Oh You Better Watch Out....

Something I've learned to do much better than last year?  Roll with the punches.  Or better yet go with the flow.  Not only is this week the last week of school before Christmas break... but we've had a death of an elder recently, many absences, and changes to the school day schedule.

My kids giggled at me because I had a bit of flour on my nose when we were rolling out our cookies.

Our Christmas plans were as follows...

Wednesday:  Gift Exchange and Cookies
On Wednesday a half hour before school ended Miss Wilson hustled back to her house (which happens to be less than 30 yards away) and brought over gingerbread cookie mix, cookie cutters, and boxes of presents.  When my class began to realize we were doing something out of the ordinary their eyes lit up.  We cut out gingerbread men, stars, hearts, and even reindeer.  After that we read How the Grinch Stole Christmas and they played Grinchical Chairs, an idea I got from Pinterest.  They then got open presents that were donated to my classroom by amazing family friends.


Thursday:  Polar Express Day
Thursday was supposed to be a crazy day anyway, because our school was putting on a Christmas program.  Unfortunately there was an elder who passed away recently, causing our school to get out early for the funeral which changed my Friday plans of having an all day Polar Express party.  So, Miss Wilson pulled on her big girl pants and got over the frustration of changing plans.  My class got to watch the Polar Express, drink hot cocoa, and eat the gingerbread cookies we made from the day before.

Friday:  Christmas Program

Today, was a crazy and fun day that reaffirms why I am a teacher.  I stopped all the students in the hallway and told them I'd gotten tickets in the mail for the Polar Express.  They had to write their names and dates, and then MOST IMPORTANTLY put the ticket in their right hand pocket of their coats.  Then the day went by with the finishing up our Polar Express movie, learning about new holidays such as Kwanza, Hannakuh, and New Years thanks to Brainpop Jr.  Between all of this we put on our Christmas play, which was a readers' theater of the Snowmen at Christmas  We went to lunch and Santa came in and traded out our tickets for bells for "those who truly believe".  I am not sure who created the tickets and tags, but I'm sure I found them on Pinterest somewhere.

Home FREE
 It's officially the end of the semester and the year for me.  See you all sometime over break with an update on how my Indiana Christmas goes.

Let Them Be Little

My original intention with this post was to write about the Christmas season here in my village, but instead I will take a few moments for more important matters.  In light of the tragedy that happened in Connecticut on Friday, I have been reminded how precious life is.  I have been reminded how important my job is with these children. Faced with the decision that some brave men and women faced to save their classes of children, I would have done the same thing.  Because God gave me this job to serve, love, and protect. the little ones and I'd do EVERYTHING in my power to see that it happens.  So with that I will post this song... for parents and teacher alike who love and pray for the innocence of children. 

Here's to Us....

I have the best friends in the world.  Not just in my home state Indiana... (Shout out to Shelly, Rachel, Nate, and the many others that make my life all the more pleasant when I come home.) But seriously... I have amazing friends here in Alaska.  Amazing friends.  I was blessed to spend a 4 day Thanksgiving break in a beautiful ski lodge at the base of a gorgeous mountain with my group of 4 boys and 3 new faces to the crew.  Here's a very short version of my Thanksgiving break.


Wednesday:
The hours in my day have not crept more slowly than it did that day.  It might have been the craziness that 3rd graders exude on a daily basis.  But really,  I'm going to blame it on the excitement I'd been building up in my head for weeks before.  Made it to the airport with my Atmautluak brother Eli, dropped off just in time for his flight to leave for Anchorage.  Due to booking my flight a month later than the rest of the group I was forced to wait another 2 hours in another airport.  Thankfully I met up with fellow 2nd year teachers and was placed next to a very nice 5th year teacher on the plane.  Made it into Anchorage without a hitch and was picked up by half of the group in our rental car.  They were super excited about the trip too.  After a much needed stop for refreshments we went to Walmart.  SIDE NOTE:  Holy cow!  If you've never shopped for Thanksgiving the day before, I don't reccommend it.  Craziness ensued, but goodness prevailed and we made it out of the store to pick up McDonald's delicious fries.  The car counted down the minutes until it was my birthday and "forgot" something at Walmart.  2 of the guys ran back into the store making me wait in the car.  20 mins later a piñata, birthday cake, and 2 giant helium balloon were shoved onto my lap.  Have I mentioned how much I love these guys.  The rest of the night was spent celebrating the beginning of an eventful weekend!


Thursday:

The day was full of games, laughs, and turkey.  There was even a little time for a few photos and cake to be had for my 24th birthday.  Feeling quite old writing that number, so please don't rub it in.

Friday:  BLACK FRIDAY!!! 

If anyone knows me, they know I have a love for shopping.  Not necessarily the buying part, but the scavenging and fun of making new outfits or getting gifts.  This year I had another lady friend to share this experience with.  We made a killing in several stores doing much of my needed Christmas shopping.  We ended the night with delicious food at a local pub and goofing off back at the house.



Saturday:  SKI DAY!  I think I spent more time on my butt than I did on the skis, but boy did I have a good time.   I will definitely be doing that again some time in the future. Here are some great shots of the day.  We ended the weekend with a nice dinner at the ski resort.  Have I mentioned how much I love my group of friends?

Sunday:
Spent 6 hours at the airport due to a "lost/broken/problematic" plane.  For once... my delay wasn't weather related.  Oh well, I got a chance to enjoy more fountain Diet Coke, buy some airport gifts for family and friends, and even got airline miles because of the "inconvenience".

Now... there's only 11 days standing between me and home.  I'm off to listen to Christmas songs with my class and help them decorate the classroom for next week's festivities.  Look out for a Christmas post soon about the classroom.

It's Turkey Lurkey Time....

My thanksgiving update is much delayed but was so great it must be done in 2 separate posts!  Here's how things went at school...

Thanksgiving at School
If you read my blog last year you know that Thanksgiving out at the bush is not the same as it is back home.  Here's my list of 5 things that make it different.  Hope you enjoy.

1.  Teaching your kids about the pilgrims isn't as far fetched as it is out here.  But we put on our big girl pants and taught it anyway.  Maybe next year I'll have them do a reader's theatre complete with pilgrim hats and feathers....
Back home you probably don't have an entire community coming to your school the day before expecting a feast.  The teachers are given a turkey to thaw and cook the day before.  Doesn't mine look tasty?



 2.  How do you teach thankfulness?!!  I know!  Scour the internet and find an awesome mini writing unit where students pick a person, place, and thing they are thankful for.  Have them write a paragraph for each and then color an awesome turkey doodle.

3.   How do you teach How-to-Writing?  Have kids disguise a turkey and write a paragraph about those steps.  Post said disguised turkeys on the gym wall during the Thanksgiving feast.

4.  Remember how much you have to be thankful for.  I am thankful for a classroom full of books, technology, and most importantly kids.  12 kiddos that make me remember why I became a teacher.  I am thankful for my family and friends.  I am thankful for awesome care-packages that make my entire week when I get them.  In the last one I received 2 cute aprons and an outfit for my birthday!  Thanks Ridgway family. ;)

Half of my heart....

Thank you The Blogger First Grade Parade! 

With Election 2012 being such a big current event I wanted to do something to make it more relatable for my class.  I had them watching videos and reading articles about the real candidates but it wasn't nearly as engaging or applicable for us out here in rural Alaska. So I found the awesome Pint-Sized Presidential Fun Math Literacy Mini Unit to help bring it to my kids level.  They loved the books.  They loved the reading response activities.  They ADORED the election activity!  I took some great shots of what my kids created and the final results.

In other news, there is a national holiday coming up.  It's almost my birthday!  Oh and Thanksgiving too.  :)  What is on my schedule for Thanksgiving break this year?  Well, start with the crew of friends from last year, add 3 new teachers to the mix, and blend them all together in an Aliaska ski lodge.  That's right, yours truly will be spending the holiday break with non-other than awesome teacher friends and maybe even some winter sports.

Finally, the countdown has definitely begun!  As of tomorrow, I will be "Back Home in Indiana" 39 days!  Yes I did just make a reference to my state song.  I know I'm lame don't rub it in....  Anyways, I'm excited that time has flown by this year.  It's incredibly difficult to spend so much time away from friends, away from family, and away from... you guessed it, Nate!  

 

I Put A Spell On You... and Now You're MINE!!

Happy All Souls Day!

Here's my rendition of how Halloween went in 5 words.

1. Sneaky:  I could hardly believe how fast the holiday snuck up on me!  I was prepared costume wise a month in advance, but... I didn't stock up on candy or plans.  That made for a kind of busy weekend for me. 
2. Sugary:  Halloween in an elementary classroom= massive sugar rushes and crashes.  The kids love you for bringing them sweets but tend to have stomach aches for days after.  I missing one today due to this!
3. Frustrating:  I planned fun events but wasn't able to get to them due to behavior issues or just plain timing.  That frustrates me to no end because I truly love celebrating holidays with my kids.
4. Rewarding:  There's nothing like dressing up in costume as a teacher and becoming a mini celebrity.  All day long I had K-12 grade students coming up and complimenting me or just plain staring and hugging!
5. Fun:  I love sharing Halloween traditions with my kids.  We watched "Are You Afraid of the Dark", "Goosebumps", and even "Hocus Pocus"!

We played Wrap the Mummy!

My single solitary boy in class...

Look how well this group was working together

This game went better than I originally thought.  I'm always nervous introducing my students to new games that they've never tried.  As a teacher there's many times where things can flop and cause issues that you don't want in the classroom.  On the brightside... this was not one of those games.  The kids enjoyed the goofiness of the game and were learning how to work together.  Always an important life skill if you ask me.

Minnie Mouse and Sheldon from Big Bang Theory (NOTE the Sheldon Joker smile)

Life's No Fun Without A Good Scare...

YAY I GOT A NEW CAMERA...

Sorry for the random picture at the beginning of this post... I got a new camera and haven't used it!

IT'S HALLOWEEN TIME AGAIN!  This year is going to be a fun one... I've been excited for a few reasons.

1. Halloween is one of my top 5 holidays
2. I get to dress up as someone else for a day!
3. My class gets all excited about learning because it's themed.

The purpose of this post wasn't to talk all about costumes and trick or treating, but to tell you all about the cool activity my class and I did this Friday!  I said in my last post that my kids are big into reading our TFK and Scholastic News magazines... and this past week the cover story for Scholastic News was about bats.  Check out the story HERE! How appropriate for Halloween?!

My sample bat!

Student Bat

What the outside of my classroom looks like now!

The magazine came with the typical reading comprehension activities and an anticipatory worksheet.  Looking at the worksheet gave me a light bulb moment! I've been seeing lots of the teacher blogs post ideas of bat crafts and I decided to join in the fun.  The pictures are just a taste of what's in store for this week! 

Can You Find the Time To Let Your Lover Love You...

Rough weeks with behaviors but awesome week with activities.  Thank goodness for awesome teacher bloggers and Pinterest.  My kids are really holding onto what their learning due to playing/making/using awesome activities.

Math:  Double Digit Addition WITH Regrouping

Double Digit Addition With Regrouping Foldable (My sample!)

Kind of proud of my kids hard work on this!  This is our first time trying something like a foldable.  We took the idea from a very creative 2nd grade teacher and pinterest.  I gave it a Halloween twist by using black paper and colored pencils.  My kiddos loved it!






Reading:  Non-fiction Texts
Our principal was kind enough to get subscriptions from TFK and Scholastic News.  Both of these are current event magazines for kids that come with reading activities/lessons and TONS of digital resources.  With my struggling readers this is a God send!  I can pop the issue up on my Smartboard and have videos of current events flood the classroom.  It's been a great way to teach my students how to look for information in text as well as comprehension skills.  To introduce it I was able to find a scavenger hunt from TPT and we cut apart our first issue to display in the hallway.  My kids were proud!  Since then we've been reading at least 1 issue a week. 


Writing:  Biographies
As I've said before my whole class is ELL students and I'm the first year of all English instruction they receive.  That means a lot of help when it comes to writing and reading.  In order to practice writing about ourselves and discuss the purpose of biographies we used the Scholastic All About Me Poster.  Here's my undecorated poster to show you how hard my class worked.  :)






Social Studies:  Maps Skills
In social studies, which I'll admit needs more attention in my classroom... we learned about the world (from village to planet).  Learned basic map skills.  I took the idea of Me on the Map from CFC.  This was a bit difficult for my kids but they were proud with the final result. 






In Other News...
FEA (Future Educators of Alaska) is the up and coming club here.  It's also the one I took on as leader!  It's been pretty exciting to work with high school students.  Weekly they come into my room and work with students on homework and also have events planned for the school.  This weeks big project was helping create school spirit by making posters for our NYO Meet the schoool hosted.

      




Don't know what NYO is?? (see Native Youth Olympics for a better explanation than I can provide.  When a school site host any event they are supposed to house and feed students, chaperones, and coaches.  Below are the pictures from the weekend! 

We also had a haunted house.  Grades are due tomorrow and we have a Halloween Carnival scheduled for the afternoon.  No rest for the weary.

You said, "I'll Never Leave You Alone..."

I should really be sleeping... But you can always sleep can't you?

Today I flew in from the village into Bethel, the nearest thing we have to a city around here.  It's time for the 2nd years to have their first inservice for the year. 

First and foremost... God, it is so beautiful here sometimes.  I forget it when I'm stuck running from the school to my house and back all the time.  I took this photo to remember the feeling of flying above the world and seeing the world move below me. No editing... Just me and the light shining in....

Second...  I was so happy to see my friends (the guys I'd become super close to last year during my first year of teaching).  It's like no time has past whenever we get together.  We can all joke and goof off like it's the first time we'd ever hung out.  I truly appreciate and love all of them.  :)  Thanks for everything boys.

Listening to Taylor Swift sing about love and life... here's to wondering where my life is going!

Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air?

Wow.  I have sorely been missing out on posting on here.  I apologize.  I don't know how many people follow my blog... so I hope I'm not letting anyone down.

What's happened...

• Pen pal letters.  My kids have been working for about 2 weeks on friendly letters.  You'd be suprised how long it takes to pound out a nice response letter to friends in a different state.  They will finish and send those today.  I'm pretty excited!
• Interview the principal.  My kids were learning about questions and statements.
• Finishing a unit in math!  :)  Last year took me 3 months to complete a unit in math.  I'm excited on our progress.

What's going on...

• Midterms!  :/  I dread this time of year.  It's like crunch time for teachers.  How do you balance your students needs, parent's beliefs, and your curriculum all at once? 

Picture taken from Pinterest

• FEA Club Advisor.  I signed up at the beginning of the year to take on a position as the Future Educators of Alaska Club Advisor.  I knew, and still know, very little about the club.  But I can say with much certainty that I'm VERY excited about this year.  I've got a group of 5 young ladies all really excited about the club.  We've got lots of ideas for activities, fundraising, and service opportunities. 
• Tutoring.  This year I've decided to once again to take time after school and work with my students on skills they're not getting enough of in class.  Thankfully this time I have experience and a club full of kids that want to be part of this.

What's in store...

•  Election Time.  November 6th!   I'm going to be honest with the blogging world and say I've not figured out how to vote here yet... but I'm hoping to figure that all out this weekend.  Wish me luck.  AS FOR THE CLASSROOM... I'm excited to begin a mini unit about elections with my class.  I've accumulated a bunch of resources to use to try to make this next month and the weeks leading to election time as interesting and tangible to them as possible.  Hopefully the time the ballot boxes are being tallied my students will understand the political parties and what it's all about.
• +/- Strategies.  Yay.  I get to teach my kids 4 different ways to get the same answer.... :/  Hahah but really this next unit is all about adding and subtracting.  Wish me luck.
• Halloween:  This holiday is my 3rd favorite of the year.  Christmas is of course my first.  Then the 4th of July.  I love Halloween because it's just another excuse to be silly and creative.  I've already picked out my costume this year.  :) 

On a personal note...

TODAY IS THE 731st DAY OF DATING MY SIGNIFICANT OTHER.

 

 

This wonderful guy has seen me through the ups and downs of the past 2 years. As a couple we've gone through 11 months (yes we've counted...) of separation.  We've worked together at two different jobs.  We have gone on countless dates, silly, romantic, and everyday.  We've had our fair share of disagreements, and frustrations.  We've had our moments where the world stops spinning too.

But above all else this guy has taught me two major life lessons.

1. I deserve someone who thinks the world of me.  Who believes I am beautiful whether I'm dolled up with a fancy dress and make up on... or in his old tshirt and a pair of jeans.
2. Love > than distance...

I tried to live this life on my own.....

It's September 1st.  I've been a 2nd year teacher for about 3 weeks now.  Does it feel any different?  No not really...  but at the same time... it feels absolutely amazing. 

Last year around this time I felt like I was barely treading water.  Spent some nights until midnight working on lessons, grading, organizing, etc.  This isn't what I was expecting.  Several times I thought I was inferior as a teacher and sometimes as an adult...  I called home and cried more than a few times.  I wasn't sure I was going to make it.  I thought, "What the hell have I gotten myself into?!  I thought I was 'MEANT to be a teacher'."

A year later, I am sitting here, doing much of the same things.  I still stay later than other teachers.  I still spend most of my weekends lesson planning and grading.  I still call home occasionally, but without tears because of my classroom.  I still have times where I don't know what to do, but I have accepted that it's okay to not know everything right now.  I walk with my head high.  I'm still treading water, but it's getting just a little bit easier to stay afloat. I know WHO holds my future and "He has plans for me... plans to prosper me and not harm me.  Plans for hope and a future."

Here's to a new year.  With new adventures.  With new memories.  Here's to the best school year yet!