HAM-SI!

FYI: All words in green are links to more info/references.

At an inopportune moment I was plucked out of my yoga classes & put in a room that is too small for me to even stretch in. Last summer a lovely lady named Amy taught me a lot about balance, its role in our lives, how we can obtain it, etc. all through conversations on the mountains of Northern California. This is where I go every time I'm in shavasna (the cliff we hiked to for sunrise, I fell asleep on, & woke up alone with the sun pink & sending enormous shadows of the mountains on my cliff, in my sleeping bag, & over the Kings River running around below). Amy gave me some book names & we started encouraging each other to write more in our journals & reflect on how to achieve this balance I desperately want/need.

 After getting back to the South, I had no one to talk about this with. Amy was moving out of the country soon & she lived in Oregon at the time (so yeah, she's got the best life imaginable). Luckily, my best friend ChelsTan got me to come to yoga with her & it rocked my world- This was it! This was what I had been searching for! This was what "church" was SUPPOSED to be! I could feel my body, soul, & mind getting to know each other for the first time. During my bow & reciting of "Namaste" after the first class, I knew that this was how I could "Om Namah Shiyavah" ('honor the divine spirit in me'...in you, too). Still, Ecuador came & now I have been wrestling with how to find peace/stillness without a place to yoga. I realized it is something very important in my life & I may have to find a yoga class here...en Español. I mean I've been attending mass in Spanish & understanding when they order me to sit, stand, hug, or pray...so what would be different about some downward doggin'?

The reason I am writing about this is because my first week of solo teaching starts next week. The book I talked about a few days ago has become central when creating my curriculum for "A Raisin in the Sun" as well as this quote from Lao Tse: "Avoid putting yourself before others, & you can become a leader of men." This has seemed extra important lately because my Mentor Teacher loves to hear herself talk, to instruct, & basically tell the students what to think. This is bothersome to me. I hope to have created a lesson revolving around student questions (thanks, Jim Burke), student activities (shout out to Kylene Beers), & student/teacher reflections (Simpson, my man). I would like feedback on these lesson plans for anyone who fancies themself a teacher of any sort: a parents, a traditional educator, an experiential educator, a leader, etc. My goal is to create lifelong learners, thinkers, & kids who will transcend the lessons from the text to their lives using real examples, going outside to reflect, writing, discussion, etc. So I am asking for help for anyone who feels they can...

The words in green contain links to my Unit Overview Plan (missing standards, but you get the idea), my first week of lesson plans, & an example of one of the pre/during/post-reading activites.

Mucho gracias in advance. Learning to teach, learning to learn, learning forever.
Lauren