*Catches breath*

Long day today. Long, long, long...

Got a good amount of grading done from my perch in the school plaza during first period (over a Tully's latte and cinnamon roll, naturally) and then set in on the day's work.

Humanities: The kids practiced and then told folk-tales to each other in small groups. As with the storytelling activities in the other classes, I ran this outside in the plaza. As I made the rounds from picnic table to picnic table, I heard lots of good stories--I told the kids that they need to re-tell their stories on Wilderness Camp next week, and I think quite a few are actually planning on it! It would be so cool to see storytelling revived as a cultural art/entertainment form at CAJ.

World History: Groups working on their civilization research projects. Most groups were actually done with the research and were putting together either presentations or video projects to use to teach their classmates about the ancient civilization that they researched. One group had finished their video and were waiting on one groupmate to finish editing. To keep this group out of trouble (when freshmen become himajin (people with too much time on their hands), they can be a bit noisy), I agreed to help them shoot an extra commercial for their video project. This we did... in the plaza, once again (I feel that any day where I can spend some time outside every hour is a success). Again, lots of walking around and doing the rounds between the classroom, plaza and computer lab to answer questions and make sure all groups were moving forward... I wish I'd worn a pedometer because my step count was through the roof today.

Cross country: After lunch, the cross country team left school early for our annual meet at Ome against Yokota. It's a nice (albeit tough, mostly uphill) course in the hills on the outskirts of the city, close to where I'll be hiking next week. The kids either love or hate the course, and had either a great race (one guy got first with a PR) or a bad race (one girl twisted her ankle)... not much middle ground there. I enjoyed the van ride there and back and the opportunity to chat with my team. We rolled back into the CAJ parking lot at 6:10 at which point I went to...

Wilderness Camp Meeting: It was good to attend this meeting, even though it was mostly review. With each passing day, my stress level about wilderness camp seems to decrease. I feel like I know what I need to do as a leader and knowing both the route and the group is a weight off my shoulders. Now, my task is to keep rested and healthy...

So, I got home at 9:00 after a long day. I'm feeling less stressed than earlier this week but I am also very sleepy... falling asleep as I write... so... Goodnight blogosphere!