My students write about beauty.

Sometimes my students write amazing things. Really amazing things, like they have wisdom beyond their years or something.

Enjoy.

And then sometimes you get writing like this, which at the very least is humorous. Oh, teenagers...

"people that needs happiness"

These are the kind of paragraphs that make me love teaching. This one calls for a "bless his little heart." He obviously isn't from the U.S.

the minutiae of a mundane life in the Arctic

I suppose it's time for an update, yet lately, I've really been questioning the value of an online presence. I deleted my Facebook account, in case you were wondering what happened. Lately I've been wondering the future of this blog and whether it will continue.... 

But I digress.

So, what's new?

1. I ordered the wrong size rawhide bone. Quya loves it.

2. Unfortunately, Quya loves anything she can put in her mouth. She destroyed a $40 leather leash that a friend was letting me borrow. Way to go, Quya.

3. My daily walks are not so daily anymore. It's starting to get really cold and dark. It's usually pitch black outside by 4:00 p.m. now.



4. HOWEVER, the coolest thing about going outside now is that Quya and I can finally go walk on the lagoon. It's a large wide open space for her to run, and I don't have to worry about cars or bears. Well, at least, that not much. I do have to make sure she stays away from the snowmachines that cross our path. Anyway, it's a great place for her to run, run, run, run, run! She's a Siberian Husky, so that's what she was born to do.

5. A few weeks ago, several teachers from Scotland came to Barrow! I became friends with girl around my age named Chloe. If I visit Aberdeen, you can bet your bum that I'm going to be hanging out with my new Scottish friend. Well, what does this have to do with the above picture? Well, Chloe, two other teachers, and I drove way out of town where some of the camp sites are, and we looked for polar bears through binoculars. A friend of a friend is a polar bear expert and told us there was one around this particular lagoon. Only one of the teachers actually sighted it because the bear was really quite far away. Still, at least we can say we were in the general vicinity of a bear, which the Scottish people thought was "quite brilliant." Anyway, the picture above is of aforementioned frozen lagoon.

6. My friends Leslie and Stephanie brave the cold after lunch at Sam-n-Lee's, the best restaurant in town.

7. Whaling season ended in late September / early October, and I'm hoping to post more about that soon. My friend Amy was here for whaling season, and she got some amazing pictures.

Anyway, the teachers were relieved because that meant school attendance would improve. Unfortunately, dividend checks just came out, so now a bunch of students have left for Hawaiian vacations.

8. Sunday nights are for The Walking Dead. Quya and I go over to another teacher's house to watch it since I don't have cable or a TV. Here is Quya as a zombie. Ain't it the most precious thing ya ever did see....?

9. I could probably count on two hands how many days we've had of clear skies. So, if I see even a patch of blue (or even black) of REAL sky, I'm a happy camper.

10. The AC (the main store) got new shopping buggies (or shopping carts, if you're not from the South). THIS IS BIG NEWS. I jokes... I was just excited because they are pretty and shiny.

11. Yes, I put my Christmas tree up.

No, you may not judge me. 

Quyanaqpak, Father, for...

sincere apologies from students

bacon & eggs on Saturday mornings

philosophical children's stories (I recently read The Little Prince!)

my low students remembering what a thesis statement is

"Grandma's Kitchen" candle

the darkness making Quya sleepy and therefore less psycho

postcards from around the world

homemade iced coffee

how I feel about lesson planning

Who is Sisyphus? Click here.

School Trip - Part 1 (Anchorage Zoo)

Seven students, my principal, and I are currently on the school trip, which is taken every year as a reward for students with good attendance and good behavior. This year, we are doing several things, which I will share with you as the trip unfolds, time-permitting. So far, we spent a few days in Anchorage for shopping where the students were able to go to Old Navy, Wal-Mart, GAP, and other places. Most bought clothing for themselves, although some chose to spend their money on video games and movies. Regardless, Anchorage certainly has a lot more clothing-shopping options than Nome and especially more than Diomede. It was cute to see the girls all pick out purses, shoes, and make-up. The students also went to H2Oasis, an indoor water park, which they loved. It's not very often that native Alaskan kids get to play in the water in the villages - too dangerous and cold.

We also visited the Anchorage Zoo. It was rather chilly, but it was great for the student to see the animals up close.

When the students saw the seals, they instantly knew what kind of seals they were: ring seals. The student you see above jokingly said to everyone, "Anybody hungry?" It cracked me up because seal is certainly a favorite food of Diomeders.

Although we've seen polar bears near the trash dump by the school, we were amazed to see these bears up close. They were lazy and sleepy, and understandably so. I turned to one of my students and said, "I bet we're the only people here that have eaten polar bear before." I'm pretty sure that's a safe bet too.

 Moose.

 Wolverine.

 "Arctic" turkey. Well, just a white turkey. I had never seen one before.

 Magpie.

 The students had never seen so many of these animals before!

 Check out the claws on this grizzly!

 How cute is this otter!

The wolves were rather frightening -- pacing back and forth in their individual cages.

back to verk

Yesterday was so much fun, but now...back to verk, verk, verk.

2Pac

It's the end of the quarter. The students completed their quarterly reading tests, and to end the week, we watched one of my favorite movies, Freedom Writers. In the movie, the teacher uses a line from one of 2Pac's songs an example of internal rhyme. She asks students how many of them like 2Pac, and they all raise their hands. When she asked that in the movie, my students also raised their hands. It made me smile.