Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Changing Education- RSA Animate

If you have never seen this, it's something I look at from time to time to remind me of a few reasons that I am in education, to remind me that we are teaching people, that there may be reasons why the students are not excited at school and to try to find a better way to integrate the technology, real life situations and to connect with them every day.

   

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Something I never thought I'd see.

It was a myth, something I'd only heard could happen.  It was finally cold enough, we were just silly enough and we had all the right tools.  A cup, hot water, a camera and the cold weather.





Yeah for Alaska and the cold.  You'll never see that in Oregon!  (I hope!)

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Do you see what they see?

The eyes of a child can sometimes show us what we are missing.  They can enlighten us to what we skim over, forget what we once saw, or sometimes......what isn't even there.  For the rest of the year, I'm not only teaching high school, I'm teaching elementary school science and history as well.  My high school kids are being taught writing by the other teacher here and during that time, I get the little ones.  Through their eyes, I'm sure I will learn just as much about the world, the way they learn and about myself and my teaching style as they could ever learn from me.

That being said, a story for your enjoyment.

Evaporation.  One way to separate a mixture.

Our mixture on Wednesday was water and epsom salt.  They were amazed at how quickly the water and salt combined to form the mixture of a solid and a liquid.  The salt seemed to dissapear.  Where did it go?  How do we get it apart again?  Some of the other methods we had used wouldn't work and they were skeptical that this new way would.  I told them we'd check on it tomorrow.  So we did.  Nothing really changed, still "all water".

Over the weekend, because we didn't have science on Friday, of course the water finally evaporated and left behind beautiful crystals of salt.  I was excited for their reaction as they were about to see that the water had disappeared into the air and left behind the solid that we had added to the mixture before.  Not to disappoint me, they came with great reactions.  WOW!  What is that?!  Is that really what's left?!  It looks like a snowflake!

Epsom Salt Crystals

We chatted about it, I let them touch it and then immediately wash their hands and then I pulled out the microscope.  Oh goodness, you would have thought I was royalty!  They loved every minute of it.  After some time looking at the crystals and seeing it look like wood or a sideways river, they began to see pictures in it.  I'm not quite sure where salt crystals turn into bears eating fish in a river but that's what they saw today.  There were also animal heads, birds amongst other creatures.  I tried, I really did.  I even showed them how to move the little pointer to show me just where they were talking about.  I just couldn't see it.

Maybe through the eyes of a child we see new and exciting things.  Much like I see Egegik in a new way that the people who have lived here their whole lives don't anymore.  Today though, it just wasn't happening for me.  Maybe another day.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Star light, star bright

First star I see tonight.

Check the website.  Auroras are supposed to be "highly active."  Even down this far, we should be able to see them low on the horizon.   Upon looking out my window, the sight of a star high up in the sky signals to me that the possibility of clear skies all over further into the night might mean I get my first glimpse of the Northern Lights.

A little restraint, I know I needed to wait for the night to progress.  Maybe I didn't.  The site did say for the little half hour forecast that it was "extremely active," why wait?!  So, I got my gear on, packed the camera up, the tri-pod so I could get video for everyone to enjoy, a water bottle (so I could watch it freeze), and my gun.  Layers upon layers of clothes so I could burn inside and just stay warm outside went on and off I went.  A nice evening walk through town to get away from the lights in the wind-chilled -22° weather and I was at a decent viewing spot (I think).

Low clouds, low on the horizon there were still some clouds right where they said we'd be able to see the lights.  What a bummer.  I figured I'd wait awhile and see what happened.  Maybe I'd get lucky.  Now, I don't know if what I saw was me WANTING to see them so bad, but I swore I saw a dance of blue lights across the sky but I wanted to see them again before declaring that I had seen the Northern Lights.  So for now, I will say that I am still without a sighting.

My night was not without excitement though.  I was rewarded for my efforts with an awe-inspiring sight.  As I stand, watching the sky for dancing lights, a burst of light flew from one side of the sky and burned it's away across the sky until fading out as it went through the atmosphere.  A true shooting star that seemed to be there just for me made my evening.  It's my first one even!  Standing all alone in Alaska, in a tiny fishing village away from the world, all I could think about is how lucky I am to have this experience.  All I wanted to do was to share it with Eric.  A smile and elation about the moment washed over my face and the emotion of the event was a little overwhelming.

As I decided that the cold was then a little too much to handle, the flapping of an American and Alaskan flag waved goodbye as I scurried down the road to reach the warm comforts of home.

A shooting star in Alaska, how lucky am I?

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Is it hot in here?

Or is it just me?

I think it is hot.  I'm 100% positive of it in fact.

Step inside and experience it with me.  I'll tell you what it is like inside a wonderful Egegik Steam Bathhouse.

Grab your set of clothes, a towel and some soap, step inside away from the cold and feel the warmth begin to prepare you for what is about to come.

Inside this first room, the clothes and towels get left on the bench, you leave all modesty behind and walk with the others who are bathing into the steam room.  Your life as you know it is about to change.  From the unknowing inexperienced "modern showerer", you are instantly taken back to how it's been done for years in the villages by the natives.

Our host for tonight has grown up only steaming for her baths, she loves it and misses it when she travels.  She waits patiently and explains what she's doing, which water is hot and which is cold.  She tells us that the upper level benches put you up where it is much warmer and to sit down lower if we need to, and that using our washcloth dipped in cold water placed over our face can help if we start to get too warm.

SIZZLE.....water on the hot rocks.....instant heat....instant sweat, and instant amazement.  I can't believe how much steam, sweat, and the like is running down my body.  It's hot, a moment of panic grips my lungs, and I have to calm myself so I don't freak out.  I was ok, I know I'd be ok, but that moment of panic was intense.  Again, I look down at my leg and streams of sweat and steam from inside are pouring down, I have it dripping into my eyes and down off my lips, I wonder to myself, I wonder how many calories I could burn this way?

Cold cloth.  I dip the washcloth into the cool water, bring it to my face, and have instant relief.  Why didn't I do this sooner?  I didn't want to be a wimp, that's why.  You know what, it didn't matter now.  I'm a first timer, she told me it helps when it gets to hot an I'm going to use it.  Whew!  It was a god send!

Out into the side room.  Our clothes sit and wait but we take a quick break.  We need to give ourselves a quick rest from the steam and take in some air.  3-5 minutes and we head back inside.  I head back to the top bench because I'm going to tough it out, I want the full experience.  WHOOSH....water onto the hot rocks.  It got so hot, so fast!  After about a minute, I grabbed that washcloth and got the cold water and it was covering my chest.  I moved down to the lower level and had to protect my skin.  The steam was intense.  My face got water, my body got water.  It was hot, I almost couldn't stand it.  I did though and it felt so good.

At one point I did have to step out for a couple of minutes because I was feeling light-headed.  They warned me to do so if it got too hot and I felt that way.  I figured since it was my first time and she warned me about the possibility of passing out if I got light-headed, it was the good thing to do.  Upon returning it was time to sit on the floor, let the steam cool a little and then start the bathing process.

It was just like a regular bath really.  It reminded me of when you were little.  Wash the hair, wash the body and then use the pans to dump water all over you.  It was great, just three ladies in there chatting about anything and everything, taking a steam bath and it was not even weird.

We got done, our host squeegees the floor, and we head out to the other room to dry off.  As we sit there, steam rising into the cold air from our skin, conversation flows as it has for the past hour and a half with ease.  Dressing and re-packing ensues.

We scurry out of the steam house into the house and wait for the truck to warm up.  A gracious thank you to our host as she drops us off for the evening and a clean, tired, and warm writer blogs before she heads to bed.

What a wonderful Egegik Experince!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Children of the Midnight Sun


Children of the Midnight Sun    By: Brown/Corral

Take a look inside the lives of 8 young native children and listen to their voices as they talk about what it's like to live in the different places, experience the different parts of Alaskan life and see just how different it can be for them than it is for the children of the lower 48.

Beautiful pictures show the light in the eyes as they express the love for their culture, talk about the heartaches they are overcoming, and what they are doing to preserve their ways of life.

I read this book to the elementary students as part of our history unit as they were to re-tell the stories to me afterwards.  To their surprise, and mine, the last story in the book included Egegik!  Maybe that's why we have an autographed copy in the library!

I hope you have an opportunity to enjoy someday just as I have.  I think the best part is knowing how to say some of the words, struggling through others and knowing that pre-August, I wouldn't have had a clue!

What else will I find in the AK section of our library?

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Photo Blog

I am a terrible blogger.  Well, at least I have been for awhile.  Maybe my New Year's Resolution should start now.  The ease of uploading a photo to Facebook from the iPad really has kept me away from here.  I need to get it onto here now too.

So for today, it's a photo blog.  The much anticipated icicle picture.  Our school has some fantastic icicles growing from the roof on my side of the building.  I have the elementary students for Science and we started measuring the longest one on Thursday.  To our surprise it started out at 43"!  Today, 45.5"  I didn't think it really warmed up enough for some melting and re-freezing to occur, and I didn't see any precipitation falling....so, maybe there is just enough in the air for it to keep growing!  I really don't get the sun on my side of the building either.

Anyhow, without further ado..

Measuring earlier in the day.

Showing them how much an inch really is before they predict how long it will be when we measure.

My classroom, snow trying to fall off the roof.

Many large icicles.

The longest one.

Don't stand underneath, they are called "killer-cicles" for a reason.  Maybe dangerous-cicles...

Anyhow currently the longest one is 45.5" and still growing.  I will keep you all updated!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year

It's been awhile, I know.

I've made the trip home again, flying for more than a day to see my family and friends.  We've enjoyed the psycho dog reunions, last minute Christmas shopping, a good amount of gift wrapping (my speciality), the tree decorating, the hot chocolates and Christmas morning.  We've been to several houses, seen many friends, enjoyed the good company and even celebrated Mom's birthday last night.

We came home early last night because we know one of the dogs doesn't like the fireworks that always goes off in the neighborhood.  Last night we ended up sharing our bed with a more than slightly frightened Siberian Husky.  He took up more than his fair share I would say.  But, he settled down and at least we all got some sleep.

The new year has begun.  Some look forward to new beginnings, changing habits, breaking habits, saving money, a new baby, a new house, a new marriage, etc.  It's amazing how people want to change, will change and how these changes affect everything around them.  I hope for everyone that the changes that happen with/to/for you this year are for the good.

I'm not sure what to look forward to this year.  Life has changed so much for me and for those around me.  I look forward now to flying back to Egegik to start school up again, a test in the middle of January, then to the end of February when I will be in Anchorage again experiencing something new there.  Then towards the end of school we'll have many cool events and then I'll look forward to the middle of May and coming home for a few months.

What do you look forward to this year?