today since it the beginning of the weekend and we've just received our first rain splattering in about 4 months. It lasted a brief moment as Grant and I were walking home from blockbuster after dinner. Just enough to make the sidewalk look wet but not enough to soak through clothes. I told Grant that we should move the car out of the garage and onto the street... because we haven't washed it in a long time... if ever come to think of it. But parking is hard to find on the street in the evening and the rain really wasn't hard enough so we decided against it and walked into the apartment building.
So I'll be spending the weekend with a couple of flicks, working on getting rid of a last little bit of my week long cold, getting school work done, and attending the reenactment of marriage vows ceremony of two friends of ours that got married last month in Kansas. They are both seminarians, one from PSR and one from SFTS. And they both attend our church and our church.
Oh yeah, and we'll also be balancing eggs this weekend... ya know, since it's fall and all.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
After School Activity #2: Advanced Studies Program
Also known as the "200 Hour Teacher Training Class" at PYS.
Sometime late last winter, perhaps in February or March, I got an email newsletter from PYS about an Advanced Studies Yoga Program that they were planning for the fall. The newsletter said that more information, including an application, would be coming soon. April came and went and nothing changed on the website. So did May. Finally in June, the application appeared.
The first part of the application was easy. Name, address, health concerns, current teacher, length of time practicing. Then came the writing section. For the first few weeks of June, questions like "Describe your home practice," and "Why do you want to be in the class," started taking over my brain. Fortunately, I had answers to these questions.
By the time I got to the last question, I was really wondering if I still wanted to be in the program. "What is yoga?" What? Was this a trick question? What kind of answer were they looking for? What do I actually know about yoga, really? Isn't it just that stretching thing that middle aged rich white women do with bare feet on mats in their fancy designer yoga clothes, taking classes during the day time when most of us have to work?
I fumbled my way through an explanation of yoga being this journey of discovery... connecting mind, body, and spirit... stress reliever... appreciation of my god-like temple... confidence builder... and somehow they thought it was all good enough to accept me into the program.
It's a 200 hour program designed for people who have lives. So, meeting every Thursday night for 3 hours will take us until June 2008 to finish. We also have one Saturday a month where we have a 6 hour intensive class. Our first Saturday was just a few days ago.
There are 18 people in the class, of which 2 are men. (surprise, surprise!) This is similar to my after school yoga program which has 15 girls and 2 boys. I am close to the lower end of the age range, but that's ok. I have concerns about my abilities, but so far no one has said anything to me to make me feel like I don't belong amongst this group of students. I'm relieved that flexibility isn't everything! Just a willingness to show up and learn a ton, because we do learn a ton since we have great teachers.
Our first month's focus is on standing poses. So, as one who practices yoga might imagine, I feel alot of stretching in my hips and hamstrings.
(for those of you who don't practice yoga, what's up? what are you waiting for? get to it! your body is not getting any more flexible just sitting here reading my blog!)
12 hours down, 188 more to go!
Sometime late last winter, perhaps in February or March, I got an email newsletter from PYS about an Advanced Studies Yoga Program that they were planning for the fall. The newsletter said that more information, including an application, would be coming soon. April came and went and nothing changed on the website. So did May. Finally in June, the application appeared.
The first part of the application was easy. Name, address, health concerns, current teacher, length of time practicing. Then came the writing section. For the first few weeks of June, questions like "Describe your home practice," and "Why do you want to be in the class," started taking over my brain. Fortunately, I had answers to these questions.
By the time I got to the last question, I was really wondering if I still wanted to be in the program. "What is yoga?" What? Was this a trick question? What kind of answer were they looking for? What do I actually know about yoga, really? Isn't it just that stretching thing that middle aged rich white women do with bare feet on mats in their fancy designer yoga clothes, taking classes during the day time when most of us have to work?
I fumbled my way through an explanation of yoga being this journey of discovery... connecting mind, body, and spirit... stress reliever... appreciation of my god-like temple... confidence builder... and somehow they thought it was all good enough to accept me into the program.
It's a 200 hour program designed for people who have lives. So, meeting every Thursday night for 3 hours will take us until June 2008 to finish. We also have one Saturday a month where we have a 6 hour intensive class. Our first Saturday was just a few days ago.
There are 18 people in the class, of which 2 are men. (surprise, surprise!) This is similar to my after school yoga program which has 15 girls and 2 boys. I am close to the lower end of the age range, but that's ok. I have concerns about my abilities, but so far no one has said anything to me to make me feel like I don't belong amongst this group of students. I'm relieved that flexibility isn't everything! Just a willingness to show up and learn a ton, because we do learn a ton since we have great teachers.
Our first month's focus is on standing poses. So, as one who practices yoga might imagine, I feel alot of stretching in my hips and hamstrings.
(for those of you who don't practice yoga, what's up? what are you waiting for? get to it! your body is not getting any more flexible just sitting here reading my blog!)
12 hours down, 188 more to go!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Living the Vision
At the end of July, I attended a workshop with a beautiful and amazingly talented artist named Shiloh Sophia McCloud. She is a member of our church and many of her paintings are on display around the building. She is the leader of a monthly women’s spiritual and bible study group called “Holy Cow” (council of women).
It has been almost two months since taking the workshop, so I decided to re-read my vision plan and see how I was doing. I was pretty surprised to see that things are starting to fall into place, just like When I was visioning my vision, three career paths were swirling around my head. So I decided to include all three in my plan.
1. Leading Backpacking and camping trips for inner city youth and women of all ages. There would be a focus on educating people on how to backpack, a spiritual component with meditation and journal writing, and in addition to the hiking, we would practice yoga to get into our bodies.
It’s hard to work on all three while still maintaining a full time job. After our successful backpacking trip with friends in July that Grant and I planned, I wanted to plan a women’s weekend trip this fall but it has been very difficult to find a weekend that everyone who is interested can go, and I haven’t been that motivated to plan.
I'm proud to say that I'm working really well on #2 (as you could tell from the previous post). In addition to teaching my own class twice a week with my students, I am enrolled in a 200 hour advanced studies / teacher training program at a local yoga studio. I'll talk more about that in the next post!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
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!)
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!)
Saturday, September 08, 2007
After School Activity #1: YOGA
2 high school teachers (1 math, 1 spanish)
8 teens (including 1 boy-- we're so proud)
24 brand new yoga mats.
Us, laying down in the middle of my classroom, all the desks moved off to the side.
We're stretching our hamstrings and I tell them to relax their groin muscles (because that's a place were I tense up). After I gave them this instruction, I thought out loud, "I hope you went to the bathroom before class."
Then the boy asks, "Why?"
The girls giggle at the boy.
I say, "I guess it must be a girl thing."
The girls giggle some more.
Teens are soooo much fun. Especially when they are a part of my new after school yoga club.
8 teens (including 1 boy-- we're so proud)
24 brand new yoga mats.
Us, laying down in the middle of my classroom, all the desks moved off to the side.
We're stretching our hamstrings and I tell them to relax their groin muscles (because that's a place were I tense up). After I gave them this instruction, I thought out loud, "I hope you went to the bathroom before class."
Then the boy asks, "Why?"
The girls giggle at the boy.
I say, "I guess it must be a girl thing."
The girls giggle some more.
Teens are soooo much fun. Especially when they are a part of my new after school yoga club.
School Update
Life's speed has definitely increased fro us this week. First, this was Grant's first week at his CPE internship. CPE stands for "clinical pastoral experience" and Grant's CPE is taking place at St. Francis hospital in SF for the next 53 weeks. This week was all orientation-- getting to know his crew and learning about hospital procedures. I'm sure he'll be writing about his experiences... when he has the time! (ha, ha, welcome to the working world my beloved husband!)
In my world, I'm am just loving my job right now. Right before spring break each year, the school district asks us to fill out a form with our tentative plans for the next school year (are we returning?). Last year, one of my math colleagues was unsure of his situation. He is older and has some health concerns. He loves teaching the students but didn't know if he could survive another year at the castle. (we have a tough school in a very impoverished part of Oakland... lots of teachers burn out here real quick). So I approached him and asked him what he thought about us splitting one math position for the next year. We each thought about it over spring break and then asked our principal about it, explaining our situation. She was very willing to work with us (one of the perks of my job... a great principal).
So a normal school day is teaching 5 periods and having 1 period as a conference/planning time. This will get you 100% pay (which is dependent on your education and working experience). This year, according to the deal that I worked out, I am teaching 4 periods and have 1 conference/planning period, so I only receive 80% of my salary. The other teacher is at 40%, teaching 2 classes. We know this adds up to more than one position, but again, we are very lucky to have a principal willing to work with us. And both of us are very, very happy with the situation.
Because of my new deal, here is a typical day...
5:45 alarm, Grant wakes and takes shower, Robin snoozes until 6:20.
7:10-7:20 we leave the house and Robin drives Grant to "casual carpool" pick-up on her way to school, Grant goes to the city and you'll have to read his blog from here...
7:30 Robin arrives at school, students may or may not come in to say hi or get some help
8:10 official starting time of school... no students for Ms. Kinney, because she doesn't actually exist until 9-ish. Instead she just sits at her desk and works. Did you hear that? NO one can ask me to sub for a class 1st period because I don't exist.
9:14 2nd Period = 19 eager and well mannered advanced algebra students
10:18 3rd Period = 13 hopeful CAHSEE Prep (students who still need to pass the CA high school exit exam)
11:22 4th Period = 23 more high energy but still enjoyable advanced algebra students
12:22 = LUNCH
1:06 5th Period = 9 tired after lunch CAHSEE Prep students
2:06 6th Period = Conference time and collaboration with the math department
3:10 official end of the school day, but I work as I need and then go home, leaving school at school where it belongs.
4:00 and after = various evening activities depending on the night, then we try to get to bed by 10pm. Yes, various evening activities that don't include school work. None. I only bring home my computer. No books! No papers to grade!
Can it get any better than this? I only have 64 students, compared to 120 for some of my colleagues. Sometimes I'm sad that I won't be getting my full paycheck since I'm at school the same amount of time as usual. Then I remember that I now have my Sundays and evenings back. I am happy in the classroom. I can give my students the attention that they need. I have energy. I have a life after school (which you'll hear about in the next post). It is worth the trade and I highly recommend this alternative schedule for teachers in high-risk, stressful, urban schools.
In my world, I'm am just loving my job right now. Right before spring break each year, the school district asks us to fill out a form with our tentative plans for the next school year (are we returning?). Last year, one of my math colleagues was unsure of his situation. He is older and has some health concerns. He loves teaching the students but didn't know if he could survive another year at the castle. (we have a tough school in a very impoverished part of Oakland... lots of teachers burn out here real quick). So I approached him and asked him what he thought about us splitting one math position for the next year. We each thought about it over spring break and then asked our principal about it, explaining our situation. She was very willing to work with us (one of the perks of my job... a great principal).
So a normal school day is teaching 5 periods and having 1 period as a conference/planning time. This will get you 100% pay (which is dependent on your education and working experience). This year, according to the deal that I worked out, I am teaching 4 periods and have 1 conference/planning period, so I only receive 80% of my salary. The other teacher is at 40%, teaching 2 classes. We know this adds up to more than one position, but again, we are very lucky to have a principal willing to work with us. And both of us are very, very happy with the situation.
Because of my new deal, here is a typical day...
5:45 alarm, Grant wakes and takes shower, Robin snoozes until 6:20.
7:10-7:20 we leave the house and Robin drives Grant to "casual carpool" pick-up on her way to school, Grant goes to the city and you'll have to read his blog from here...
7:30 Robin arrives at school, students may or may not come in to say hi or get some help
8:10 official starting time of school... no students for Ms. Kinney, because she doesn't actually exist until 9-ish. Instead she just sits at her desk and works. Did you hear that? NO one can ask me to sub for a class 1st period because I don't exist.
9:14 2nd Period = 19 eager and well mannered advanced algebra students
10:18 3rd Period = 13 hopeful CAHSEE Prep (students who still need to pass the CA high school exit exam)
11:22 4th Period = 23 more high energy but still enjoyable advanced algebra students
12:22 = LUNCH
1:06 5th Period = 9 tired after lunch CAHSEE Prep students
2:06 6th Period = Conference time and collaboration with the math department
3:10 official end of the school day, but I work as I need and then go home, leaving school at school where it belongs.
4:00 and after = various evening activities depending on the night, then we try to get to bed by 10pm. Yes, various evening activities that don't include school work. None. I only bring home my computer. No books! No papers to grade!
Can it get any better than this? I only have 64 students, compared to 120 for some of my colleagues. Sometimes I'm sad that I won't be getting my full paycheck since I'm at school the same amount of time as usual. Then I remember that I now have my Sundays and evenings back. I am happy in the classroom. I can give my students the attention that they need. I have energy. I have a life after school (which you'll hear about in the next post). It is worth the trade and I highly recommend this alternative schedule for teachers in high-risk, stressful, urban schools.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
More Excitement about Food... I know you're all interested!
I guess I'm on a food kick for these posts. Don't worry. I start teaching a yoga class later this wee
k at my school and start my "Yoga 
Advanced Studies Program" at Piedmont Yoga Studio on Thursday night so the topic will change!A while back Grant and I went to the Thai restaurant about 6 blocks from our house and ordered my favorite: pad thai.
When ever I order Pad Thai, I ask for the vegetarian version since shrimp is a normal addition. But at this particular restaurant, they thought that it was still ok to use oyster sauce in my vegetarian pad thai.
When the plate came to our table, we took a couple of bites and looked up at each other trying to figure out what went wrong. My initial taste was dog food. The wet kind. We called the server over and they tried to make the dish again. It was only mildly better.
This episode prompted me to look for my own pad thai recipe to try at home where we could control the ingredients used. The search brought me to this site, where many types of food get discussed.
The first time we made the pad thai, we followed the recipe almost exactly. The second time we ventured off and used different vegetables. This time, our third attempt, really only looks like pad thai because of the sauce. But is was still sooooo good.
More pictures here!
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Tomato Season
You might remember a few months ago, in this post, I was writing about the seasons. In our part of California, we don't really have seasons. The weather is always delightfully mild except for periods of rain in the "winter" and heat waves in May and September. Since it doesn't snow or get too cold, you really can only measure the seasons by the amount of daylight and the produce available at the farmer's market.
These past two weeks at the farmer's market have given us many beautiful tomatoes. Yummy tomatoes to make soup with, and soup we did, two weekends in a row! We have this really simple tomato soup recipe from our favorite cookbook, "The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest" (thanks again Christine and Paul!) that has never failed to be absolutely amazing. Of course the beauty of the soup is more about the quality of the tomatoes than the recipe. Honestly, what is better than in-season, fresh from the vine, organic and locally grown, hand picked tomatoes that you buy straight from the farmer?
You can't forget the required Tomato Soup Carrying Device: Grilled Cheese Sandwich! yum yum!
These past two weeks at the farmer's market have given us many beautiful tomatoes. Yummy tomatoes to make soup with, and soup we did, two weekends in a row! We have this really simple tomato soup recipe from our favorite cookbook, "The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest" (thanks again Christine and Paul!) that has never failed to be absolutely amazing. Of course the beauty of the soup is more about the quality of the tomatoes than the recipe. Honestly, what is better than in-season, fresh from the vine, organic and locally grown, hand picked tomatoes that you buy straight from the farmer?
You can't forget the required Tomato Soup Carrying Device: Grilled Cheese Sandwich! yum yum!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Yeah for Yoga!
I just finished day 3 of the new school year. Only 177 more to go!
No, I'm actually feeling pretty good about this year so far. I decided to go "part time" this year. I'm only teaching 4 classes instead of 5. I still have two preps, advanced algebra and CAHSEE prep*, so it feels like the same amount of prep work, but I have fewer students overall and my load will get lighter as the school year goes on.
(* CAHSEE stands for California High School Exit Exam, a big test that the students have to take in order to graduate from high school. They have 6 opportunities to take it, starting in the 10th grade. My class is full of seniors that are down to their last 3 tries. Once they pass, they'll probably drop my class, making my load easier as the year goes on!)
So I cut back on my teaching load but I'm still going to be plenty busy this year. Starting next Tuesday, I will be co-leading a yoga after school club for our students. Some students will be able to take it for PE credit, some will just drop in for fun when they can.
In preparation for this class, my co-leader and I have been studying BKS Iyengar's "Light on Yoga" this summer and practicing teaching each other poses. We're going to have sooooo much fun together, even if no students show up. We're hoping they'll come, especially since they can take the class for credit! (and some of them really want the credit for graduation) I'll be sure to update on how the club is progressing.
Also to make sure I was ready for this class, I took a quiz about my yoga snob style. It was written by another Bay Area Yogi who loves sharing yoga with her teens. Here are my results!
Quite a nice message to hear before starting my teaching practice! Let's hope they're right.
No, I'm actually feeling pretty good about this year so far. I decided to go "part time" this year. I'm only teaching 4 classes instead of 5. I still have two preps, advanced algebra and CAHSEE prep*, so it feels like the same amount of prep work, but I have fewer students overall and my load will get lighter as the school year goes on.
(* CAHSEE stands for California High School Exit Exam, a big test that the students have to take in order to graduate from high school. They have 6 opportunities to take it, starting in the 10th grade. My class is full of seniors that are down to their last 3 tries. Once they pass, they'll probably drop my class, making my load easier as the year goes on!)
So I cut back on my teaching load but I'm still going to be plenty busy this year. Starting next Tuesday, I will be co-leading a yoga after school club for our students. Some students will be able to take it for PE credit, some will just drop in for fun when they can.
In preparation for this class, my co-leader and I have been studying BKS Iyengar's "Light on Yoga" this summer and practicing teaching each other poses. We're going to have sooooo much fun together, even if no students show up. We're hoping they'll come, especially since they can take the class for credit! (and some of them really want the credit for graduation) I'll be sure to update on how the club is progressing.
Also to make sure I was ready for this class, I took a quiz about my yoga snob style. It was written by another Bay Area Yogi who loves sharing yoga with her teens. Here are my results!
|
A Balanced YogiYou love your friends unconditionally and accept them for who they are no matter what their yoga style preference, religious beliefs, or spending habits. You focus on the good in people and would never try to change them. Almost everyone feels comfortable in your presence. You live your yoga. You are an inspiration to yoga students everywhere! |
| Take the Yoga Journal Yoga Snob Quiz! |
Quite a nice message to hear before starting my teaching practice! Let's hope they're right.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Seattle
I've been home from Seattle for 10 days now. I know I promised you some pictures a long time ago. But I just couldn't follow through. I had that thing I had to do this week that took up all of my time... that thing that I didn't remember how tiring it would make me. That thing called, "Work."Ah, summer, where have you gone? So quick you passed us by! Many goals yet still to be accomplished! Many experiences yet to be had! How I was just getting comfortable with my new schedule, and now I'm reprogramming. I forgot what it felt like to be at school all day. I am tired and I haven't even seen my students yet.
Look at this perfect summer sky! With the bright colors! Look at that bright fish, spending time swimming amongst the lilies. Look at this couple, playing on the rocks, no rush, no lessons to plan, no classrooms to set up, no papers to grade, no staff meetings, no urgent needs except to enjoy a trip together. 
More HERE.
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