Brrrr, it's starting to get a little chilly!

I can tell you I'm still catching up on blog from a couple of weeks ago.  The pictures you are seeing here now are from early November.  As I post every day my student does, and of course days he doesn't, I'll catch up quickly.  For now though you get to experience the change in Egegik from the fall to the winter in quick succession.  

The first tastes of winter come with a cold snap that "burn" the bushes into the dry summer grass fields of the Willamette Valley.  While the air isn't nearly as warm (not even close!), a walk along the beach sure is welcome.  From my vantage point here I can see where the Egegik River starts to mesh with the Bering Sea.  The fresh water with the salt water and the beginnings of ice with start to form where the fresh water sticks around.  The salt water will freeze much later.

As I head further down onto the beach and look towards the south, the "flats" hold a cool sight to behold.  Off the edges fall fresh water that has been pushed ashore by the tide.  As it falls off the flats the cold air whips around it, freezing it to itself and forms ice that droops off each available point.  

The fresh water that comes from up river is starting to freeze.  One wonders how it decides to freeze in certain locations to make large cubes.  Well, maybe it's just me that wonders but man, this one was two feet long by a foot tall.  It looks like it might have broken off of a larger chunk too.  Amazing to see just siting there on the beach.  Just sitting there, the tide didn't take it away.  Currently it's sitting on top of more ice that is not stable enough to walk on but enough to hold more ice that had floated downstream.




Frozen along the shores about 15-20 feet into the river here near AGS (Alaska General Seafoods), ice sits on top of other ice. Yes, this is where the chunk from above was found.  You can't walk on it (yet) but they tell me that this whole bay will freeze over.  It seems amazing that it can happen but I am looking forward to it.  For now though, I still watch from the frozen shore as the channel in the river slides along with chunks of ice in it.

Below you'll see a video of our coldest day so far (to that date anyhow) What can you say, I was bored?!

An evening walk.

Well, some pictures stay hidden in the vault only to be brought out when I feel the need to see something other than the snow.  While that's not the case just yet, these pictures are just too pretty not to share right now.  We haven't seen the green grass in quite some time as it turned to brown quite a long time ago but the green in this picture is subdued and completely overshadowed by the beauty of the ocean and the small sunset in progress.  It was too perfect not to capture and reminds me of the hubby talking about seeing the ever famous "green flash."  While I haven't ever seen that, I'm hoping it happens someday.

After seeing the beauty above, we headed down the bank to see what the beach had in store for us.  Descending down the bank you can still see the sunset as it dips further into the ocean, but we tromped on through the tall grasses hoping to make it back before it got too dark out.  The embankment is pretty steep and a few quick little bursts of speed, intended or not, get you down pretty quick.  It's the climb up at the other end that seems to take forever!  

We walked along the beach and looked for agates, shells and other cool findings that had been washed ashore but didn't find too much this evening.  It was a nice "warm" evening and the walk was much needed.  The best part was the photography opportunities that came when I got down to the shoreline.  I feel like I had another person behind the lens when I started to look through the eyepiece.  The clouds just seemed to "come at me" and swirl.  Maybe it was just a guardian angel who was getting to experience Alaska with me, maybe just dumb luck.  No matter what it was, I am thankful it happened as I will now remember what beauty lies when we just look around.

Upon climbing the banks back up to "dry land" where the tide can't reach us, we made a stop at the place where the old war boats have been sitting and rotting away.  They have really taken a beating but it's pretty cool to see what they look like.  It reminds me of an old Willie's Jeep, but made for the water.
I bet there's some people around that would like to get their hands on something like this and here they sit, rotting away.

The next morning, a little mist and a good amount of sunshine coming in at just the right direction had me running for my camera.  A little rainbow had decided to appear and place itself right on top of our play set here at the school.  I'm not sure what time the sun was up that day but I know it's early morning because of the shadows.  If I remember correctly, I was on the way back from PE in the morning.  Now, we wouldn't have a shot in the dark of getting a shot like this at that time of day.   Actually...it would be a shot in the dark then.  HA!

Enjoy!

Volleyball @ Port Heiden

Being a coach has always been a great way for me to connect with my students no matter where I am teaching.  It doesn't really matter what is going on in the classroom, when you are in the gym coaching, it's a different world.  The academic life seems to stop and the life lessons that are gained through sports begin.  Hard work, determination, dedication, teamwork, and the will to continue when you think you have nothing left can be found on the court, track and the field.

In rural Alaska, being a coach also has a few other benefits.  A flight out of the village is one of them.  Flying across lands not seen by many and experiencing the beauty of the "last frontier" front the seat of a plane is something that is very special to me as I take my students to Volleyball jamborees at other school sites.  This jamboree was held in Port Heiden, Alaska.  The ground was not frozen yet as you can see from the pictures but the dying vegetation contrasted with the water was beautiful.  It's not the mountains covered in snow that many people think of when envisioning Alaska's scenery, however it's my Alaska. It's what I see on a daily basis and when I get the opportunity to see it from the sky, it's even better.  Finding beauty in the world around you is what makes each day special and wondrous.  Not finding that is what makes that very same place, grey, dull and uninviting.  Below you'll see the last bits of green hanging on before the cold winter zaps it away.

Volleyball at Port Heiden was exciting, the first time my team got to play against another.  My team informed me that they had never won a match before.  That was the goal, win at least one.  Battling on throughout the days of play, we did.  We won the first match for Egegik!  While it was the only match we won, the kids improved significantly in team play and they really did a great job.  I was proud to be their coach and really enjoyed watching them have successes!  

During the time at each jamboree, the kids have a service project they work on.  This time it was a beach clean-up.  Each person was handed a big yellow trash sack and put to work.  We combed the beach and to our surprise, glass floats were found along with the trash!  A storm had done it's job and washed up glass floats that were used in nets but lost at sea.  Excitement in the air, chaos, and many screams of "I found one!" were seen and heard as students and staff alike ran with glee.  Yes, myself included.  Those of you who know how excited I can get can just imagine my delight with each one found.

The other great thing that was discovered for me that day were bear tracks in the sand.  The kids continued to point them out to me and I continued to take pictures of them.  Now, let's keep in mind that my boots are a size 12, that's a pretty big bear foot!  It was pretty exciting for me and it's really as close as I have gotten to seeing a bear, something I'm still waiting for and now, I'll be waiting awhile!


Port Heiden is also a very beautiful place with some great views of surrounding mountains.  While they are off in the distance, they can be reached if the teachers want to go on a hike for a day (or two).  That of course was not in the plans for us as we chaperone the students but it would be great to be able to visit and take some time there to explore.

I hope that you can take time each day to look around you and find the beauty in the place that you live or visit.  We only have but once to live each moment of our life, take it in when you can!

The wind

The wind here hasn't been my best friend.  My sleep is very important to me and I don't think I've ever had issues listening to the rain and occasional wind at home and falling asleep to it.  

The constant wind, often accompanied by rain just isn't my cup of tea however when I am trying to catch some zzzzzz's.  It pounds against the side of the school where my bedroom is located.  My apartment is on the second level and is kind of up on stilts you could say.  So when the big gusts come along I sway a little.  The sway isn't so bad, it just lets me know there was a gust.  It's the noise.  The constant hammering on the metal siding and the howl as it goes through the screw holes and the tunnels of the sheeting.

I'm sure it will take some time and by the time school is out I'll be sleeping like I've lived here forever, for now though, earplugs make me nervous I'll miss alarms in the morning.

Here's a little video taken in the daytime to let you see the power of the wind.  It is raining during this, I'm sure you'll catch a little glimpse there too.  I'm standing from the safety of my house with a window open so I'm able to stay fairly steady until a gust comes along.  I'm sure you'll notice that part!

Back in Egegik

State Trooper Matt came into town.

Our host's entry way sign.

My first meal when I got back from Oregon was at a local house in town.  I have to say that I truly enjoyed the company.  I got to enjoy some great spaghetti, great company and watch some wildlife from the kitchen table.  I thought it was funny while I was sitting there, our host thought he might grab another wild animal with his gun.  Trouble is the state trooper was having dinner with us.  His son had to remind him that it probably wasn't such a good idea.  Anyhow, it was a nice homey feeling to be having dinner with that group and of course, I got my picture with an AK state trooper, that was fun times too!  Matt's real nice and I know that if there's ever an issue, he'll be a plane flight away.  

Halloween wasn't more than a few days away and the few gourds and the one small pumpkin that I managed to bring home with me made a nice little entry way for my few trick-or-treaters.  Of course it is nothing like at home where we haunt the yard and have kids running down the street from us.  That is much more fun when the parents laugh at the kids as they run frightened because they were determined to get the big candy from our house.  These kids here had it made!  I had two full size candy bars along with some "snack size" ones in baggies all made up for them.  I was ready for every kid in the village, plus a little for me.  That was 18 baggies.  How many kids showed up to my door?  4.  Well, I guess I'm set for a year for candy!

Here lies Ms. Kasie, too bad she was too spacey  &  RIP Dorothy: Wishes she had some shorter hair, they used it to tie her to the electric chair

And he thought he'd scare me.  Startle maybe, scare, no.  Good costume though!

It's about to get a whole lot "post-ier" around here

When students create blogs and work on writing skills, teachers often make promises to students that they too will work on their blogs.  We put ourselves on the line and promise to do what we ask the students to.  For if we can not do what we ask of them, why should they have to be doing this, right?

That means, my student who sits at a desk for 30 minutes a day and writes intently on his blog should expect my blog to come up with a posting that requires the same amount of dedication each day.  My words probably flow faster and with more ease as I have been doing this for quite some time now, however there are times where I just don't feel like writing.

I'm already a day behind.  OUCH.  There's days I'm sure each and every one of my students don't feel like doing their work.  Writing can be a chore sometimes and I'm sure that at some point you'll see a posting where I was working at it rather than having it flow because I was enjoying what I was writing because I made a promise to a student to do what I had asked of them to do.

It's ok though, I know people are waiting for more news from the AK world.  I know I don't write enough. Let me tell you though, I might just get caught up with all the news I have to write about.  I'm only 3 weeks behind at this point.  A day at a time now, I should get caught up pretty quickly!

So here's to the daily blogging, may you enjoy the updates as my fingers fly across the keyboard in a fury for at least 30 minutes a day!

Some new ideas....writing #1

Inservice proved to be something that I won't forget.  In addition to providing me with an opportunity to teach others how to use iMovie, I learned a ton about writing.  I am a good writer, for the most part.  I got through college with not too much struggle.  However, it comes naturally to me.  I was not one who went to college to earn a teaching degree to teach people how to write.  I don't think I ever diagramed a sentence until two weeks ago.  EVER.

I also didn't learn how to teach people how to write stories, how to compose a paragraph, etc.  These were all things that came naturally to me and when needed, I help student edit papers that were turned into me, that they were writing for other classes, or for various other reasons.   Was I the one assigning many of these papers?  No.  Now, I am.

I have much more respect for those teachers who teach kids how to write and for those who teach those who struggle in their attempts to do so.  To be a teacher who is now having to go back to middle school and beginning high school concepts and learn how to teach them how to compose sentences and write papers is something I wasn't quite prepared for.

There are a few things though that really stood out from my inservice that I've tried and have helped me so far.  Having to help them with the creation of a story from scratch is pretty hard sometimes and with the help of the iPad, my SmartBoard and an app called Story Wheel, you can put up to 4 students in a group and they can spin the wheel and receive a picture from which they must add part to the story.  They record their part and hit stop.  The next student goes, gets their picture and the game continues.  In the end, the pictures play as the students all listen to their group story.  Some funny stories can come about but this could be good for an individual who just needs a prompt to help them along in their writing.  Think about using the one wheel for the entire class who then have to write two sentences for each picture as their story progresses.   Each student would have such different stories by the end, it would be fantastic to see what their imaginations would come up with!

What have you used in your writing classes?

Stay tuned for the next writing idea.

.