Christmas Vacation

What better time and place to re-cap Christmas break than the Anchorage airport at 2:30 in the morning?!  And what better way to do it than through a series of pictures?!

This was on the bathroom door at the Aurora Inn in Nome.  They got the period at the end, but it still makes no sense. 

I'm pretty sure the cookie dough isn't supposed to do that.  But turning the mixer on high seemed like a good idea at the time.

It was requested that we not bake as many cookies as we did last year, so we were forced to restrain ourselves.  All the cookies fit on the plates, except one.  (Those are just the gluten-free cookies.  We also made fudge and non-gluten-free cookies.)

Gingerbread houses have become somewhat of a tradition around our house at Christmas.

Watching It's a Wonderful Life after church on Christmas Eve, Vicki was all smiles after Travis showed up.  Travis wasn't going to be able to make it home for Christmas and Vicki was devastated.  So, I arranged and paid for Travis to fly home, but we "forgot" to tell Vicki.  Operation Christmas Surprise: success!

Santa apparently has a flame-retardant suit (or so we hope), because we got a bit cold on Christmas Eve, and a fire in the wood stove was the result. 

Our matching pajama pants have also become a tradition for Vicki and I.

 Various family members on Christmas Day.  The highlight was probably making Mom cry with the new mixer to replace the falling-apart one that she was settling for. 

Apparently, I'm really bad at this game.  After two hours of playing, this was all I had.  The winner of the game accumulated at least 10 more cards than I did.  All I managed to accumulate was an interesting set of attributes (that I sincerely hope does not describe me, as some say.)


The break was too short, as it always is.  I'm heading back to the village before New Year's, which I've never done before.  It should be an interesting experience. :-)

What is Love?

I came up with an interesting thought about a week ago and it has been tumbling around my brain ever since.  It's puzzling to me, so I thought I'd share. 

I've been doing a lot of thinking and praying lately about what it means to love God.  What is the first and greatest commandment?  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30)  The second commandment?  "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:31)  But what does that mean?  What does it look like in practice?  How do I love God with every ounce of my being, love other people, and what will that look like practically in my life?  I came across the answer in 1 John 5:2-3.  "This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands.  This is love for God: to obey His commands."  So, we love people by loving God and obeying His commands.  Okay.  What are God's commands?

Love God and love people.

I love God and love people by obeying God's commands.  God's commands are to love God and love people.  I love God and love people by obeying God's commands.  God's commands are to love God and love people.  It's a never-ending circle that never really answers my questions. 

I know that there are about 3 people who actually read this blog, but I also know that those minds are greater than mine, so if anyone wants to enlighten me, please do. 

Field Trip

Thursday was the date for my annual utterly-void-of-any-educational-value-but-we're-doing-it-anyway field trip to find a Christmas tree for the classroom.  I could make it educational, but that would kill the fun, so we just focus on making memories and finding a nice tree.  I invited the kindergarten class to go with us - the more, the merrier. 

After two years of wind and clouds, I couldn't have picked a better day (considering I picked the date back in October).  Light snow falling with any wind, and temperatures in the 20's.  As soon as we were out the door and past the playground, the fun really started.  Kids were throwing themselves in snowbanks, chasing each other, and rolling around on the road.  I just let them go crazy, figuring they would settle down and start walking pretty soon.  Between the two classes, we had come up with two plastic sleds; pulling those gave the kids something to do.

We headed up the hill towards Baldhead.  It's the only road out of town and is lined with trees.  The school is up on a hill and the road slopes down to meet the creek and then heads up the hill.  Some of the girls decided they wanted to sled down the hill, but it's not a very steep incline, so the boys obliged by pulling them down the hill.

We veered off the main road before we got very far up Baldhead.  We started following a snowmachine trail, carved by people going out to get firewood.  It was fairly decently packed, and lined with trees of all shapes and sizes.  

We found a tree for the first-grade first.  It was a large tree that we cut off about halfway up.  It appeared fairly bushy and not too big.  We put it on one of the sleds, left it by the side of the trail and continued on in search of a tree for the kindergarten.  The kids spotted one that wasn't as bushy as the first one, but was a good size and not too scraggly. 

As you can see, they really are cute little trees (and cute little kids, too!).

We hadn't noticed as we were tree-hunting, but it had really started to snow in earnest.  As we started back, the flakes got big and started coming fast.  I'm not sure who started the trend, but pretty soon, most kids were trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues.  It's difficult to walk, pull a sled, and catch snowflakes all at the same time, but some kids were managing pretty well.

We took our time coming back, due to the snow, trees, and fascination with catching snowflakes.  Even so, some of the littlest ones were dragging by the time we reached the school.  We had only been gone an hour, but they had walked a fair distance.

Wanda (the kindergarten teacher) invited our class to her room for hot chocolate and animal crackers.  It was a bit of an ordeal getting our tree in the stand, but we managed, and then headed next door. 

We came back to our room and strung lights and decorations on our tree.  That's when I noticed that it is definitely not standing straight up but leans a substantially to one side.  It seems fairly sturdy, though, so I'm not going to mess with it.  I love having kids that get along well.  All I had to do was put the decorations out on a table and they decorated without fighting over who got to do what. 

All in all, the kids had fun, we didn't lose anyone, teachers came back with tempers intact, and we found two beautiful trees for our rooms.  I count it as a successful afternoon.

Holiday Bazaar

Every year, the school hosts a holiday bazaar for teachers and anyone else in the community who has something to sell.  As an elementary school teacher, I am obligated to make and sell something with my kids.  I despise this fact.  Why?  Well, my kids can't make anything that is going to turn a profit.  I can only sell so many popsicle picture frames and ornaments.  The best I can do is have the kids put their names on what they make so that parents and grandparents will be guilted into buying what their children made.  It's pretty much a waste of valuable class time during a time of year in which time is precious. 

This year, the science teacher came down and asked if I had any ideas for the bazaar yet.  He said he would have his middle and high schoolers make birdhouses, and then my kids could decorate them.  I jumped at the chance.  A simple project (his kids did all the work) that wouldn't eat up too much time.

Here is the finished product:

 

I gave the kids free rein to do pretty much whatever they wanted, decorating-wise.  The best part came last night at the bazaar.  I've been exhausted all week - the result of one high-stress event after another.  I was really tired last night and not excited about having to spend the entire evening at an event that, for me, is pointless.  I sold all 4 birdhouses within the first 10 minutes and was done.  Yea for grandmas and aunties!  It was fantastic - a project that cost me 45 minutes of class time and 10 minutes of selling, and actually managed to earn a profit.

Persistence

There have been some not totally disconnected ideas rolling around my brain lately.  I'm pretty sure writing them out for the approximately 3 people who read this blog will help me make some connections.

There are a couple of prayers that I have been praying for years now.  Years with no answer.  I began wondering if I was ever going to get an answer.  I began wondering if it was worth it.  I began wondering if maybe I should give up those prayers.  That's when I started stumbling across verses about prayer and persistence.

In Matthew 7:7-8, it says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."  This is an encouraging verse in this situation.  I have been seeking answers to this particular issue for years.  If I believe this promise, I can keep asking, seeking, knocking, and believe that I will get an answer.  This same promise is repeated in Luke 11, after Jesus teaches his disciples to pray.  Jesus tells a parable about a man asking his friend for bread and receiving it because of his persistence.  If, as humans, we answer our friends pleas, how much more will God answer our petitions?! 

Another promise I came across is in Mark 11:23-24.

“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.  Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” 

This speaks directly to my lack of belief that I would ever receive an answer.  If I desire to get an answer, I have to believe that it will happen.  I have to keep praying and keep having faith, and eventually I will receive an answer. 

I hate waiting.  The questions run around in my mind and weigh down my heart.  But Jesus has a solution even for that.  Matthew 11:28-30 says,

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

God can take my weary, burdened down mind and heart, and give me rest and a peace that surpasses all understanding (Phillipians 4:7 – which incidentally, comes right after verse 6, which speaks of taking everything to God in prayer). 

The promise I go back to over and over is Psalm 37:4.  “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  God has planted certain dreams in my heart, and I can’t believe He would give me those dreams and desires, and then not fulfill them.  It’s a matter of learning how to love God more and find delight in Him and Him alone.

How do I know all these promises are true?  “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.  And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:20) Can I trust God to honor His promises and bring them to fruition?  Yes.  Unequivocally yes. 

To take this all back to the beginning, I can’t help but believe that God will answer.  At this point, I don’t really care if it is a yes or a no, just as long as I know that it is from God.  The years of persistence are worth it, and I should never give up praying until I receive the promised answers.

Fall In-service

Here we go again!  This last week was the annual "Whine about it aloud but secretly enjoy the BSSD Education Conference."  For those not familiar with the way we do things here in the Bering Strait School District, the fall in-service is our one chance each school year to get together as a district.  Because the district is composed of 15 native villages spread out across 80,000 square miles (yes, you did read that correctly) of Alaskan nothing-ness, most of our communication is done through e-mail, Skype, and video-conferencing (or some combination thereof).  During the last week of the first quarter, the district flies everyone to Unalakleet - the village that houses the district office - for 4 days of in-service workshops.  We sleep on the floor of classrooms, eat cafeteria food, use communal bathrooms, and just generally get to know our colleagues a lot better.  It's hard to stay superficial with people you see first thing in the morning.

We were given travel lists the week before, so we knew we were flying out early afternoon on Monday.  That meant we had all of Monday morning to putter around and be generally unproductive in our classrooms.  I got report card comments done, but not much else.  Because we were flying on the district plane (yes, our district has its own plane and pilot), we flew out 30 minutes earlier than planned.  The rest of Monday was pretty standard - claiming an air mattress that would hopefully not leak, attend the mercifully short keynote and welcome (it lasted 20 minutes total - sweet!), and hang out with people we hadn't seen since last year.

The real fun started Tuesday.  We had a few minutes for Team Time in the morning - time for each staff to get together to do whatever we wanted to do.  Tuesday's Team Time was great - the principal wasn't there so we sat around and chatted for half an hour.  After that, we all split up to attend a full-day workshop that we had chosen in advance.  The workshop I went to was supposed to be about integrating the new science materials into the curriculum.  That was not what it was actually about.  It turned out to be about using science journals as a tool for learning.  We got into the new science materials in the last hour, but that hour was spent making sure everyone had access to the online resources.  After considerable confusion, I finally got logged on and found out that the online resources consist of the print resources, online.  Absolutely worthless.  I sound pessimistic about this, but it wasn't all bad.  The workshop description said "integrating the new science materials" and that is what I need help with.  I picked up a couple of ideas about teaching the scientific process and got a couple of book suggestions; it just wasn't what I was expecting or had hoped for. 

There were optional evening activities planned, but I didn't really participate.  The Land Bridge Tollbooth band, all-staff volleyball tournament, and open mic night just didn't sound super-interesting.  I instead did homework - real interesting, I know.  This is week 7 out of 8, which turned out to be one of the more work-heavy weeks of the course. 

Things just continued to get better on Wednesday.  I took some Midol, put a smile on my face, and was determined to make the day a good one.  Team Time was not much more productive than day 1, but we at least had some semblance of a conversation.  The workshop I was signed up for was Smart Board and Technology.  I was actually excited about it.  I have a Smart Board, but I don't really know how to use it to my advantage.  (I can't use it right now because the projector bulb is burned out, but that's a whole different story.)  We spent the first 90 minutes making sure everyone had the software installed correctly.  I had the software installed, but I'm apparently missing some of the "gallery items."  None of the guys leading the workshop could figure out why, but I'm supposed to run an update when I get connected to an internet connection that isn't so overloaded.  We were then given the rest of the day to play around with the software.  Fantastic.  6 hours.  I explored it all in the first hour.  So did most of the rest of the class.  Like I mentioned before, I can't use my Smart Board currently because of projector issues, so I couldn't work on lessons or anything.  After lunch, I think about half the class was on Facebook.  The other half of us were attempting to maintain a facade of actually working, but I know I am not the only one who was updating my School Improvement Plan goals.  The guys leading the conference knew that most of us weren't working, but didn't have anything planned, so it was an informal session of wasted time. 

Thursday was travel day, just like Monday.  We attended 2 shorter workshop sessions in the morning.  The first one I attended was about using theater in the classroom.  It was a lot of fun, not particularly relevant, but fun.  The second was about writing strategies.  I got a couple of ideas about teaching beginning/middle/end, but that's about it.  The keynote and conclusion was mercilessly long.  The keynote speaker started at 11, and went on and on and on about poverty and our students who live in poverty, and I'm still thinking about the implications of what she was saying.  105 minutes later, the district office staff was rushing through door prizes because some flights were scheduled to leave at 1.  They were charter flights, so it's not like they were going to leave without us, but it's not nice to keep the pilots and airline people waiting.  Besides, everyone is anxious to get home by Thursday afternoon, and the district people want to move everyone out as quickly as possible.

Note to planners - having 6 sites load up their stuff, make sandwiches for lunch, load up the trucks and get to the airport all through 1 door in 15 minutes is not going to happen.  Lunch fell by the wayside.  I was on one of those 1:00 flights and ended up grabbing a bag of chips for lunch that I ate after I got home.  Our flight was smooth until the end.  We flew into a cloud bank about the time we started descending.  I was pretty sure we were going to get diverted due to clouds blocking the runway from sight.  So, here we are, descending through thick clouds, and the pilot is looking not at his instruments or out the windshield, but at his flight log and recording whatever it is they are supposed to record.  It was all I could do to trust him to not fly us into the ocean or splash us across the face of a mountain.  He got us down, safe and sound, in a snowstorm.  Within 15 minutes of getting home, the sun was shining brightly, melting the snow that had just fallen.

We whine and gripe and complain about having to travel to Unalakleet, sleep on the floor, eat cafeteria food, and share living conditions, but that's to be expected.  I think "enjoy" is too strong of a word, but I always come home with at least one new idea of a lesson or strategy or something to implement.  I may have attended mostly worthless workshops, but it wasn't a completely wasted week.  Friday's workday was very productive - I hate clutter and mess and disorganization, and I spent a better part of the afternoon cleaning out cupboards and either throwing away or boxing up stuff that I didn't even know I had.  It's all from previous teachers and most of it was outdated and unusable anyway.  The problem isn't completely solved, but I feel much better about the state of my cupboards.  If nothing else, the kids had an entire week off and will (hopefully) come back to school on Monday rested and ready to work. 

Patterns (for lack of a better term)

I am obsessed with patterns and relationships between things and random occurrences in things like numbers, dates, letters, and life.  For example, tomorrow's date is 10-10-10.  It's a Sunday, but oh, how I love it when those days fall on weekdays so that I can point them out to my kids.  December 11th of this year is 12-11-10.  That's a Saturday, so no fun there, either.  As I was getting ready for the school year, I noticed some curious things about my students' names and their initials.

• 3 of the 4 names begin with E.
• Two of my students have the exact same initials.
• Another student has the initials CD.
• One student has the initials E.T.  (I commented on it once and he looked at me as though I had grown another head.  He had never heard of that movie.  Neither had anyone else in the class.) 

Most people don't notice things like this, nor do they particularly care.  I, however, take joy in picking them out and bringing attention to the patterns that I see.

Lead Me

"To lead them with strong hands,
To stand up when they can't.
Don't leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up.

I'll show them I'm willing to fight,
And give them the best of my life,
So we can call this our home.
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone."

This is from the song, Lead Me, by Sanctus Real.  The first time I heard it, the words struck a chord deep within me.  After this summer, it has come to have two different, yet very real, meanings for me. 

I spent one of the break days this summer with the family of a friend.  We were at his sister and brother-in-law's house, enjoying conversation and watching his brother-in-law and nephew set off fireworks.  As I was leaving, his sister gave me a hug and said, "Take care of my baby this week."  (Her son was coming as a camper that coming week.)  I started thinking about that as I began the drive back to camp.  Every child that comes to camp is some mother's baby.  Every child that comes has a mother/father/grandparent/whatever who is releasing that child and saying, "Take care of my baby."  We've been given the awesome privilege of serving, loving, and protecting these "babies" for each week.  But with great privilege comes great responsibility.  We are charged to not only play with them, serve them, love them, but also to protect them - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.  I didn't know my friend's nephew very well, but I know his mom.  I know his dad (who is a big, slightly intimidating man).  I know his uncle.  I know his grandma.  I know how devastating it would be if anything happened to that child, so I will do anything in the world to protect him.  That should be our attitude toward every single one of the kids that comes to camp.  To tie it back to the song, these kids (and their parents/guardians) are calling for us to lead with strong hands, stand up for them against the darkness, show them that we (and God) love them and that we're willing to fight for them.  That was our responsibility, and great privilege, this summer.

It also applies to my students at school.  Just because we don't have them around the clock for a week doesn't lessen the responsibility.  I have 4 of the most precious kids in my class this year.  They are funny, smart, easy-going, have the most unique personalities, and are the cutest little Eskimo kids I've ever seen.  I am entrusted with those little lives for 7 hours every day.  I am called to love them, serve them, teach them, and protect them.  I need to be willing to lead them with strong hands, stand up and advocate for them, show them God's love, and be willing to fight for what's best for them, even when it's not easy. 

That's actually the last chorus of the song.  The first two times through, the chorus is slightly different:
"Lead me with strong hands.
Stand up when I can't.
Don't leave me hungry for love,
Chasing dreams - but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight,
That I'm still the love of your life.
I know we call this our home,
But I still feel alone."

These are the words that first brought me to tears.  One of my desires is to be married and have a family.  I can't believe God would set that desire in my heart and then call me to be single for the rest of my life (Psalm 37:4).  At the rate I'm going, it's going to be a long while before I get married.  I don't know who he is yet, but I want someone who will do this - truly lead with strong hands, stand up for me, fight for me, show me that I am the love of his life, second only to Jesus.  

To Explain. . .

Here's my explanation of the following 12 blog entries: I'm thinking about deleting my MySpace page because I never check it anymore.  Before I do, though, I wanted to salvage my old blog entries.  So, I copy and pasted the ones that are worth salvaging and posted them here.

Annual Field Trip - December 3, 2008

Annual Field Trip

The question I've been pondering all day: Is it wrong that the funnest activity I do with my class all year is also the least educational?  I hope not, because there is no way I could make this field trip educational without stripping it of all fun and excitement.

I took my kids on our annual "Let's Find a Christmas Tree For Our Classroom" field trip today.  As I walked to and from home at lunch, I was thinking, "Dang.  I definitely could have picked a better day."  It was cold, with a biting wind that dropped the wind chill to about 10 below zero.  We were all prepared, though.  I warned the kids yesterday that if they didn't bring the appropriate cold-weather gear today that I was going to leave them at school.  Two kids were absent, so I only had 3 - that's the joy/bummer of only having 5 kids in the class.  If two of them are gone, that's half the class! 

Doris (the first-grade aide) and Rebecca (one-on-one aide for one of my students) and the class and I set out towards Airport road.  It was so fun getting outside and watching the kids have fun.  They were so cute with their rosy-cheeked grins and bubbling laughter.  We actually ended up going down the snow-machine trail that Katie and I skied on last winter.  We had a hard time finding a good tree.  They were all looking pretty scraggly and brown.  We finally found a decent one - actually it was two trees in one.  It was heavy - too heavy for the kids to carry, so Rebecca and I hoisted it up onto our shoulders.  Marvin walked behind me and "helped" us carry it.  He's usually a real handful, but he was so eager to help out today.  I guess he just needs a job to do, a way to feel helpful. 

We only had to carry the bohemeth about halfway.  Paul stopped in his truck and took it the rest of the way to the school.  It was a challenge getting it inside the building - it was a tight squeeze getting it through the door!  Of course, when we did get it inside, the trunk didn't exactly fit into the tree stand.  So, Doris went down to the high school wing and got Bidoo to come help us out.  Bidoo lives in a different village, but has relatives in Elim and is pretty much spending the year here working on carving projects with the older kids (he even did a small carving project with my kids, but that's a whole different story).  Thankfully, he came down with one of the junior high kids and they shaved it down far enough to get it most of the way into the stand. 

I only had 1 string of lights left, because I only have 6 strands of lights: 2 are up in our apartment, two are hanging in the classroom, and 1 strand doesn't exactly light up anymore.  This is about a 3 strand tree.  Hm.  Well, with that string of lights and some decorations from the kids (read: paper snowflakes because that's all they know how to make), I think it'll be a pretty delightful tree. 

(I've added spruce to the ever-growing list of things I'm allergic to, so I have no idea how I'm going to get it outside when the holiday season is over.  Maybe I'll offer it (firewood or whatever) to whoever wants to haul the darn thing out of my room. . .)

In-service and the return of winter - October 25, 2008

In-service and the return of winter
Current mood:  relaxed

Picture this (especially if you work at a school): the district administration says to you, "Report to work early on Tuesday.  Oh, and bring your sleeping bag.  We're flying you 200 miles away where it's 20 degrees colder and snowing.  Weather permitting, we'll bring you back on Friday."  Would that make you a happy camper?  No, probably not.  Can you imagine a school district actually doing that?  Welcome to the annual Bering Strait School District Fall Education Conference.  That's where I spent last week.  Four fun-filled days of workshops, rubbery cafeteria food, communal showers, and sleeping on the floor of a school.  

Our travel wasn't bad this year.  Last year, we were weathered in here and almost didn't make it to Unalakleet.  This year, we were flying with the district pilot (yes, the district has its own plane and pilot) who has a record of safely flying when no one else will and the weather was perfect flying weather.  We were the first staff scheduled for travel, which meant we left at 8:30 Tuesday morning.  Our first encounter with the white stuff came when we landed.  No snow in Elim, but Unalakleet has had snow for the better part of a month.  It actually snowed on and off for the next two days.  Not much else went on that day (because of people traveling in) except the welcome and keynote address.  The keynote was about math, and I don't remember much about it.  He posed a math problem about halfway through his presentation and it stumped me for most of the rest of the week.  If there are 20 students in a class and each student shakes the hand of every other student once, how many handshakes are possible?  Well, the answer is (20x19)/2.  I got the first part, but I still don't understand why you would have to divide by 2 at the end.  I couldn't find anybody (at a conference of teachers) who could explain it to me.  Go figure.  (If any of you math-minded people want to explain it to me, please do.)  Wednesday and Thursday were pretty mundane.  Time to work as a school staff and then breaking out into our longer sessions for the rest of the day.  Those sessions were two days long and we had chosen them in advance.  Mine was about teaching a math curriculum that I'm totally sold on and hopefully will be able to teach starting next year.  Right at the end of the Thursday, the person leading our session presented us with a math problem that had us all stumped.  Pretend you have some cups and they are stacked in a pyramid shape.  Given any number of levels/rows in the pyramid (n), how many cups will be needed?  Now, granted, it was a bunch of kindergarten and first-grade teachers, but nobody could figure it out.  I figured out the pattern, and knew that there had to be some sort of equation there, but couldn't make it work. 

Friday morning, I was eating breakfast, feeling a little sleepy, and the person who had been leading the aforementioned session sat down across from me and asked if I had figured it out yet.  She had gotten that problem from a workshop she had attended over the summer and didn't know the answer either.  We started chatting about it, and the high school math teacher from our school happened to be sitting next to me and overheard our conversation.  She explained the solution to us, and it wasn't an easy answer.  It had something to do with cumulative sums and adding everything before up and just generally not a pretty answer.  There wasn't a simple equation as I had previously assumed.  The pattern I had seen was right, but it was more complex math than I have ever learned.  She attempted to explain the handshaking problem, but I don't know if I'll ever understand that.  I think I'll just go back to drawing pictures as my strategy for problem-solving and be perfectly happy.  That conclusion actually has implications for my own teaching of math.  Students come to the solutions to math problems in different ways.  If I had started out just drawing a picture of the handshaking, I would have been fine, but because the presenter didn't give us very much time to solve and discuss with our neighbors, I had to make the jump straight to an algebraic equation.  Students may not solve the way we want them to, and they may take a lot more time than we anticipate, but they will form their own working understanding of math concepts.  I need to allow that freedom in math to allow these students to explore and solve in a way that makes sense to them.  After they have a basic working understanding, then as a teacher, I can help them refine that understanding and fit it into the larger math picture. 

The rest of Friday was pretty boring, because it was just wrapping up the conference, and schools started flying out after lunch.  As luck would have it, we were the first school in on Tuesday and the last school to leave on Friday.  Ridiculous.  I know that arranging travel for 15 school sites must be a logistical nightmare, and I'm sure they did the best they could, but that made for very long waits for us.  Travel in Alaska is a "hurry up and wait" game anyway, but having to wait for 8 hours gets really boring.  We were flying with the district pilot again, and he is known for being early, so there was some hope that we would get home before the scheduled 8:00.  True to form, the call came at 6:30 and we loaded up and headed for the airport.  Smooth ride home, with the sunset surrounding us, and snow waiting on the ground in Elim (scarcely more than a dusting, but snow nevertheless). 

As much as we griped about it, the week wasn't too bad.  The food left something to be desired, classroom floors are not very comfortable, and I've found that the best time to shower is about 4 in the morning (nobody else is there, hot water, etc.), but it was a change of pace.  It had been a rough first quarter for our staff, and we needed something different.  A chance to get out of our village and do something other than teach.  This October in-service is always a nice break from the standard teaching fare.  Everyone in the district seems to come alive and we get the opportunity to feed off the creativity, enthusiasm and ideas of teachers from other sites.  It's a very well-organized opportunity for collaboration and learning (and refreshment). 

Winter has finally arrived.  No matter how cold it is, I can't convince myself that it is winter until we have snow on the ground.  It wasn't winter when we left Elim on Tuesday, but was definitely winter when we landed in Unalakleet 10 minutes later.  Time to turn up the heat, turn on lots of lights, pull out the heavy parka and start fighting the urge to hibernate :-)

Getting Outside - August 31, 2008

Getting outside
Current mood:  calm

After my horrible Tuesday, the week continued to go downhill.  By the time I left school on Thursday, I was ready to pack up and leave.  I couldn't handle any more ridiculous co-workers or violent kids.  I was done.  The joy of teaching was gone.  I hated having to go to school each day.  I dreaded going to school each day.  I ended up on my knees that night begging God for help, straining to hear His voice through the madness that was raging in my mind.  I didn't hear God's voice that night, but He came through in a big way on Friday.

I was in desperate need of some humor at school on Friday.  I was doing okay, but I wasn't enjoying teaching - just kind of going through the motions, which isn't a whole lot of fun for anybody.  About half way through our reading time, I was sitting beside one of my students and we were reading a book together.  My room is really cold (stupid thermostat) so my students will often pull their arms inside their shirts (like kids do outside on cold days - pull their arms inside their coats and leave the arms hanging).  Wallace was wearing a long sleeve shirt and had pulled his arms in while he was reading.  Halfway through the book he looked at me and said, "I'm stuck."  Nothing big, nothing exciting, just "I'm stuck."  He had crossed his arms inside his shirt and put his arms through the opposite shirt sleeves.  He had somehow gotten his arms all the way through (his hands were coming out the ends).  Then he realized that he couldn't get them out again (his shirt was not overly big).  He was stuck and couldn't move his arms.  I started chuckling as I pulled on his sleeves enough for him to get his arms out and uncrossed.  When he got his shirt on correctly again, he looked at me with this impish grin of his and we both bust out laughing.  Helga (another student) was sitting at the same table reading and had watched the whole thing; she started laughing, too.  Wallace and I chuckled our way through the rest of the book.  All we'd have to do is look at each other and we'd start laughing again.  Right before the end of the day, I was reading the class a book based on the song, "On Top of Spaghetti."  Those of you familiar with that song know that a meatball tree grows at the end.  I asked them if they had ever seen a meatball tree (as a comprehension check).  Wallace said that he had and launched into this story about how he and some other people had been out on a four-wheeler and seen a meatball tree and they went home and got buckets and then went back and picked meatballs off this meatball tree.  He was dead serious about it.  I asked him if he was sure it wasn't an apple tree or berries or something.  No, he was sure it was a meatball tree and they had picked meatballs off it.  It was the funniest story I have ever heard a 6-year-old tell.  I was a little concerned about having him in my class, but he is the funniest kid.  Both of those incidents gave me a much-needed reason to laugh.  Oh, and the kid who had been hitting others (several times a day, every day)?  He didn't hit anyone on Friday.  It was blissful. 

Yesterday, I was enjoying the day off, not thinking about school, wanting to get outside and do something but too lazy to do anything about it.  Anna (one of the teachers) came by and said she was going to have a bonfire at Nex Creek and wanted to know if Katie and I wanted to go along.  I ended up going with her.  The walk was short, 15 or so minutes, and it was beautiful on the beach.  It was right where Nex Creek meets the Bering Sea.  A light breeze kept the bugs (mostly) away, and it was nice just sitting beside a fire, listening to and watching the waves, chatting with someone that I don't get to talk to a lot.  John and Katie showed up on John's four-wheeler some hours later, and then Mark showed up sometime after that when he got done fishing.  It's something I don't do a lot - sitting and talking with other people, especially with the added perk of being out in a beautiful setting, with a small bonfire going.  We didn't leave until after dark (almost midnight).  I love having long days!  I didn't walk back; I hitched a ride on John's four-wheeler.  It was a break from kids, a break from school, a break from being in the village all the time.  God came through again!  (FYI - I have a few pictures that I will post as soon as I find the cord to connect my camera to my computer. . . . I know it's around here somewhere. . . . )

Tuesdays - August 28, 2008

Tuesdays
Current mood:  exhausted

I know some of you read this to hear about my Alaskan adventures.  This has nothing to do with Alaska.  It has everything to do with the awful day I just had (and a theory that I have been developing). 

I have a theory.  Tuesdays are quite possibly the worst days of the week.  Every other day of the week has some sort of redeeming quality, but Tuesday just doesn't.
Monday: There are two ways to look at this one.  On one hand, it gives you something to blame a bad attitude on.  If you're grouchy, you can excuse it by saying, "It's Monday.  Deal with it."  On the other hand, Monday is a chance to start over.  It's a clean slate; a new week to try again.
Tuesday: I'll get back to this one.
Wednesday: My mom always called this one "Hump Day."  Not the most politically correct term, but it works.  This day is halfway through the week.  The weekend is almost in view.  If you can make it through Wednesday, you're pretty much home-free.  As an added bonus, this is the one day a week that I have prep time during the day because my kids go to a bicultural class with a different teacher for part of the afternoon.
Thursday: So close to the weekend.  One can start making weekend plans and not worry about them getting messed up before the weekend actually gets here.
Friday: The unofficial start to the weekend.  Casual day at (most) workplaces.  Making sure the alarm is turned off before going to bed.  For us, Friday is a minimum day for students, so they go home early and we don't have to worry about them.  There are many things to love about Fridays. 
Saturday and Sunday: Sleeping in.  Hanging out.  Not thinking about work for a few hours.  Need I say more?!
Back to Tuesday.  It's a simply horrible day.  There's nothing to blame a bad attitude on.  "It's Tuesday.  Deal with it."  It really just doesn't have the same ring as Monday does.  It's too early to start looking forward to the weekend.  The week stretches long before me. 

Today was especially horrid.  My classroom was about 60 degrees this morning.  That is entirely too cold, but (like an idiot) I forgot to ask the janitor to turn the thermostat up as he came through vacuuming and taking out the trash.  It's set for about 55 degrees, which probably explains the whole problem.  The day went downhill from there.  I had an outside activity planned for math, but there was a frigid wind blowing so we couldn't spend as much time outside as I would have liked (or had planned).  Every time I turned around, somebody was hitting, kicking, or otherwise assaulting someone else.  The kids stopped listening and started talking.  I felt like I was talking to myself and/or talking over people for most of the day.  To add insult to injury, the cold that I thought I had last week, I think is actually just really bad allergies, which means I'm not going to be feeling better any time soon.  My sinuses were under so much pressure today that my entire face hurt.  To sum up: I'm exhausted, my kids went deaf, I'm still really cold, and my face hurts.  Not a redeemable day. 

(Actually there were two redeemable moments, but they quickly got overshadowed by the rest of the day.  The first one was before school.  I was listening to music and trying to get the day planned, while battling a raging sinus headache.  I happened to glance out the window and caught a view of a breathtaking sunrise.  At that moment, Mark Schultz sang, "Remember Me, when the color of a sunset fills the sky."  It gave me a couple seconds of pause remembering God before I remembered that I was actually on a mission to do something (but I couldn't remember what it was).  The second moment was at the beginning of math.  Only one student turned in her math homework and she said, "Of course, I did it.  I love doing my homework!  I love school!  I love to learn!"  The words of a seven-year-old.  The rest of the day was awful.) 

Berry-picking - August 10, 2008

Berry-picking
Current mood:  optimistic

I went berry-picking this afternoon.  Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  The word around the village is that the blueberries aren't all quite ripe yet, but John and I found plenty of them.  This is the same guy that took Katie, Nick, and me fishing on our first day back last year and dumped us all in the Norton Sound.  That was the first thought that flashed through my mind when he asked if I wanted to go with him.  My second thought was how we were going to get the berries to fit into the freezer.  (We haven't quite resolved that issue yet.) 

This is the Alaska that most people don't think about, or know about.  Ask someone to describe Alaska and most will say something relating to the snow, cold, ice, general winter weather.  Today was in the 60's, with a light breeze, sunny skies.  A beautiful day.  Just like fall weather that would happen in September anywhere else.  Yes, it is winter for 7 or 8 months out of the year, but we have gorgeous (if a little bit rainy) springs and autumns, and a short, cool summer.  There's no snow anywhere and I listen to the waves crashing against the beach as I fall asleep at night.  Fields are covered in green grass, berries, and wildflowers.  Most people don't know about this aspect of Alaska and it makes me a little sad.  They're missing out.  It's one of the reasons I keep coming back.  This is a beautiful state, with so much diversity in the landscape.  I don't know if I'll ever tire of it.  I get asked all the time when I'm going to move back to the lower-48 and stop this silly Alaska business.  Not until I get too tired/old/burned out/stupid/hardened to not enjoy a Sunday afternoon picking berries to enjoy all winter. 

There's another aspect of Alaska most people miss out on, but I wouldn't wish it on anybody.  Killer mosquitos.  These are the kind that carry off livestock and small cars.  A true menace.  We were only out for about an hour this afternoon, and bugs were the reason why.  They were swarming around my head, flying into my ears, nose, mouth, any opening they could find.  I didn't get bit too often, a real blessing, but it was annoying to have this buzzing swarm surrounding my head.  I think the bug dope (mosquito repellent) I used was not the best.  Really, I think it could be marketed as a meat tenderizer for those who enjoy getting mosquito bites.  I'm sure there's a hot market for it somewhere in the world.  I'm sure of it. 

I really enjoyed summer, and I keep having to remind myself that I have to go to work tomorrow.  I don't think I'm quite switched out of camp mode and into school mode yet.  At least I don't have to travel to the in-service this year.  The in-service is going to focus specifically on the level of the reading program that I don't teach.  They're only flying in the teachers who deal with that level.  That means I have 6 days to work on my classroom!  I've never had that much time to work in my room!  Maybe I'll actually be ready for the first day of school this year ;-)

Iditarod, Cross-country Skiing, Etc. - March 14, 2008

Iditarod, cross-country skiing, etc.

This week was a week that could only happen in Alaska.  On Monday, the kids were all excited because our boys basketball team capped off a perfect season and became the Regional Boys Basketball Champions, and are going to the state tournament next week (an Elim Eagles first!).  My boys were voluntarily writing about it (they never voluntarily write about anything).  Monday evening, we heard that the Iditarod front-runners had left Koyuk and were due in here around midnight.  For those of you who don’t know, the Iditarod is a 1,100 mile dog-sled race from Anchorage to Nome - the Last Great Race on Earth.  There are various checkpoints along the way that the mushers have to stop at.  Elim is the 4th checkpoint from the end.  At first, I said no way.  There was no way I was staying up that late if I had to teach the next day.  The more Katie (my roommate) and I talked about it, though, the more excited I got.  The next day was the last day before spring break, it was only a half-day, etc.  So, we decided to go.  If you know me, you know that I don’t do late nights very well, and I need my sleep.  I’m definitely more of a morning person.  I dozed on the couch until 11:45 when somebody walked out in the hall and yelled, "He’s 7 miles out!"  We bundled up and walked over to the firehouse and stood for another hour.  Lance Mackey came in first, followed less than 5 minutes later by Jeff King.  It was a close race.  We watched them feed their dogs and do all that dog-care stuff.  We left around 1:45, and went to bed.  About an hour after we left, both mushers were sitting in the firehouse, and Jeff King decided he had time for a quick nap.  Lance Mackey waited until he was snoring away, stood up and announced that he was going to go check his bags.  He never came back in.  He had snuck out and was well on his way to White Mountain.  When Jeff King woke up an hour later, he was furious.  Raging about how nobody woke him up and we were all a bunch of "Mackey fans." 

Tuesday morning came all too early.  I don’t function well on 4 hours of sleep, but it was okay.  I only had 4 students (half of the class), and they were all sleepy because most of them had been up at the firehouse longer than me.  About 9:45, the first-grade aide walked in and said, "There’s a musher down at the checkpoint."  All my kids stopped and looked at me.  "The whole high school just left.  So did Nick and Ida’s classes."  Split second decision: "Okay, kids, get your coats.  We’re going on a field trip."  A cheer went up, we bundled up, and we were off.  It was a short trip, maybe half an hour, but the kids had fun.  I love living in a place where we get to see the Iditarod in action and can go on spur-of-the-moment field trips to see it.  I watched two more mushers heading out across the ice out of the classroom window on Tuesday afternoon (no students: they had an early release for spring break, but we had to work for the afternoon). 

Wednesday and Thursday, Katie and I went out cross-country skiing.  Same trail as before, but it was still fun.  The trail wasn’t as defined or packed, so it was a little bit more of a work-out.  Katie hasn’t made it to the top of the main hill yet (the backside of Baldhead - it’s quite a climb), so we’re going to go back out today to get her up there.  Hopefully the sun will come out -  the world just seems a little bit better when the sun is shining! 

Thursday evening, Rick Holt was on his way in to Elim.  Rick is a rookie musher (first-time running the Iditarod) who worked for the school district for a number of years and taught in Elim 5 or 6 years back.  Half the village showed up to give him a warm Elim "welcome home" and cheer him.  We were lined up with signs and cheering as he came down the hill into town, but as he stopped to check in something wasn’t right: young, clean-shaven, impish grin - nope, definitely not Rick.  Another musher had passed him on the trail and showed up first.  Well, whoever he was, he got a warm welcome!  Rick did eventually show up, and it was a touching moment. 

When Katie and I got back to the apartment, I wanted nothing more than to curl up on the couch with a hot drink and get warm.  I had spent a good part of the past two days outside (in temps hovering around zero), and wanted to just get warm again.  March is definitely a winter month up here!

Why? - February 18, 2008

Why? Why would I willingly live such an insane place?  That's what I was asking myself this morning as I (finally) got to school.  I started out the door this morning at 6:45, as usual.  To get to the main door, we have to go out our apartment door into the hall, go out an inside door, around a corner, down some stairs, and then out the main door.  (It's the old elementary school - there are a lot of doors.)  I went out the inside door, around the corner, and saw the main door standing wide open with snow blown in up to the third step.  A bad harbinger of things to come.  But I just figured that the last person in last night didn't shut it too tightly.  I walked out the door and turned towards the road, and that's when I saw the huge drifts piled up across the road.  Huge drifts.  The wind really blew hard this weekend.  Oh, man.  I got about halfway across the first drift when I gave up.  I was sinking in soft snow up to my waist, and that's not an exaggeration.  I was never going to make it to the school at that rate, so I turned around the headed back inside.  I changed into dry pants and put my snowpants on.  As I faced the drift once more, I thought, "There has got to be an easier way to get to school."  I went down and around on the road, away from the school, and followed a snowmachine trail across the basketball court that wasn't quite obliterated by the wind, praying all the while that I wouldn't fall through the snow.  That led me to the road closest to the school.  I followed it around towards the front door.  And that's when I saw the huge drifts piled up in front of the school door, drifts as big, or bigger, than the ones across the road.  I stopped dead in my tracks and said (out loud), "You've got to be kidding me."  I turned around (again) and walked back the direction I came, and followed the road all the way around behind the school and went through the cafeteria door on the opposite side.  It was somewhat sheltered from the wind, so the snow wasn't drifted as bad back there.  I clocked in a couple of minutes before 7.  Why? I got an answer to my question after school.  Most of my students go to the after-school homework club sponsored by the Boys and Girls Club.  The coordinator comes up to the school and helps kids with their homework for an hour after school every day.  One of my boys walked into my classroom about 15 minutes after school got out with the Curious George book he had just checked out from the library open to a page in the middle.  He had a big grin on his face and was obviously pretty excited about what he had found in this book (and pretty proud of himself).  He turned the book around and said, "Look."  It was a picture of Mount Rushmore.  We've been studying symbols and national monuments in social studies, and we haven't gotten to Mount Rushmore yet, but a picture of it is up in my room.  He didn't even know the name of the monument yet, but he recognized the picture, made the connection, and came to show me.  I was so proud of him.  That's why I teach.  That's why I live in such an isolated, insane place.  He caught a glimpse of the bigger outside world today, and recognized it as such.  Most of the time, I'm convinced that what I say goes in one ear and out the other, that they're not paying attention.  But they're starting to make connections, starting to think, and that makes it all worth it.

Jumping Off a Cliff - January 28, 2008

Jumping off a cliff. . .
Current mood:  drained

This afternoon I jumped off a cliff.  Well, more like slid down the side.  Kind of.  Maybe I should explain.

After school today, Amanda (one of my students) asked me if I wanted to go sliding.  It had been snowing hard for two days straight, and there was a good two feet of fresh snow on the ground.  I was sinking in up past my knees just trying to get to school this morning.  I have never been in snow that deep.  Sliding is their term for sledding.  She said she wanted me to go sliding down the "banks."  The "banks" are the cliffs right outside teacher housing.  The kids slide down the cliff on their rear ends and then climb back up.  I told her that I would watch her do it, but there was no way I was doing it myself.  When we got to my door, she gave me a sad puppy dog look and asked me to at least put on my snowpants to watch her.  I was doomed from that point on.  She kept telling me how fun it was and how other teachers had done it and so on and so forth.  How could I resist?

We got to the edge of the cliff and I told her that if she went down first and climbed back up, then I might try it.  I wanted reassurance that I wasn't going to break my neck or be stranded at the bottom of the cliff.  As I told her, I've never slid down a hill on my rear end, let alone the edge of a cliff.  She slid down and successfully climbed back up.  About that time, 3 of the older boys (4th and 5th graders) showed up and slid down ahead of me.  I bit the bullet and slid.  Down the side of a cliff covered in a sheet of ice.  All that sliding had uncovered the ice that was there before all the recent snow. 

Now all that remained was to climb back up.  The hard part.  Apparently my extra body weight made a world of difference in how easy it was to climb.  I couldn't get a foothold and kept sliding back down, mainly because of the recently exposed ice.  I tried several different routes up the cliff and couldn't do it.  By that time, the older boys had been up and down the cliff several times, and I was none too happy with Amanda.  Eventually I did make it up, obviously, but it was with the serious help of those 4th and 5th grade boys.  When I had recovered my breath, one of the boys said, "Can we have hot chocolate?  I joke."  To which I replied, "Yeah, sure.  Why not?"  So, the three boys and Amanda came over for hot chocolate.  After all, they did help me back up - I don't know how I would have done it without them.  I had to repay them somehow and since they were content with hot chocolate and marshmallows. . . .

Moral of the story:  When an 8-year-old asks you to go sliding down a cliff, just say no.  (Seems simplistic, but I've always been a slow learner!)

Our Field Trip - December 6, 2007

Our Field Trip
Current mood:  relieved

The long-awaited day finally arrived.  Ida and I have been planning this field trip since before Thanksgiving.  Originally, it was just going to be my class going to find a Christmas tree for our classroom, but I told Ida (2nd-3rd grade teacher)about it and she said she wanted to bring her class.  Ever since I told my kids about it on Monday, it's all they've talked about.  "When are we going to get our tree?"  "We're going to get a tree?"  "We get our tree today, right?"  Both Ida and I stressed that they all needed to bring their warm clothes, because it's been so cold lately.  Even yesterday, when it started snowing, it didn't warm up very much.  The wind blew 30 mph all last night, and I was afraid it was going to blow all day today.  (It didn't, praise God for that!  It's blowing really hard again now!)  As they came in this morning, I made sure they had snow pants, coats, boots, hats, gloves, everything.  I didn't want anyone getting cold. 

So, when it was about time to leave, we all got our cold weather gear on and set out.  It was so cool watching the kids run.  They were so excited!  I have some of Ida's kids for different subjects during the day, and I knew they were just as excited as my little kids.  They were rolling in the snowbanks and throwing snow at each other as they walked.  Doris (my classroom aide) was leading the way, I was somewhere in the middle, and Ida and Tracy (Ida's classroom aide) were bringing up the rear.  Somewhere along the way, we acquired 3 or 4 pre-school age little ones who were out playing and decided they wanted to join us.  I'm not entirely sure where we went, but it was somewhere out past the airport.  Most of the kids were fine tramping through the woods, but I could tell a couple of them were getting tired after about 20 minutes of slogging through snowy trails.  That's why I was relieved when Doris and about half my class announced they'd found a great tree.  The rest of us agreed, and Doris cut it down.  Ida decided to take her class a little farther to find their tree, so we parted ways.  About this time, my kids started to peel off layers of clothing.  See, by some freak accident of nature, today was about 35 degrees.  We were all sweating by the time we got back to the school. 

Doris set the tree up and I started to make cups of hot chocolate (Ida and I had really been planning this).  Ida's class got back right at the end of the school day, but after my class all had their drinks, and we'd only had 2 major spills.  Well, then Nick's (4th and 5th grade) class came in.  They had gone for a Christmas tree, too, but had gone someplace else separately from the "little kids."  They heard about the hot chocolate and came in asking if they could have some.  I told them they could only if they sat down and stopped yelling.  At that point, I had about 30 kids under the age of 12 in my room.  It was a little crazy there for awhile, because I could only make hot chocolate so fast.  At one point, Ida had them singing "Silent Night" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas."  I had kids in and out of my room for a good hour after school got out.  It was crazy, but in a good way.  I love getting my kids out of the classroom and doing something active, even if it has no academic value.  A majority of my class (and Ida's class, too) consists of boys and boys just need to run, throw themselves down snowy hills, and dive into snowbanks once in a while. 

Traveling in the Frozen North - October 25, 2007

Traveling in the Frozen North
Current mood:  relieved

It had to be this week.  Of all the weeks it could be winter weather-ish, it had to be this one.  All the staff from the school district flew to Unalakleet, where the district office is located, for a week-long in-service.  We were told that the first plane from Elim was leaving at noon on Monday, the second at 12:30, and the district plane was coming for the last 4 staff members at 2.  Yes, our district has it's own plane and pilot - how cool is that?!  Around 10, Dianna wandered into my classroom and said, "Did you hear that your flight is on hold?  Nobody's flying this morning."  We had ice-fog forming in the Sound and Nome was experiencing a snowstorm that was heading our direction.  So noon came and went with no flight, but good news that the planes were flying and would be taking off shortly.  At 1 came the announcement that the plane was 18 minutes out.  We loaded the school truck and got all our stuff and people up to the airport (it took 2 trips).  We're standing there watching the ice-fog roll inland off the water and wondering where the plane is.  We don't see it, we don't hear it, nothing.  Abel got on the radio in the truck and called Marlin, the airline agent, to ask how far out our flight was.  Marlin told us that ice was building on the plane wings and the pilot had turned back.  So, we re-loaded the truck and went back to the school.  It was like a rehearsal for the real thing.  So, then came the news that the district plane was on its way and would be there at 2, as scheduled.  Doug, the district pilot, will fly when no one else will.  He is so comfortable with his plane and knows what he can and can't do - he frequently is out on district business in snowstorms, high winds, things other pilots wouldn't dare fly in.  He's amazing.  Doug landed and took 5 staff members with him.  The rest of us were left to play the waiting game.  Dianna was on the phone with the travel person from the district office and the airline agent the rest of the afternoon.  At 3:30, she told me to go wait at home.  So then we were all sitting at home wondering when we were going to leave.  The ice-fog was so thick that it was like white-out conditions in the village.  Around 5:30, Dianna came next door and said to get comfortable and make dinner, because we most likely weren't going to get out until the next morning.  6:00 - Dianna yells into the hall, "12 minutes"  The general response was, "You've got to be kidding me."  One of Hageland's pilots was on his way and was 12 minutes out from Elim.  As we walked out the door, we realized it was snowing hard.  This time we actually got out, and the flight wasn't too bad.  We were only 7 hours late.  It's a good thing nothing big is planned for the first day - we missed the welcome and the keynote address, but none of us were super-bummed about that. 

The rest of the conference was great - of the 4 I've experienced, this one was the best.  The sessions I attended were incredible.  District technology was explained in layman's terms and we had time to play around with it and get comfortable with it.  I got ideas for learning games to make for my classroom -  and then had 5 hours to make them.  I have games ready for use on Monday.  I think it was the most productive day I've had in awhile - and coloring, cutting, and gluing is surprisingly relaxing.  The guinea pigs in the classroom we were sleeping in were a problem - my allergies were so bad I was having trouble breathing by Tuesday morning.  (It's all held in the Unalakleet school - we sleep in the classrooms, attend sessions in those same classrooms, eat in the cafeteria, etc.)

Our flight back was pretty interesting, as well.  We weren't scheduled to leave until 4:30, which meant we were some of the last people there.  At 4, we loaded up and headed for the airport, unloaded when we got there, and then wondered why we were there so early - it wasn't anywhere near 4:30.  The wind was brutally cold and blowing hard.  We sat inside the Hageland Aviation building with about 30 other people for almost an hour before our flight finally took off.  Half of us were on one plane and half on another, with 2 people coming in later on the district plane.  Our plane left first.  It was pretty bumpy taking off, but once the pilot got up in the clouds, it was really pretty smooth.  What was bad was the landing.  We started descending and when we get below the clouds, we were as low as I've ever flown.  The water was right there below us.  No one could really tell where we were because we couldn't see very far in any direction.  Then we saw the runway and watched it out the window as the pilot flew right by it.  He flew out aways and then turned the plane so that we were landing with or against the wind (whichever one is better - I don't know).  He cranked it around hard.  At one point, the plane wings were perpendicular to the water.  We were bouncing all over the place in the wind and not very far above the water.  I was light-headed and not sure we were going to make it down in one piece.  I trusted the pilot; he obviously wouldn't try to land in those conditions unless he was absolutely certain he knew what he was doing, but it made me a little nervous.  We made it down safely (obviously) and rode in the truck back to teacher housing in the heavily falling snow.  I'm not sure the other plane made it back.  For starters, they were in a single prop plane, meaning they had to stay within coasting distance of land (in case the engine failed) - that doubles the flight time.  We were in a double prop plane so we could do it in a straight shot across the Sound.  The pilot they had has had her license less than a year - she wouldn't try to land in those conditions - she most likely turned around and headed back to Unalakleet.  I haven't heard any planes since we got here.  I would bet they come in late tonight on the district plane after Doug finishes taking everyone else to their sites.  That would be my guess.  I'm really just glad to be home, have both feet firmly on the ground, and sleep in my own bed tonight (sleeping on the floor in a classroom leaves much to be desired). 

It was an experience - September 3, 2007

It was an experience 

 

That's right - I'm not even calling this one an adventure.  It was an experience.  Last week, Dianna (one of the teachers) asked if Katie and I wanted to join her, Nick, and Anna on the "traditional," 2nd annual, Labor Day hike to the hot springs.  She said it was 10-11 miles, over 3 mountains, and across a creek.  Well, neither Katie nor I had ever been backpacking before, but it didn't seem too bad, right?  As it turns out, it was closer to 12 miles, over 3 ginormous mountains, and across 2 rivers, with a 20 pound backpack.  We left Friday after school, and were racing the sun the entire way.  Beautiful scenery, and I enjoyed it until I saw the sun start to set.  I didn't want to get stuck out in the dark.  I had a flashlight, but it gets really dark.  By the time I got to the top of the last little hill, and could see the river, I was so ready to the done. I could see two trails that headed in that general direction, and I think I ended up on the longer, harder one.  I was sliding down a hill, walking along a creek bed at one point - pretty much bush-whacking my way across the tundra.  It took me about 6 hours, and I was at least a half an hour behind the two who were leading, and I wasn't the last one, either.  I crossed the last river in shorts and my "alligator" rubber boots.  It was pretty deep in places, and fast-moving.  The hot springs was incredible.  It wasn't super-hot, but it definitely felt good after 12 miles of  hiking.  There's a little survival cabin that had bunks and a little wood stove.  The plywood planks didn't lend themselves to a good night's sleep, but it was better than the ground.  Between the five of us, we polished off 3 pounds of dried apricots, 4 pounds of trail mix, and numerous granola bars on Saturday.  It was pretty incredible. 

The hike back on Sunday was pure torture.  I made it almost up the first mountain before I ran out of energy.  After crossing the second river, I stopped and duct-taped my heels and toes for extra protection from blisters.  It didn't do any good.  Anna and I walked most of the way back together.  It was much more pleasant to have someone to talk to, rather than myself and the bushes.  About the time we reached the halfway point, it started to rain.  Hard.  So, there we are, walking up a mountain, above the tree line (no shelter at all), in a torrential downpour.  My jeans were already rolled up to the knees (they got wet crossing the second river and I didn't feel like rolling them back down), my rain coat was doing me absolutely no good, and I was glad my camera (I've had it less than a week) was in my pocket and not still strapped to the outside of my backpack (it has not been a good year for cameras and water).  It was still torrentially downpouring when we started down the other side, but had lessened to a drizzle by the time we got to the bottom and started up the last mountain.  The last couple of miles seemed to last forever.  I gave up trying to walk around the mud puddles.  My shoes were already sopping wet; a little bit more mud and water wasn't going to hurt them at all.  Anna actually took her shoes off and walked through the puddles barefoot.  I have never been so glad to see home, although peeling duct-tape off my bloody heels and toes was no fun.  I'm sitting here chuckling to myself about it now, but it really didn't seem funny at the time.  God got us all back safe and free from serious injury, though, which is definitely something to be thankful for. 

A Fishing Adventure - August 17, 2007

A Fishing Adventure

John (one of the teachers up here) just bought a new 4-wheeler and he's pretty excited about it. He and Nick (another teacher) decided that they wanted to go fishing after church last Sunday. They invited Katie (another teacher) and I to go with them. Well, we thought that sounded like a good idea, so we borrowed poles and joined them. I actually caught my first fish ever. . . . but we have no proof. See, the boys had talked to someone who told them about some tables to clean fish on and a place to cross the creek. We loaded our fish into a big tub and went in search of the tables. We found the tables, but John must have misunderstood where to cross the creek. We were at the mouth of the creek, where it meets the Norton Sound. As we started across, I felt the 4-wheeler shift and thought, "Oh no," and then we all went in the water. So, there we are, chest-deep in the Norton Sound, trying to keep this 4-wheeler from tipping over, because it's half-balanced on a sandbar. My camera? In my pocket. Nick's camera? In his pocket? Our fish? Floating away.

Luckily for us, there were a couple of guys fishing just up the creek who saw what happened, and came to help us out. They pulled the 4-wheeler out of the water and then towed us back to the village because John couldn't get his machine to work.

My camera doesn't work anymore; neither does Nick's. The 4-wheeler is fine. John, Katie, and I took it out berry-picking last night. The fish? Well, the same guys who helped us out, found the fish washed up about a mile down the shore and returned it to John. We're pretty lucky. No one got hurt, the 4-wheeler still runs, we got our fish back, etc. So many more things could have gone so very wrong. It was quite the adventure. . . . and we can laugh about it now!  That's why I love living in Alaska!

To Lucky Peak and Back

Last week, my sister and I rode our bikes along the Greenbelt to Lucky Peak Reservoir and back.  That's a 36 mile round trip.  We've been planning/dreaming about this since last summer.  It wasn't as ridiculous as I thought it would be.

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the parking lot before we started.

The side of Lucky Peak Dam says, "Keep your forests green."  The reservoir is on the other side.  This is where the Greenbelt pretty much ends.

The Greenbelt pretty much ends at Sandy Point, which is a whale-shaped swimming area at the base of the dam.  There is a fountain that serves as the whale's eye.

This is Vicki's "angry face" about having to get back on her very uncomfortable bike seat for the ride back.

The giraffes were out at the zoo on the ride back. :-)