Hello again! It certainly been awhile since I have written! It has been so hectically busy with planning, learning and still living in my principal's house with all of the other new teachers.
First off: School has been challenging me in ways I never thought it would. The students, their behavior, organization, district hoo-plah, long distance, singularity, developing relationships, planning planning planning planning, oh and planning?
The first two full weeks of school were hectic and crazy. My Schedule is still changing, my house still isn't done and the light grows shorter ever day.
There has been two deaths in the village and we close school early when these happen, for the funeral. Their death-customs are quite unique. They actually lay the body in the families house [not embalmed] , while people come by and visit from all the different villages.
I have been invited to steam and I am waiting for the call to go! (google it if you don't know what it is)
Randy took Steph, his son Carter and myself on a little trip into the Tundra!
Carter being Co-pilot!
Tundra Cotton!
Tundra Mushies!
Low Bush Cranberries!
Inlet to 'Pissed off Lake'
Not grass, but moss. And its squishy!
(Nearly devoured up to my knee)
The Boat
Flat for dayyyyz.
Those views that just could never get old.
Labor day weekend has come and gone which means that MY PARENTS VISITED!!!
Thursday afternoon, before labor day weekend, my parents arrived in Napakiak. People said they were going to pick them up from the "airport" but no one went! So they walked to the school and arrived sometime between my Gym class and History. I was stoked to see them! We had dinner that night with Randy/Trish at their house.
Then they came to the school for our Friday-half day. It was nice that someone had the opportunity to see what goes on, day in and day out.
Friday night we left for Bethel, had real food, and then to Anchorage! Upon arriving at our hotel Dad and I walked quite a distance to the gas station... because, naturally, I was "thirsty". Saturday morning we lackadaisically got a moving and got a car, to head towards Seward.
First Stop on the Road!
Mom and Dad!
Ghost forrest
The view for lunch
Exit Glacier!
Mom and Dad hiking on the river bed at Exit Glacier
REAL LIVE MOOSE!
Seward: Gulf of Alaska
My Loft bed (4ft clearance)
Seward Harbor sunrise, boarding the Fjord tour
Just Beautiful!
Orca! (Killer Whales)
Breach!
Volcano!
Just kidding its just the clouds!
Ice floating! Beautiful Green water!
Glacier!
The color of the glacier has to do with the amount of pressure that is at each point. The more pressure then the more compact the ice is which doesn't allow the entering light to scatter as much so it appears to be blue. Some glaciers move as fast as your finger nails grow, and others move inches of several hundreds of years.
Calving!
Calving is when chunks of the glacier falls off and into the water. The sound is absolutely surreal. It can be almost deafening. It sounds as powerful as thunder.
Dad and I at the Glacier!
Little sail boat between the pass!
Sea Lions.
Saw a young Peregrine Falcon dive bomb a hoard of gulls and they exploded into a defensive frenzy.
Bait Ball
This is a school of fish that has been rounded up by diving birds (Alcids), which provides an more precise area for other birds to snatch a fish up. The Whales will hunt for these 'bait balls'
As close as I could get to a humpback! About 30ft. long, majestic, beautiful.
A Puffin!
District Wide inservice:
After arriving back in Bethel on Monday (Labor day). This upcoming week was the LKSD DWIS, and since educators since the dawn of formal education have become efficient and we acronym-ize everything. The Lower Kuskokwim School District District Wide In Service. It has been 4 days of seminars and meetings. I'll admit I thought at first it was going to be one of these weeks that I had to buy eye-stilts to at least keep up the appearance that my brain was focused on the seminars. HOWEVER, it has been very worth while. They presented a lot of food for thought.
It has been a great week in Bethel, but I am ready to go back and keep working on class room and begin planning and putting some of my new ideas to practice.
If you care to google somethings I would highly recommend looking up Hands on Equations and also Seward, Alaska.
Final Note: The tile for my house is at the village! Hopefully I will be moving into my house this weekend! I will try and update later on this week with somethings that I am planning on implementing with my classes. Oh, and I'll be rearranging somethings as well (again). I will be returning to Bethel for another inservice two weeks from today!
No comments:
Post a Comment