Five For Friday

Does anyone else feel like these last few weeks are going by SOOOO slowly?!  My goodness.  In the classroom time goes by at a snails pace, but once the bell rings it zooms by in a rocket.  Probably because I am still in the midst of packing and applying for jobs.  Yay for linking up.  Thanks again Doodle Bugs Teaching for connecting everyone.  Here's my week in about 5 sentences.  I'll start out with the bad and end with the good.

1. On Monday I got a phone call in the middle of the day, which is never a good sign, and was told to call my brother back when school let out.  That feeling something was wrong ate away at my stomach until 3:45.  I gave my big brother a call and my heart hit the floor with the news I got.  His beautiful and amazingly kind wife of only 3 years had been diagnosed with stage 3 invasive ductal carcinoma.  The news didn't hit me until the next day after a particularly rough day at school.  I was a puddle of tears for about an hour, until I noticed how my brother and his wife are taking the news.  My brother has created a Facebook support page that has nearly 100 followers and is all about kicking this cancer's butt.  My sister-in-law is as amazing as ever with positive thoughts and posts about the news she's receiving almost immediately after she finds out.  So... instead of being sad and scared I've adopted my brother and sister-in-law's new motto of being WENDYSTRONG.
   
2. Mother's DayHas anyone else read Mama, Do You Love Me? to their class this week?  It was perfect for Mother's Day and relatable for m y 100% Yup'ik classroom.  The story is about a Native Alaskan Inuit mother and daughter who discuss the conditions of love as only a young child and mother can.  My class LOVED reading the story!  They were proud to see their culture represented.  They loved it so much that I decided to have them use art to represent themselves as the little girl/boy asking their own mothers!  Here's what we created.
3.  Moving/Packing
   Boy oh boy do I hate packing.  There's only 16 days left until I go home.  I changed my flights to an earlier flight, costing myself 200 dollars but saving myself 2 more days with everyone in Indiana.  On the downside that means I really have to get busy with my packing.  I absolutely abhor packing... Any suggestions on how to make it easier and/or more fun??
4.  Warm Weather
   I know I know I know, it's almost half way through May and it is warm everywhere... except in Alaska.  Recently we had such a warm up that I went to the village store and picked up ICE CREAM! YUMMY!
   

   

   The Atmau Teacher Family goes for ice cream!

   
   
   With the warm weather brings melting snow and ice, as well as the kids staying out to play later and later.  Yesterday I was sitting in my classroom minding my own business doing something productive (Shocking, I know!) and all the sudden I heard "SPLAT!!!" and giggling outside my window.  It was several of the little girls in my class throwing snowballs at me.  :) Definitely made me smile!
   
5. TPT Sales
   I recently posted on my FB that I will at some point end up selling my first and second born children to TPT because there is always such good stuff!!! You can never have too many good resources.  This summer one of my goals is to try to be better at creating my own stuff to sell and give-away on that awesome website!

CURRENTLY: I will always come right back to you

Linking up again with the infamous Farley for her Currently Link Up.  It might be my favorite post I do all month.  :)  I love the teacher blogging community.  I'm super mad I never joined up in the fun last year.  Oh well... se la vie!

• Listening:  Where We Left Off by Hunter Hayes, might just be the quintessential long distance song.  Found it this weekend when I was in one of those ready to be home with my S.O.
• Loving:  TPT/Blogger are my two favorite things to check when I come into the school daily.  Since I live so remotely, I go over the school for more than just work purposes... and some how these two websites end up being part of my fun time.  No complaints here. :)  I love teaching stuff even when it's the weekend.
• Thinking:  GRADES will be due soon and I've completely been dropping the ball.  Grr.  Don't you hate when you are doing so many engaging and relevant lessons that it becomes tedious to grade?  Oh well... That's what my netflix and spotify accounts will be useful for these next 6 hours.
• Wanting:  I think there is a pattern  here.  I NEED MY DIET COKE FIX.
• Needing:  Mother's day is only a week away.  This year I will not only be buying for my own mother, but also for my little sister.  She's expecting her first bouncing boy in August.  What to do when you 4000  miles away?!
• Summer Bucket List:  
• First and foremost I will be participating in the Color Run 5K that will be taking place at Downtown Indy.  I'm super pumped to do it, since my best friend and I LOVED it last year.  It's also part of another goal for the summer, which is to drop at least 20lbs.  I'm not obese by any means but a good portion of self discipline wouldn't hurt my health. :)  
• Second goal, but is my first priority, find a teaching job in Indiana.  I'm super excited to be making the transition  back home, but would feel even better if I knew I was going to be teaching in the fall.  PRAYERS, TIPS, and SUGGESTIONS are welcome!
• Finally, I can't wait to spend time with my boyfriend.  Yep! 2.5 years together and 20 months of that have been spent 4000 miles away... we're done with being the Long Distance Couple.  Ready for some QT with my cutie.  (Terrible pun, I know!  But I just couldn't resist.)
  
  

Slice of Life....

Have I got a neat idea for you guys!  I tried out something new with my class today.  It was a brainchild of too much time on my hands and having great friends that are soooo creative.  First and foremost check out this Slice of Life scholarship entry by none other than a former resident of mine (during my Resident Assistant  days).  Hit like if you're into the video.  She's super talented and deserves a scholarship to help out with school costs! 

Okay, shameless plug over with....  below you find the pictures of what my kids and I created with her help using Skype.  The whole process is pretty easy.  Come up with a concept.  It can be a saying, animal, person... whatever!  Once you've got an idea, start peeling.  When you're peeling the orange do you best to keep as much of it intact as possible.  The bigger the pieces the more possibilities.

 Once you've gotten your orange all the way peeled begin using your nails and fingers to shape, pick, and mold your object.  If you mess up, don't worry.  It just means you get to make something different.

As you're finishing up think about a saying that goes along with your peel.  I had to help my kids a lot with that one, but you can always brainstorm before hand...  Use strips of paper or even the peel itself to create your inspirational saying.

My kids had a rough time at first, because they're not good with few directions, but in the end LOVED the creativity it provided them.

Good luck!

Five for Friday.... Except it's late

Thanks readers for not lighting torches and picking up your pitchforks.  It's been an incredibly busy 2 weeks for this poor teacher.  Most of my post has to do with my chaperoning duties, but I'll include some fun stuff too.  Head on over to Doodlebugsteaching to participate in the Linky Party!

http://www.doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.ca/2013/04/five-for-friday-linky-partyapril-19th.html

1.  TESTING IS FINISHED!  Thank the Lord!!! I took this great photo on the last day of testing when I promised my kids we'd play with art tools.  I absolutely love bringing art into the classroom, because sometimes I think our kids are just TOO inundated with technology and jsut neeed to practice using their imaginations and creating something of their own.  

 2.  I took a high school student into Anchorage for a Future Educators of Alaska conference.  It's a conference held for high school students that are interested in going into the education field and specifically geared towards getting these students to stay and teach in their home state.  It was an amazing opportnity for my high school student to meet other high school student from different areas!  And... she got to experience some of the little things city people take for granted.

3.  I got some cute things in Anchorage, because I'm a total girlie girl and LOVE shopping as much as the next person.  Say hello to my new favorite top.  I've been soo afraid to jump on the mint bandwagon, but after I bought this top and matching heels.... I'm a lover for life.

4.  I also managed to have my high school student help me make a "Yupik Eskimo Polar Bear" for my little sister's bundle of joy.  Yes... my little sister is expecting and due in August.  I'm just now getting used to the news myself! :)

 5.  My mentor visited me for the last time this week.  :(  So sad to not get to see her again, unless I'm lucky enough to come visit her during a holiday.   But her visits were nothing but amazing.  She helped me prep for intereviews, moving, and even videotaped a lesson or two.  With all of her love and support I think I'm a blessed 2nd year teacher. I wish I would've gotten a photo with this amazing woman, but it has been quite the busy week.

Now I'll leave everyone with my ABSOLUTE favorite slam poet telling it like it is about teaching.

Currently... I Will Wait

By the looks of it, I am tardy for the party... Thanks to Farley for creating an awesome way to connect with other teacher bloggers.  Now if I could only get my stuff together and be as awesome at blogging as all you other ladies. :)  Oh well 2 years of experience is a start... right?

Listening:  I blame my Alaska teaching best friend Mr. B for starting the new obsession with Mumford and Sons.  That song has become my classroom song for writing and independent work time.  Once in a while if I'm quick enough I can catch my kids singing along with the chorus!  So cute.

Loving:  I know... I know.... personal life on a teaching blog?!  Who would do such a thing? Someone in a 2 year long distant relationship.  That's who!  ;)  Plus he was sweet enough to send me a goofy message this morning before testing.

Thinking:  Packing.  You'll probably be seeing a lot of that in the next blog posts.  Any advice on how to make packing less daunting?  Besides selling everything you own?!

Needing:  Patience.  It's state testing time and I feel like my kids heads are going to explode and so is mine.  So here's a funny to show how I feel about standardized testing.

http://pinterest.com/pin/101894010291523197/

 

Advice:  "When in doubt... dance it out"  Might be the best thing I've ever done.  When kids are getting antsy have them do a little freeze dance game.  When you're tired of writing lesson plans put on your favorite 90s pop song and dance around your classroom.  When you're overwhelmed with packing or cleaning put on your best rock music and have a personal concert of one... 

http://pinterest.com/pin/414260865693765280/

Five For Friday... Better Late Than Never

Isn't there a saying about how it's ok to arrive "fashionably late"?  Can that go for the blogging world too?  Apologies for posting about 4 days later than I'm supposed to for a linky party.  It's just been crazy with the whole moving back to Indiana, Easter, and state testing.  This post has a bit of cultural explanations.  So... here goes.

1.  This week has been spent in preparation for testing.  The state of Alaska begins standardized testing in 3rd grade, much like many other states.  Normally I wouldn't be so concerned with testing, but I'm the first year of all English instruction and the first year of standardized testing.  Thankfully with the help of lots of practicing test format, language, and math skills I think this group is going to do awesome.

2.  Moving.  I HATE PACKING!  It's stressful and kind of sad... especially when you're not sure where exactly you're making the move to.  But I have faith in the Lord.  Because as my life verse says:  Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord.  "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

3. Visiting friends between villages makes time go by even faster than it already is.  Mr. B and I hopped on a snowmachine and made our way over to a neighboring village.  I had a girls night with a a fellow lady teacher and we all met up for darts and chilli the next morning. Yay!


4.  There was a death in the village earlier this month and  the body has finally been laid to rest this Saturday.  The person was a very kind and caring community member and cared a great deal for the school.  It broke my heart to hear the sad news.  When there is a death in the village there are some cultural events that happen, feasting, sitting with the body, and there are certain things people can't do during the mourning period.  There is to be no ball playing and no clothing out on the lines.  I was fortunate enough to meet with the family members and pay my respects the day before the funeral and took a few photos.

5.  Easter is a big deal here in my village.  Our school actually puts on an egg hunt for the grades K-12.  Throughout the week the kids decorate eggs and on Friday class by class the kids are sent out to find eggs around the outside of the school.  It was so cute and fun to see my kids searching for the eggs they'd spent time decorating.  I even got a chance to decorate 2 of my own.  ;)

Can you tell I miss my boyfriend back home in Indiana???

I Don't Know About you... but I'm Feeling 22.

Weekly update:
A week later than everyone else around the country my class celebrated St. Patrick's Day with trapping a Leprechaun.  Thanks to all the bloggers, pinterest, and TPT people who helped me come up with a way to motivate my kids to write their hearts out and build traps around the room.  Here's just little taste of our Friday madness.

Alaska Cultural Update...
Every year there is a cultural festival held in Bethel, Alaska (nearest "town" to all the villages in our district) that everyone from the area flies or snowmachines out to see.  It's called Camaii (pronounced Juh-mY) which means "Greetings/Welcome/Nice to meet you" in Yup'ik.  This was my second and last year to join in for the fun, so Mr. B and I climbed on to his "snow-go" and high-tailed it to Bethel for the festivities.

Some of the neat things you're sure to see is a variety of Yup'ik dancing, drumming, and LOTS of native crafts.  Ivory sculptures, qaspeqs, parkas, fur hats... you name it it's probably being sold at Camaii.  Sometimes there's even other non-Yupik dance groups that get invited.  This year there was an African/Caribbean drumming group, Alutiq dancers, as well as a hula dance group from Hawaii!  So cool!

Yours truly managed to spend a bit more than she REALLY wanted to, but I walked away from Camaii a qaspeq and polar bear fur dancing headdress richer.  It was also really nice to spend time with some of the second years before I head back home to Indiana for good this summer.