Finally, Some Snow!

Well, it is February, and we finally have some snow! And by some I mean about a foot. When Kara and Erin and I went out for a walk in it last night around 8 p.m., there were about 8 inches, and when I woke up this morning our footprints up to our front door were completely filled in. So we have about a foot of snow now.

This poor blog has been neglected because I have been so busy this quarter. I'm taking some fantastic classes, though, that are making me feel like I actually know what I'm doing as far as the teaching thing goes. My classes are Teaching Writing, Teacher's Portfolio, Practicum, and Teaching Young Adult Literature. In the first three of those classes we have to give teaching demos in front of the class (I've had to do three so far), and in Teaching Young Adult Lit we have at least one big project/presentation due each week.

Practicum is really interesting. We're working with an English teacher at the high school here in town, and we get to observe his classroom and help students after school in a writing workshop. No students have shown up for the writing workshop yet, but it's still really interesting to talk with the teacher about the ins and outs of teaching. I feel like I'm learning more this quarter than I have in the last two quarters combined.

During practicum, we also have the opportunity to help students get their HSPE (new version of the WASL) scores up to passing. Students have to pass the HSPE in their junior year of high school with a score of at least 3 to graduate, so this is the last chance for them to pass. We're working with a group of students to help them get their reading and writing skills up from a 1 or 2 to at least a three. The last couple of quarters I feel like I've been muddling my way through pointless classes (but necessary for graduation...) in the education department here, but now that I'm finally working with students in real time everything just feels like it's falling into place.

In other news, last weekend was pretty perfect. Started it off on Friday night with a great dinner with Paul, Mom, and Nick at the Cheesecake Factory in Seattle before speed-walking to the 5th Ave to see Spamalot. It was really funny! Lots of the old Monty Python jokes mixed in with some new ones. Pretty good, I'd say. Then on Saturday, Jay and I went skiing at Crystal Mountain. The snow cover was lousy in some places, but the gorgeous weather more than made up for it!

And the skies were so clear that we were finally able to see Mt. Rainier from the top! I've skied at Crystal a few times now, but every time I've been, the weather has been snowy or cloudy, so never got to see the mountain in its full gloriousness.

Then on Sunday, we prepared to watch the Super Bowl. I had visions in my head of all the delicious treats I'd make, but Jay's kitchen sink was broken and his roommate (owner of the house) was not in any hurry to fix it. So we went to Costco and got some salmon with basil butter, caesar salad, and some prosciutto and asparagus that I used to make... well, prosciutto-wrapped asparagus. Pretty good, but next time I'd use less prosciutto. Too salty.

Before the Costco trip though, we stopped by our favorite coffee spot to get some breakfast and caffeine. Even the maple bars were rooting for the Seahawks!

  
And then the Seahawks actually won! A SUPER BOWL! I was so excited, although I thought the actual game was a little boring to watch since the Seahawks were so far ahead the whole time.

And the last little piece of exciting news is that Jay and I plan to move in together after the school year is over. Since Jay can't really leave the job he just started at the beginning of the school year yet, we're looking at places in the Tacoma area. I'll be filling out my student teaching application soon, and putting my choices down for the schools around that area. Also beginning the process of job hunting around that area. Busy busy busy!