The world changed 15 years ago today...

I heard somewhere that high school students today are learning about 9/11 in the history books - what also dawned on me is they probably do not understand how shocking it was for this to happen since they are faced daily with shootings, terror attacks, police hate, etc. 9/11 is their norm - sad.

But - onward and forward to my classroom and life in Togiak.

This past week has been quiet - the kids had Monday (Labor Day) off and then they had Friday off because we had an in-service day. I kept the classroom environment light and fun as much as possible. I invited the 5th grade class to come and do an art project with us! The 5th graders helped my little 1st graders make sun catchers. When I showed the principal, he said he had never seen or heard of sun catchers - and neither had any of the students. It was a fun afternoon for all.

Some teachers got together Thursday night and went to First Creek for a little cook out and some R&R. The weather was a little chilly and I felt my first chill that evening. I brought a turkey burger and chopped up zucchini foil wrap for my dinner - I forgot to bring silverware, but a seashell worked just fine!

Today is rainy, foggy and hazy - a perfect day for another cup of coffee, some reading for homework (I am taking a class Teaching in Rural Alaska), and I might even get out of my pajamas - who knows! Here are a few pictures taken throughout the week..

A special shout-out to Patti for sending me this awesome care package! Chips and peanuts for dinner was the perfect meal last night :)

Happy Labor Day..

It's Monday and I am home drinking coffee and still in my pajamas this morning; I love 3-day weekends!

This last week was beautiful! Just about every day was 69-72 degrees; I'm told this is record breaking temperatures. With the weather being so warm out, I decided to take my class berry picking; it took the kids almost no time to fill up their cups and get full on berries!

The kiddos are also picking a lot of flowers during recess and the girls love to decorate the teacher's hair.

MAJOR HAPPINESS when a bush plane arrived in the village full of fresh picked vegetables to sale - I spent $44.50 and couldn't be happier with my goodies!

School is going great and my kids are a joy. I think we are all falling into the normal routine of classroom schedules, rules and procedures, expectations in other parts of the building, and just the usual parts of a school day. I don't have much exciting events to write about - other than last night a few teachers got together for a game of Cribbage and snacks; it is always nice to get together with wholesome and awesome folks. Enjoy a few more random photos from my week.

Oh - and before you go - THIS little guy is just as precious and handsome as can be - my grandbaby :)

See you all next weekend!

Negative....

... tide :) I had never heard of a negative tide before; but I sure found out how much fun it can be to walk...walk... walk... and then walk even more out into the bay a mile until you reach the end of the extreme low tide. I also learned it is not easy walking to say the least... the floor of the bay is like a concrete mix of clay, mud, slush, and rock - I got stuck and my boots were very stuck! I tried for a few minutes to lift my feet to keep walking, but it wasn't going to happen - barefoot time the rest of the way (I did keep my socks on though). Here are some photos of this FUN time spent with some of the teachers and some village families.

School is going GREAT and I enjoy every one of my students. My students are very sweet natured and happy little kiddos! I had planned on posting photos of my classroom and some of my kids this week on my blog, but last night's event was so awesome that I just had to get that shared! So - stay tuned for classroom/student update next week.

See ya!