I'm Ready. For What You Say?

First year teaching is difficult.  If I could write to myself 5 years ago, I’d say, “Lauren, don’t go into teaching”.  Okay, so typically that is not what I’d say.  Today, it is.  It’s been a long week.  I feel like nothing I’m doing at school is working with the kids.  It isn’t like the kids aren’t learning or listening.  I just think that if things keep going down the road they are, then we will have issues.  On Monday, I’m implementing the “MAC” posters. 

MAC stands for Movement, Activity and Conversation.  I have enough posters created to last through the day.  Here’s an example of what a poster would look like for ‘Greetings and Readings’ (I will use words in here obviously, but pictures on the posters themselves).  M:  no bathroom, no drinks, no getting up to get materials.  A:  Greetings and Readings.  C:  no talking – voice level 0.  An example of ‘Learning Labs’ is this:  M:  okay to use the bathroom, okay to get a drink okay to get materials.  A:  Learning Labs.  C:  inside voice – voice level 2.  MAC is a shorter version of CHAMPS, which is a school wide behavior management program.  I hope that once I implement this in my classroom that students will start to see what they need to do and connect it to what they are doing. 

I’ve been really tired lately.  I’ve been in bed by about 7 or 7:30 each day and asleep by about 8:30.  I’m tending to get about 10 hours of sleep a night. If I get any less than that I feel too tired to move in the morning.  Besides, when I actually get up and to school, I am wide-awake much faster.  I love being fully conscious of everything that is happening, especially when it is relating to my classroom and the day to come. 

I love sweatshirt strings :)

At school, we’ve made snowflakes and picture frames out of popsicle sticks.  We used glitter for the snowflakes and just paint for the frames.   Next week we’re making Rudolph out of popsicle sticks. Speaking of Rudolph, we’re singing “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Up On The Housetop” in the Christmas Program.  Well, let me rephrase that.  We’re singing the first verse of “Up On The Housetop” and everything except the first verse of “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer”.  We are learning them slowly, very slowly.  I’m wondering if next year, I should start singing the Christmas song at the beginning of the year and then by the time Christmas comes, the kids should be pros! 

I’m ready for Christmas break!!  I’m excited to see lots of people, as well as places I’ve missed.  Being on an island of 600 people is not something I can see myself doing for the rest of my lifetime.  Maybe I’ll consider looking into jobs in Anchorage?  Sitka?  Juneau?  Maybe being closer to more people in general would help me out a bit.  Anyway, I’m thrilled that I soon get to give the gifts I have been collecting for friends and family.  I have to tell you; Amazon has become a very good friend of mine, not that it wasn’t before. 

Sally’s good.  She’s hitting puberty and really changing, into a dog that is.  She loves to play fetch!  She has a little, fuzzy, purple, ball and she loves it when I throw it so she can go get it.  When she picks it up, she will bring it right back to me and drop it near me so I can throw it again.  I mean who wouldn’t want a “CatDog” in real life?  As long as it doesn’t start arguing and having two heads, I’m okay with the idea.  Maybe “Arthur” will come along too? 

I tired fish again!  It was actually the Cultural Activities part of the day.  Matt and Mickey brought in the fish, quaq (koo-uck) and chopped it up to eat.  The whole time it was being cut up, all I could think about what getting the kids to keep away from the table because the sharp knife was there, ready to chop a finger off.  Had the fish been easy to slice that might have been a little more comforting; however, the fish was frozen.   Anyway, I tried it after much contemplating.  Too bad you couldn’t be here to witness my reaction to eating it.  Don’t worry, I thought of all of you before hand.  Here’s the video that allows you to see the look on my face after eating the fish.  In fact, I’ve uploaded it before watching it because I know that after I watch it, I won’t want it posted. 

If you can't tell, al the frost you see is on the INSIDE!!!

P.S. The weather is not okay!  It's too cold for the key to work on the door and my window looks like this!!!

Multitasking :)

Nothing is new in Shishmaref.  We're doing a gift exchange with each of the teachers and apparently I should have waited to get homemade slippers.  I wonder what I'm in store for instead?  

Our class is working on learning "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Up On The Housetop" for the Christmas Program.  I'm trying to download the songs from i-Tunes onto my i-Pad so we can listen to them but for those of you who know me; I'm technologically challenged.  I'm currently on the phone with i-Tunes Support.  I actually have been for about 40 minutes.  Hopefully, the call will not drop like GCI tends to do. 

We went for the gym for the first time on Monday!! We loved it!!!!  Check out what my awesome 4 and 5 year olds can do! :)

Usually this is a sand table.  Today, it was a water table!  Do we usually have sand on the floor?  Yes.  Did we have water on the floor?  It wasn't a flood; it was more like a pond.  Next time we have a water table in our room, I'll put towels on the floor before we begin.

We're doing math.  That's right!  We're counting the drops of colored water we drop to make a new color mixture!! What does that mean?  We're doing science too! We may be only 4 and 5 years old, but we're multi-taskers!!

Painting on the easel has never been a choice in our classroom, until now!  We loved being able to use the easel to paint.  Lauren even gave a limit of two pictures so everyone could have a turn.

Photo Gallery

Will it sink or float?  

 We used a tub of water and guessed what would sink or float.  These are a few of the things we guessed would sink:  play dough container, a ball, a wooden block, and a button. Some things that we guessed would float are:  a foam block, a ball, and a puzzle piece.

Our classroom!

Do you see the easel? I built it!  I followed the instructions, so don't worry about it toppling over. 

Science Lab

 Here's the Science area.  On the shelf we have a globe, which I know is more for Social Studies, a balance, magnifying glasses, bug sorters, magnets, kaleidoscopes, and a "feely box".

Our best work :)

The doorway on the right is the door the children come though when they arrive.  The purple papers have their names on them and will be used to display what the students' feel is their best work!  Today, we all did our best work to color, cut, and glue a stocking.  What will be displayed next?  

Circle Time

Here is where we do our morning greetings as well as all other whole group activities.  

Literacy Lab

What you see here is our Literacy Lab.  During Learning Labs, children have the opportunity to go work on the board which is magnetic; they can use magnetic letters as well as use dry erase markers.  In this lab area, there is also a shelf which contains many other literacy activities that the children can do.  There are alphabet puzzles, dry erase cards, letter beads, as well as many more choices.  

Almost Thanksgiving!

                                                                                      Here, the children are making turkeys!  I had all of the shapes traced but the kids were in charge of cutting them out.  Some of the turkeys look a little different, but most do look the same.  Even though that's good, I was kind of hoping otherwise.  

Dramatic Play Lab

Here's where we play "Kitchen" and "Store" and other things, but basically, that's about it.  We love playing with the cash register the most and the new classroom came with new phones to play with, and new kitchen toys!

Cute board!

Here's the cute chalkboard!  Okay, so it's not a chalkboard anymore.  Under the red paper however, it is!  Around the board, I used tissue paper and just twisted and stapled/taped.  I didn't think of this idea myself; I stole it from Sammy.  While in college however, I was also told, "Why reinvent the wheel"; so, I didn't.  

Parent Board

This is where parents sign in (on the table) and can get information about what will be going on in the classroom throughout the week.  As well as the sign in on the table, on can also find the weekly newsletter and books that can be checked out for parents, to help them through stages of their child's development.  

Sand/Water Lab

Here's the Sand/Water Lab!  The kids love this area, especially when it's water day.  I mean, think about it. If you lived on an island that was completely sand (when it's not snow of course) would you want to come inside and play with sand?  I have had enough sand for a lifetime.  Unless of couse we start talking about vacationing at a beach, then that's a different story. 
The bags on the board that you see are our birthday bags.  I made those, as well as the people sticking out of them, using the Cricut. Yes, that word pronounced like the annoying bug that chirps.  

Cute :)

Here are a couple of my children playing with boxes.  The theme was 'Boxes and Balls'.  I actually brought these boxes with me from WI. When I go home for break, I intend on getting the cylindrical boxes as well.  

Colored Spaghetti?

What's going on??  Well, I'll tell you.  I'm eating spaghetti.  No, I'm not using propor table manners and yes, the children are watching.  These colored noodles were used for our turkey art.  I was so thrilled that I found this activity (to dye noodles, fall colors, and use them as the feathers for turkeys).  The kids however, they weren't so interested.  They thought the activity had too much sensory, in a bad way.  Apparently, sticky noodles are not the way to play.   

I saw an activity online that said that if you cook 'Ivory' soap in the microwave then it will look like this and you can mold it.  Well, I bought some of this soap to give it a try and guess what?!?! It didn't work.  It did look like this from the microwave, but it wasn't moldable.  It was too hot to play with and when it did cool down then it was just a layer of soap.  

READ THIS!!

I finally finished my book!!! I got it for my birthday and started reading it over the summer.  I actually forced myself to finish it in three nights.  Now, I just look forward to watching the movie.  I got it on Black Friday (phone shopping on this day is the way to go!) and will get it when I go home for break!  

Sally O'Mally

Here is the look of "No more pictures please. Just let me go hide under the bed."  Sally's doing swell! Last night, I think I actually was petting her in my sleep because I woke up and she was on my tummy and well, I was petting her.  

Sled dogs <3

Here are some pictures of the sled dogs and me, in the frosty air.  I feel bad for the dogs being outside.  I know they are fine but I'd still rather have them inside.  

Yes, you see it right!! I've got my official teaching certificate!!!!

New Building!! ---Soon to come.

Dear Readers,

I'm almost 8 months old!

I’ve been in the no writing zone for a long time now.  I don’t think I will be getting my writing motivation back any time soon.  What does this mean?  I’ll tell you.  This will be my last blog post.  Yep, you read that right.  After this post, I will try to make it long enough for you, I will no longer be adding to my blog.

Sally’s doing great! She loves her purple, fuzzy ball.  She enjoys chasing it around the house as well as sitting calmly with it.  What do you picture as calm?  It’s probably not what I mean for this situation.  Let me rephrase that then.  She likes lying on the floor with her ball and every time you move she thinks you will take it away from her so she takes off with it.  Is that better?  I hope so.  Sally also enjoys playing beauty salon.  Yep, the same game you enjoyed playing when you were seven years old.  How does she play?  Well, first off, I don’t let her use real scissors. He does wash my hair with her tongue then brushes it with her claws.  I noticed last night in particular because I woke up to her playing this game.  It’s not always my favorite game to play with her; however, when she wants to play when I have bed head already, I don’t mind. 

Lunch?  No, really, they're plums.

Can we please have a silly pose?

School is going well.  I’ve been busy working on vocabulary with my students.  That’s a large problem here.  So many of the children have such a limited vocabulary that it is difficult to explain things to them sometimes.  Here’s an example of what I mean.  We were talking about the letter ‘Aa’ and coming up with words that started with that letter.  Someone said ‘aunt’.  I asked (to clarify) if he meant the person or the tiny bug that crawls on the ground.  He said the person, so I wrote ‘aunt’ on our paper. It wasn’t until later that I realized that he, as well as the rest of the students in the class, probably had no idea what I was talking about when I said “The tiny bug that crawls on the ground.”  I checked my future themes for school and I will be teaching the kids all about bugs for the third week in April.   Here’s the better part.  We will be focusing on spiders on my birthday.  I’m sure I can find a way to make it fun and not gross. 

Cleaning?

The new building is in progress still.  We were supposed to be moved in by Monday, yes, tomorrow, but no, that’s not happening.  Phil, the person working on the building, will not be leaving until Tuesday.  What does that mean for us?  It means that with Phil’s extra supplies and other materials that he needed to bring, on the floor, we can’t complete the cleaning process.  The four-year-old classroom is clean; however, the three-year-old classroom is not.  Once that classroom is clean, my room can be emptied and then set up.  I have done what I can so far.  I have set up my bulletin boards and plan on setting up my lending library today.  Yes, I heard you.  “What’s a lending library?”  It’s a set of backpacks with books, games, or other materials that help to emphasize a particular topic.  A few of them are as follows:  shapes, numbers, letters, Alaska, and science.  The backpacks are available for students to check out and bring home.  There’s no set return time but I’ve seen anywhere from overnight to a week of checkout. 

TRANSPORTATION!!! :)

The weather here in Shishmaref is getting really chilly.  I’m wearing my boots often now. I’m wearing my bogs, that is.  Those go down to about -30F.  When it gets cold enough, I will pull out my bunny boots.  Those go down to about -80F.   Other than my boots, I am staying warm.  I’ve got my mittens and headband and jacket.  I did order another jacket, with the SNL logo on it.  No, I don’t mean the Saturday Night Live logo, I mean the Shishmaref Northern Lights logo.  I also intend on having someone make me one of the awesome headbands I see people wearing to keep my ears warmer.  A little girl in my class came to school with her new headband on and I stared at it for literally five minutes. I’m not even joking, it was amazing!  We do have snow but it’s not piled up yet.  I haven’t seen more than two snow people yet.  However, the two that I did see, were quite elegant.

Owl in the air

Owl on the pole

I saw an owl!  I don’t know what kind it was, but I saw it.  I got a picture of it sitting on the pole as well as one of it flying away.  After it flew, it landed near the water, which yes, is freezing over, but then a raven came right next to it.  It didn’t look like they were hurting each other.  I was far away enough that I could have missed some things. 

I went to the first home volleyball game last night.  I don’t think I’ve ever watched volleyball until last night.  It was interesting.  I kept counting, 1, 2, 3., each time the ball was on one side of the net so I could remember how many more times they could hit the ball to make it over the net.  I got to hold Caroline for most of the time.  Caroline turned one year old recently.  She’s one of the daughters of another teacher, one who has made it 14 years up here.  Caroline sat with me, pointed in the same direction for most of the night, and ate an orange Mr. Freeze. You know which ones I mean, right?  They’re in the plastic wrapper and they’re about a quarter each.  They come in many colors, purple being my favorite, what’s your favorite color to eat? 

Painting with cars :D

Did I really have you going?  You don’t think I’d actually be able to be this far away and not have some form of communication going on with you all, did you?  Here’s the real deal.  I really do have writer’s block.  You know, the one where authors/blog writers can’t think of a dang thing to say.  Well, I hope to be able to create my published pieces soon.  On that note, this will NOT be my last blog post.  I’m not sure when I will update again.  Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later.  Have a splendid day and remember that April Fool’s Day is only 140 days away.  If you fell for this one, you better get ready to be fooled once again.  Good Luck!

Sincerely,

The Early Fooler

Inservice In Snowy Stebbins!!

Building with blocks

Inservice is going well so far.  I’ve heard about CHAMPS officially.  What is it? I don’t know what it stands for offhand.  I do know it’s an acronym and each part stands for a different aspect of classroom management.  Since my children are so little, I will be able to use MAC as my acronym.  MAC: Movement, Activity, Conversation will be on a poster in my room with pictures stating what kind of movement, and conversation we should have during each activity throughout the day.  I think I will also have a puppet in my room named Mac and he will be the one to ask talk to the children about what the MAC poster means. 

'Rainbow Writing' of the letter Aa

I’m updating the individual incentives in my room.  I have to get better with using them but making the students accountable for them should make that a bit easier. I have created little caterpillars, a head and 10 circles for the body.  Each of the circles represents a spot for a stickers.  When a child is caught being good (not every time, just random ones, or I’d be out of stickers,) or doing something above and beyond they will get a sticker.  When they get a sticker, they will put it on a spot on the caterpillar.  When the whole thing is full, they will be able to choose something from the treasure box (see previous post to see the photo.) 

Painting with apples :)

As a whole class management idea, I’m implementing the gumball machine!  I will be making an empty gumball machine and each day we go without anyone going to the ‘take a break’ chair, we will add a gumball to the machine.  When we get 10 gumballs, we will have 10 extra minutes of Learning Lab time.  Having the extra time during this activity will provide an exciting incentive for the students and cost me nothing.  I’m excited to implement these ideas but I think it will be easier to do when we’re in our new classroom. Should I start to implement them now, or wait?  Comment and let me know please. 

We observed the apple seeds!

I have more inservice tomorrow but it should be okay.  Hopefully I will get as much accomplished tomorrow as I did today.  I completed my GOLD checkpoints and got a few other things done that I needed to; I just wish I had construction paper, scissors, glue, etc to work on mini projects that I need to do.  I also wish I had my classroom.  You know which one I mean, the new one, the pretty one.  The finish date has been changed to November 15^th.  That’s a Thursday; didn’t you know that off hand?  I plan on devoting my entire weekend to my classroom.  Don’t expect an update that weekend because I will be thinking, breathing, and sleeping that classroom!  I know, I doubt I will go the whole weekend without taking a break, but still.  You get the point right? 

BAT HATS!!!...Halloween is coming :)

I really appreciate knowing that people are reading this.  I have gotten a few comments on here as well as in person thanking me for updating as often as I can and telling me that they love the style. I find it easier to write this way.  Writing in research paper form is far too boring.  At least for me, Sheldon on the other hand, he’d disagree to a high extent.  Mom, did you just tell R that I referenced Big Bang?  Yes, you were right, I like that show.  I’d like to thank Amy though, sorry, not you.  I have you to thank for many more things, I’m sure you’ll be okay giving a TV show away for grabs. 

Let’s see, the kiddos are doing great, I’ve put pictures of them randomly throughout this post because I love being able to attach pictures, but I don’t have any of inservice, thank goodness.  Eventually, I will add pictures of the new things I’m implementing but not until after they have been created.  Have a great day everyone, peace out!

Getting Chilly?

“This time, this place...” It’s great how songs can get you thinking about so many things, isn’t it? Places, people, things, topics taking over the brains of many. 

The weather here is getting chilly and the snow is starting to stick.  I’ve heard that it’s not going to be gone until after I am, for summer that is.  I think It’s easier to walk on frozen over sand than squishy sand.  In addition to that, I like the sound of the crunching snow below my boots.  What’s the best part of snow?  Watching the kids play in it, no question. 

School is going well.  The building I’m supposed to be in is still being worked on. Originally, I was supposed to be able to teach in there staring October 15^th.  No, that didn’t happen.  Was I upset about it, a little.  But hey, the longer it takes, the better the building will be, right?  I sure hope you think so, because I may be saying that but I’m working on believing it still. 

I started drawing up classroom layouts.  I’m so thrilled to start organizing the room.  I’ve got small containers coming for the supplies and I can picture the ‘cuteness’ flowing through the air.  I know, I know, cuteness isn’t the most important part.  I am also considering functionality and accessibility.    I’m just so excited to get started, I think, scratch that, I know that I will be in my classroom the whole weekend when I get to move in.  When you close your eyes, eckeemm, close your eyes.  Wait, keep reading, then close your eyes and try this:  Close your eyes, what do you see?  Do you see your friends, your family, a place, you?  Do you see something you have been thinking about for a while, some kind of change?  I see myself in my classroom, putting up the whiteboard in my classroom.  Your turn, what do you see? 

Sally O’Mally (O’Meowie) is great!  She enjoys chasing the laser, and chewing on my computer corner, but only while I’m using it, yes she’s doing it right now too, so at least I can monitor the chewing.   She also likes to play with the stuffed monkey I have (thanks Shayla for Sally’s toy.)  Something I’ve noticed about her is that she likes to stretch on me, especially after I shower.  I think she enjoys the smell of the pomegranate body wash.  In addition to stretching she loves giving kisses. It doesn’t matter if she’s getting in the way of what I’m doing, she will proceed to give as many kisses as she wants to.  Oh, she also enjoys walking right in front of my face while laying in bed; why do I love when she does this?  Because she walks so nicely then stops just when her butt is in my face.  It’s quite pleasant; at least she hasn’t farted on me yet.  Yes, that’s the plus side to this one.  I love having my little bugger around!

What’s the highlight in Shishmaref?  Going to the dump! I’ve been here how long and I’ve been missing out on this experience?  Well, not anymore.  I’ve officially had the experience of a lifetime. Go me!  Want to hear the story?  Of course you do.  I will start from the beginning.  Why do people say that?  Why can’t one start the story 7/16 of the way through?  It would be a confusing story, but a story nonetheless. 

I woke up Saturday morning and fed Sally.  Too far before the beginning – okay, fast-forward a bit.  We’re supposed to get water from the washeteria because nobody wants the school to run out of water, so that was the plan for Saturday morning.  Well, in order to get water from the washeteria the truck is needed.  Yes, it’s the same truck I learned how to drive stick-shift on.  Anyway, the key was missing so we went for the Honda key.  Was that there?  No. I ended up getting water from the school.  No, me getting water from the school one time isn’t going to turn Shishmaref into the land of a drought.  So, I learned how to get water from the school.  Yes, this is much nicer than getting it from the washeteria.  Here’s why:

Washeteria:  1. Get the pump from Amy’s house. 2.  Find keys for the truck. 3. Lift the heavy 125 gallon tank into the back of the truck.  4. Drive to the washeteria. 5. Set up the hose so that the water goes in the tank and not on the ground. 6. Place 8 quarters into the machine to start water flow. 7. Turn off water flow just before the tank overflows.  8. Place cover on the tank.  9. Drive back to where the tank is located that water will be transferred.  10.  Hook up pump to the hose and put the other end in the water tank.  11. Place the pump in the full water tank then plug in the cord.  12.  Wait for the water to transfer tanks.  12.  Unplug the cord and carefully disassemble the cords and pumps.  Repeat steps 4-12 as many times as necessary to fill the water tank.  4 times for my house

School:  1.  Get the key and the extra hose from Amy’s house.  2.  Connect the hose from Amy’s to the hose from school and the hose to my house, to create a long enough hose to reach from the school to my house.  3.  Place one end of the hose into the tank and the other end to the spicket at the school.  4.  Turn the key to allow water to flow.  5. Wait for the water to fill the tank.  Make sure to check occasionally to make sure the water doesn’t overflow. 

Doesn’t the school one seem much easier?  I agree.  Anyway, I got the water then we found the truck keys.  We waited for them to be returned so we could make run to the dump.  Here’s the part you’ve been waiting for! So, we filled the back of the truck with garbage and were about to head out when Bob noticed the truck had a flat tire.  Alright, so we got the truck, filled it up, and now there’ s a flat.  You’ve got to be kidding me, right?  Nope, not even close.  Eventually, we took the Honda key.  Guess who got to drive? No, not Santa Clause.  I did!  After we got the Honda, I drove us to the trailer and Amy attached it.  Then I said, “Which way to the dump?”  Amy’s response. “It’s that way but we need to go this way to get the stuff to take to the dump.”  Yep, that’s right, I was so excited to go to the dump that I was going to take an empty trailer down there.

So, we transferred everything from the back of the truck to the trailer of the Honda and headed off.  It was rather chilly but it was worth it because I was on the 3^rd gear of the Honda, which I had never done.  So, we were going to the dump and must have it one too many bumps because the trailer detached from the Honda.  Amy attached it again and we proceeded on.  We got about 50 feet ahead and it detached again!  This time, Amy jumped on the metal pole that connects to be sure it was connected.  We got going again and made it a bit further.  I could see the dump!  What happened?  Take a guess.  Yep, the trailer fell off again!!  We attached it and proceeded to the dump.  Guess what?!!? We made it!!!! 

We took everything from the trailer and put it on the ground in a pile.  Then, I got to play with something I’ve never played with before. This special thing was called a blow torch.  Oh my gosh, I feel like Junie B. Jones.  The B stands for Beatrice but she just likes B and that’s all.  Anyway, Amy showed me how to use the blow torch and I got to put stuff on fire.  I mean, real stuff, not just marshmallows and candles.  I burnt boxes, and a bike tire, and I burnt a frozen pizza to a crisp!  I know what you’re thinking.  There’s no way you did that, Lauren.  You’re afraid of fire.  And you’re right, I am.  And even after playing with the blow torch, I still am afraid of fire.  There’s something about it that will scare me forever I think. 

Well, after we made sure the fire would burn everything up we headed back to town in the Honda and attempted to bring the trailer with us.  Yes, I did say attempted.  The trailer detached 3 times on the way back!  Two of these times, it almost went down the hill into the ditch.  The trailer is HEAVY, it would have been a difficult job to get it back up the hill, no matter how small. 

Eventually, we made it back and I worked really hard to back up the Honda and put the trailer in it’s appropriate spot.  I did the best I could but I can see it rolling slightly down a hill.  Relax, it’s not a big hill.  Relax, nothing will be damaged if it had rolled.  Maybe I’ll look into the trailer tomorrow; at least that way I’d know if it rolled or not. 

I’m headed to Stebbins on Wednesday after school for in-service.   I will be there until Saturday.  I’m not sure exactly what the schedule is for while we are there, but does any of it pertain to ECE?  Nope.  My hope is that I will catch something that I can incorporate into my classroom, if not already doing so. 

If you have a question, feel free to ask, Maybe I’ll do a post of all Q&A’s.  Please note that I did say ‘Maybe’.  I guess we shall see.

P.S. Book Orders Came!!!

Being a teacher keeps me busy. Holy cow.  So busy.  I've heard that when a teacher is sick, it's easier to be at school than not due to sub plans being such a pain.  I never really understood until now.  I planned my 5 days for when I'm not going to be there and created detailed, step-by-step lessons for the course of each day. After creating the plans for each day, I made sure all of the supplies were ready for each day and sorted each day's materials into the appropriate boxes.  What boxes?  I have clear boxes that I labeled for each day of the week as well as an extra materials box.  So, I sorted each of the materials and put all of the extra supplies as well as the supplies I will need when I get back in the 'Extra Materials' box.

One of the materials I got to make for while I will be gone is a collection of magnetic fish!  I started out by printing out an outline of a fish (22 times) then coloring each of the fish.  Okay, so I didn't color them completely; I just outlined them, but not because i'm lazy, because I didn't want to use all of the ink in my markers.  I love markers too much to lose the ink so quickly.  After outlining each of the fish, I wrote the numerals on the fish:  1 numeral per fish.  Then I started to cut out the fish.  T he only scissors available were the gigantic ones.  You know the ones I mean:  the size that could be considered a sword for a 4 year old.  Yes, those.  Anyway, I started to cut out the fish and gave up right away, it was going to take too long.  So, I went onto plan B (which I came up with right on the spot, but didn't know why it wasn't plan A.)  I got out the cricut (which is a super cool machine that cuts out miscellaneous shapes) and cut out fish in multiple colors.  I added the numerals to the fish and laminated them to keep them safe.  After the lamination process, I had the pleasure of cutting out the fish.  Isn't that what I avoided the first time?  Yes.  This time however, the lamination could be cut out in a rounded fashion, instead of directly on lines.  Eventually I got to add the magnets to the back of the fish.  "Oh that's cool, so you can put them on the fridge, right?" Nope.  I wanted the kids to be able to use magnetic fishing poles to pick up the fish.  They're going to put the fish in numerical order in the end.

OH MY GOSH, I SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!!!  They were amazing!! I was actually woken up at 12:30am to see them.  Oh my, how good bed sounds right now.  Anyway, so I got out of bed and put on my boots and ran outside.  It was very chilly but it was definitely worth it!  The sky had a long twist of green in it.  I stood outside for a half hour.  Yes, in the cold, Yes, it was still worth it in the end.  Did I mention that I had a cold before I went outside?  Well, I did.  Did it go away afterwards?  Yes! - Okay, so it didn't really go away, that was only a wish.




So, here's the deal.  I know I haven't updated in quite some time.  Why is that?  I was home!!! I went to Menomonie, Altoona, and West Bend! :) I had such a wonderful time and didn't want to come back to Shish.  It's not that I don't like Shish, because I do!  I just really like Menomonie. It's been my home for the last 5 years so can't it be more comfortable to be there?  Maybe if I lived in Shish for 5 years I would feel that way about it too.  I guess we'll have to wait and see what I decide to do.

While I was home, I got my kitty!!!!  She's so adorable, loves to cuddle, she's adventurous, and so far, she's a great traveler.  We've been in transit for 15 hours and he's held up well.  There have been no accidents but I'd rather have that than a kitty with a bladder infection so I guess I'll just have to hope for the best at this point.  Sally O'Mally is also a handful.  She's tried to escape already!  I think the idea of the carrier is not her most exciting thought.  She wants to walk all around the airport but I won't let her. I tried to explain that she will be able to do that in Nome, but not in Anchorage.

I will be boarding the plane to Nome shortly, then will be spending the entire day there.  What am I going to do?  I don't have the slightest idea.  I will have a kitty with me and a small airport with no WI-FI.  Any ideas?  How am I supposed to eat?  Can I bring my kitty to Airport Pizza?  Can't you hear them saying it?  "Yes!  We've got cans of tuna set aside for this exact purpose."  Wouldn't that be nice to hear.  Somehow, I don't think that is how the day is going to go.  Maybe I'll have to have a super expensive lunch delivered to the airport.


Okay, I ordered chinese and had it delivered to the airport.  Chicken fried rice is good in the airport when you're watching Grey's Anatomy too.  Now I've just got to find time to finish the season as well as the new to DVD season of Big Bang.  When am I going to find time for all of this?  I don't have the littlest speck of an idea.