Good for what ails ya!

Tomorrow night I will distribute my class their final exam and the semester will be over. Only, it's not over for me. I have a huge stack of final papers to grade. And then exams. And then comes the calculating of grades and entering them into an Excel spreadsheet. Lastly, I'll submit grades. And then the semester will be over for me.

{photo by Lissa}

(This picture doesn't have anything to do with any of that but it makes me happy. So I'm posting it.
So there.)

Tomorrow night also marks the end of my second year of teaching. I've taught college for two years. Whhhhaaaaa??? That's weird.

In honor of my 2-year teaching-iversary, I thought I'd share a few of...


Sam's Stress Management Class Greatest Hits!


Sitting on top of desks, eating bowls of ice cream, and chatting about what stressed us out that day.
Watching Friends while munching on homemade Oreos.
Blowing bubbles together.
The whole class singing along with Grease's "You're the One that I Want."
A student bringing in her puppy for everyone to play with.
My music therapist friend leading a drum circle.
 The acupuncturist guest speaker putting needles in student's ears.
Lots of laying on the floor in the dark for guided meditation exercises.
At the end of a student group presentation, everyone being given a whoopee cushion. 
Coloring and doing puzzles. 
Watching funny Youtube clips. 
Eating popsicles and swedish fish outside.
Playing Head's Up Seven-Up.
Listening to Michael Jackson.


....Oh yeah, and learning too. 

Yup, all those things happened. Pretty awesome class I get to teach, huh?

The majority of those Greatest Hits moments are from student's "stress soothers." Basically, throughout the course of the semester, each student gets a chance to take about 5-10 minutes and lead the class in doing something that helps with their stress. Good times.

But seriously, I actually teach stuff too.
Promise.