Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Heading to Anchorage for a Training



Young friends and students at the XC meet.... and high schoolers dancing at Pep Assembly

I just realized that it has been a couple of weeks since I posted so here I am. I don't have too many photos to post, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts. The last couple of weeks have flown by as I expect the following will as well. I have a great group of students and they seem to be following our classroom routine smoothly. Last week I was sick and stayed home for a day and when I went to school in the evening to see how their day was and to grade papers I was greeted by a stack of notes from my kiddos! This is one of the reasons being a teacher makes me smile (: I am feeling better now and school events are hitting us left and right. XC Running is a HUGE sport here and we hosted one of the meets last weekend as well as a school dance. Some of the teens thought it was a bit lame to see all of the new teachers dancing... but WE had fun! I did feel like an old lady by midnight and nearly turned into a pumpkin! lol


The Chaperones (:

... I guess you can see why some of the teens might have thought we were a little uncool... *smiles*... I have signed up to assist with the K-2 Battle of the Books program at our school... this was something that I was a part of in elementary and really enjoyed since I was a bookworm and I am a huge advocate for providing and supporting literacy programs... along with that I will be working with the ANE grant to provide an opportunity for kiddos ages 3 through second grade to participate in Literacy Nights at the school where we will read themed books and have hands-on activities... and last but not least I am heading to Anchorage to get trained to be the Tobacco Cessation Support Specialist at the school... basically, I will be providing supportive activities once a month for students, co-workers and community members to assist them with quitting tobacco! ... As far as my living situation goes my roomie and I don't see as much of each other these days due to me being in the elementary wing and her in the high school wing... though we get together on the weekends for fun times (rounds of "spoons", 10,000, scary movie night, girls' night, boating, etc)... we do have a very naked house... our living room needs something to make it more homey... I think I will invest in some curtains while in Anchorage and maybe some scented candles... and I still haven't really learned how to cook... but I CAN finally make those boxed brownies from Costco without burning them! And I might add that they make a great treat to bring to potlucks, friends' houses, and just a nice treat when in need of chocolate! Next month I will be celebrating my birthday (and I am BIG on celebrating my birthday... I get it from my Mama *smiles*) so we have decided to host an '80's- themed party... mostly because we like the music (; I don't think there will actually be much dancing, but it is always great when you get a bunch of teachers together! Anyhoo, I am off to bed as I have to complete some formal assessments over the next couple of days. Thanks for checking in!


Some of my terrific students at the Pep Assembly.... my awesome aide, Priscilla

Saturday, September 6, 2008

More Pics... and a video!













Early Dismissal for "Cultural Day" .. Old Chevak and Seal Hunting


This is "Boyfriend".. he is just the cutest lil guy and it is going to be so neat to watch him grow up while I am here... I told his parents that he is my lil buddy while I am missing my nephew (Henry)... Kendall aka "Boyfriend" just turned one on my mom's bday (aug 7).

On Friday we had early dismissal so that the entire staff could go to Old Chevak and to seal hunt for a Cultural Day!

Emily and I in the old church in Old Chevak. It is amazing to me how well preserved this lil building is considering it's age, use, and the fact that no one stays there to monitor it! Many travelers pull-over here to spend the night if there is bad weather on the river.

John Pingayak's boat caught this seal which all 6-8 of the boats were shooting at all at once!

Chris, my roomie, shooting at the seal (or something lol) with a handgun! I moved to the back of the boat... (: