Donors Choose Project

I have posted on my new blog but thought I might also post here. I am trying to raise money for a few computers to be used by students in my classroom. If you would like to donate please click here and use the code LIFTOFF to have up to $50 of your donation doubled. If you donate you will in return receive a heartfelt thanks from my students and I.

Spring Break 2017

With weather being so iffy Kelsey and I opted to stay in Toksook for Spring Break. We have enjoyed sleeping in, playing xbox, and getting caught up on all of our work. The spring break has gone by way too fast. Yesterday we went sliding down a hill. We had so much fun even though our sled broke!! Here is a video a put together to show our time sliding.

We have also been watching Islander Boys and Girls play district basketball. We have been streaming the games as school and trying to sell the rest of the senior concessions. We have made a little over $800. Tonight is the last night and both boys and girls are in the championship.





Today we went to the store to buy a new sled. Unfortunately we are still waiting and hoping that they have one in the warehouse. We will check later today and I will update if we have success. But at the store they had dance fans. I have been going to dance practice and I hate to keep borrowing so I purchased a pair. Here they are. Can't wait to try them out.

Also over break I have helped a student finish her science fair project. Her question is how salty does water have to be for an egg to float? Next week we travel to Bethel for the district since fair on Thursday and come back Saturday. Hopefully weather cooperates and I will update how she does.

Also if anyone is wanting a hoodie or long sleeve t-shirt visit booster.com/nissenior5 We have red, black and gray hoodies and long sleeve t's available. All proceed will help the senior class. We almost have $14,000 and any extra will help us have some food and spending money on the senior trip.

Making Gloves and Other Happenings

Sorry for the lack of posts. Grad classes, senior fundraising, and science fair have been keeping me extra busy. This is now my second free weekend in a row. However, last weekend I was catching up on sleep from the RTI conference in Anchorage that we went to. It was a great conference but due to weather we were unable to get back home on Monday. Instead we got back Thursday. So in other words we got another 3 nights in lovely town of Bethel (insert sarcasm).

This week has been a little crazy. We have had many days of delayed start due to weather. It has been very cold and windy. Here is a sample of one of the days and what Nali experienced going outside. She was not very happy as the prospect of going out.

This weekend I already took a break from my usual homework and lesson plans mixed with watching Chuck and did some new things. On Friday our Yup'ik teacher invited a few of us for some fur sewing. We used dental floss for the thread (who knew that was a thing).

I was able to work on this between yesterday and today and here is the product so far. I will have to wait until Monday to find out what my next steps are.

Also on Friday I went to the community Yuraq practice with Kelsey. She has been going for a while but I have usually had homework or Senior stuff. So last night I was convinced to go. It was a lot of fun and I was exhausted by the time we got home at about 9:00pm. 

Senior Hoodie Fundraiser

If anyone is interseted in helping out my seniors raise money you can either donate or buy a sweater or both using this link. When you buy the sweater you can pay extra for shipping and have it shipped straight to you. They should get to you just after the start of the new year.

https://www.booster.com/nissenior



Also sorry for the lack of updates. I have so many things to post on but just don't have the time. I am finishing 2 of my masters classes and just went to bethel with middle school robotics.

School's Out 5K

I meant to get to this post much sooner but I am really far behind. Too much blogging for my master's program.

Anyway, at the end of the school year another teacher and I decided to start a running club and to end it with a community 5K. We had a few kids show up for some of the practices but not a lot. Even with just a few kids we had a lot of fun. On the night of the 5K we only had one other adult that wasn't a teacher but tons of happy kids. Almost every one of them ran the kids 1/2 mile and the 5K, even kindergartners. They were so cute and they all finished. Here are some pics from the race

As you can tell we wore the kids out so much they just collapsed. lol. 

 Here is a big wall of snow. We had to run a little farther just to get to a spot where we could actually climb up. Some of the parts were far too steep.

Before I left the community caught a beluga whale. Our cook gave me a piece to try. Let's just say it was an experience to try it but not something I would do again. It is really fishy tasting and I am not a fan of seafood. 

Prom & Graduation

So I am slowly posting things that happened at the end of the year.

Prom looked AMAZING this year!! Many first year teachers really took a lead. They handmade all of the decorations. I helped in putting them up, but they really did all the work in making the decorations.

                                                     

        

Usually we have the same blue gossamer. This year looked so different, in a good way. I think the students really liked having something different. They all loved the decorations and looked like they had a really good time. The next weekend we had graduation. It looked really nice. We had a banquet for parents and graduates the night before. We had steak, ribs, fruit, salad, veggie trays, marshmallows, pretzels, chips, and chocolate for dipping. Then we had cake and ice cream for dessert. It was about $3,000 including the freight charges. But it was worth it because everyone had a great time and had plenty to take home. We ordered 2 cakes one for the night before and the other to celebrate after the ceremony the next day. Unfortunately they spelled a couple of names wrong. It costs about $75 for a full sheet.  Below is a picture of the gym for graduation. It looked great!

I still have another post I need to create about our 5K run. Hopefully I will get to it before the end of the summer. I have already had a week at home. I'm currently getting ready for a trip to Bali in the middle of June.

Science Fair & Trip to Fairbanks

So this is a little late but near the end of March I was able to take 3 students to Bethel for science fair. I took two 6th graders and a 4th grader. They did so well and loved every minute of it, as did I. We went swimming twice and launched rockets and did many other activities. Here is a pic of them with their rockets.

They also worked really hard on their presentations and it paid off. The 4th grader in the back got 1st place in elementary. The 2 in the front got 2nd and 3rd place for middle school.

Directly following science fair I went to Grant and watched them board a plane with another chaperone. I was staying in Bethel a little longer so I could catch the night flight to Anchorage and then continue on to Fairbanks for training for a program. The PREPARES program has been great for my 7th grade students. We have been learning about how climate change is impacting their villages. We are partnered with a Hawaiian school. At the conference we got to meet with our partners and experience sites that our students might get to experience next year. We first went to the Open North American sled dog race. During this event there as also a parka parade and fur auction. 

Another really cool thing to see was the ice sculpture competition. So many great sculptures but since I am a science teacher I will leave you with this one.

One of my favorite places was Chena Hot Springs. We had plenty of time to soak. It was super hot. I only lasted like 10 minutes. This might be a too much info but it was really weird using the toilets. Some of them had water from the springs. When you sat down you could feel the heat. It was a really bizarre experience. 

I also got to see a bear and reindeer!! The bear was at the culture museum. So not a live one. But the reindeer are real. We went to a scientists personal reindeer farm. We got to feed and pet them. However they were terrified of us. The scientist studies permafrost. His experiment is so easy but so cool. All he does is drill down about 5 feet and put a pvc pipe in. Then he takes plastic tubing, seals one end and fill it with water and some dye. He places the tubing into the pvc pipe and lets it sit. You can then pull it out and see which layers are frozen. I want to have my students do it.

Last, I have to share a picture of us leaving. Being a bush teacher we always have totes. We were each given a tote with supplies for next year. It filled the van and we were piled in the back.

This was such a GREAT trip!! I can't wait to bring students next year!!