Remember kids, lunch is a sprint, not a marathon

Mrs. Greene and Mr. Larsen's Daily Schedule:

7:30AM- Arrive at School
8:00AM- 9:22AM- Block A- 7th Grade Science
9:25AM- 10:06AM- Prep
10:09AM- 10:50AM- Intervention- Math with 2 students
10:53AM- 12:15PM- Block B- 7th Grade Science
12:18PM-12:32PM- Open Gym
12:35PM- 12:50PM- Homeroom- 8th Grade
12:53PM- 1:05PM- Lunch
1:08PM- 2:30PM- Block C- 8th Grade Science

A few things to note:

#1 I never go back to back teaching
     -This comes in handy when the first class of the day doesn't go so well (more common than I'd like.....)  This gives me time to modify ( or entirely re-write) a lesson

     - Also is nice that after a class is taught you have breathing time to psych yourself up for the next class.  Middle school is exhausting

#2 Block Scheduling
     - Pro- 82 minutes of class is awesome- you can get so much done in a class period!!!
     -Con- You also have to plan a minimum of 3, if not 4 different activities every day, or you will lose your students to adolescent distractions

#3 15 MINUTES FOR LUNCH!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!

     Here's the play-by-play of lunch today

12:48- Let homeroom out a bit early to try and sneak more time in
12:51- Finally left the classroom after chatting with Ms. Greene
12:51- Power-walked across the gym where the 7th graders were having open-gym time- almost got hit by 3 basketballs........
12:53- Food in hand! I had to cut the line in front of the 8th graders....oh the joys of being a teacher
12:54- Arrived in the teacher's lounge sat down and started eating
12:55- Tried to have a full-mouth conversation with Mr. Gillaspie- pretty much the only other Male I talk to on a regular basis
12:58- Only one egg roll down, time to make a push for the finish!
1:02- 2 egg rolls down, working on vegetables (I try to be healthy but times like these called for sustenance before health)
1:03- Ms. Green says "Oh shoot! we have to go get the kids!"
1:04- Milk is mostly down, dinner roll in hand, powerwalk to student lunchroom to pick up 8th graders
1:06- Arrive at student lunchroom to see last students powering down their meals- how they got it all down I will never know......
1:09- Starting class.....only 1 minute late

Now, previous experience I have gleaned some tips, so here you go:
- Always strategize what you want to eat and what you need to eat.  Some days are burrito-first, those are need to eat days.  Some days are vegetable first- you gotta try to be healthy sometimes
- Take an apple from the cafeteria in the morning, eat it during prep or gym.  This helps offset the amount you feel like you have to cram down in 15 minutes
- Talking is optional, the other teachers understand that you have 15 minutes- you have to try and be polite, but nobody will judge if you just silently shovel


Well folks, hope this helps just in case you also have a 15 minute lunchbreak.

Stay warm,

Peter

Quote of the Day:  "I found out today that my ELL (English Language Learner) student likes it better when we play games than when we do worksheets!"  Katrina Schroeder.  Admittedly it is a bit out of context, but Jess and I laughed for a good while about this one.

Joe's Museum and Barrow Climate

On Thursday night we were finally able to experience the famous Joe's Museum!  Joe "the waterman" has been collecting Inupiaq artifacts for many years and has acquired QUITE the collection!!! A little bit about Joe: before there was a water system in Barrow, Joe spent his days delivering water to all of the households in town.  This was his job for over 25 years (which, I should add, he always did in a T-Shirt! Brrr!!!).  After awhile, he decided to change jobs and help out his mom at her restaurant across the street: Pepe's.  Joe's Museum is actually right in his home!  He excitedly invites people in for free to see his WIDE variety of collections of artwork, animals, and pieces of Inupiaq history which he prides himself in.  Here are some pictures of Joe's Museum:

I tried to take a panorama so you could see all the collections Joe has but it is difficult to see...

Us with Joe!!!

Sunset in Barrow, AK (approximately 11pm)

I also wanted to use this blog entry to answer a question we have from a reader!
The question is: "Tell us more about the weather.... in summer how warm does it get on average? Winter- how cold in Jan.? average low?? In winter what is the average snow fall amount"

This is what I found (temperature and snowfall averages):
January: -8F/-19F (Average High/Low); 2.2in
February: -10/-22; 1.9in
March: -7/-20; 1.7in
April: 6/-8; 2.2in
May: 25/15; 1.7in
June: 38/29; 0.8in
July: 47/34; 0.2in
August: 44/34; 0.9in
September: 35/27; 5.0in
October: 21/11; 7.4in
November: 6/-6; 3.2in
December: -4/-15; 2.2in

It may also interest you to know that Barrow is 320 miles north of the Arctic Circle and Barrow experiences the lowest average temperatures in Alaska. 
Temperatures remain below freezing from early October through late May. The high daily temperature is above freezing on an average of only 109 days per year. There are freezing temperatures on an average of 324 days per year.  Freezing temperatures, and snowfall, can occur during any month of the year.
Barrow is a desert, and averages less than 5 inches (127 mm) "rainfall equivalent" per year, given that one inch of rain possesses approximately equal water content to 12 inches (30 cm) of snow.
(For more information, check out the following site:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrow,_Alaska)

Keep sending us questions (e-mail, text, facebook, blog comments, etc.)
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
We spent our time lesson planning! :)
-K

Ilisagvik College Commencement 2012

Last night we got to see our friends at the college receive the the certificates and degrees they had been working towards.

The ceremony was very unique in the dress, music, speakers, and the program as a whole. The ceremony began with the processional, but not you're usual pomp and circumstance, the students walked in to eskimo drumming and wearing their cap and gowns over traditional eskimo wear. Most had mukluks on and some of the girls in the ceremony skipped the gown completely and wore traditional eskimo shirts instead.

There were student speakers and we even got to hear from the only motivational speaker on the north slope, John Baker, the 2011 Iditarod Winner. He encouraged people to work towards their goals even through tough times.

When each of the students were presented with their diploma or certificate, we heard their name and who their parents are. That's small town living for you. Students received everything from GED's to Associates of Arts Degrees to certificates in Business, Inupiaq Studies, and workplace success.

It was interesting to hear how proud the people of this town of having their own place to educate their community after high school.

After the 2-hour ceremony, there was food and Eskimo dancing! The professor of Inupiaq studies and her students led a dance in the traditional eskimo style. Each of the dances represent a different part of eskimo life, there is one about getting a new bow and arrow, scraping seal skin, and even avoiding mosquitos.

Culture shock??

Every afternoon we are picked up by our friend Simon.  Simon is from California.  Simon wears shorts nearly every day.  I don't get it either.

However, when we are picked up in the lovely Ilisagvik mini-van, you can generally hear the music blaring from 10 feet away.  And it's generally Reggae.  (Now, which Gustavus Education Department professor does this remind you of.......) Hearing a little "Apple to My Eye" every afternoon is a great way to relax after a day of teaching middle schoolers.  Simon drives the van all day long, it's his full-time job, and he jams out all day long!  Sadly, he doesn't have dreadlocks, because that would be the icing on the cake.

Now, at first you'd think that Simon was the one guy who listened to reggae in Barrow Alaska.  That's what I'd thought too! But then, when Mark (the native eskimo who drives us in the morning) drives us to school in the morning, he jams to reggae.  The same was true with Carol, the third van driver!  Then we stopped at Pepe's, the farthest north Mexican restaurant....and they were playing reggae!!?

So I thought to myself, "Self, why do people in Barrow, Alaska listen to reggae?" Then I paid some more attention. There is a fairly large population of folks from Samoa and other pacific islands in Barrow.  Which explains the reggae.  But still doesn't explain why Simon wears shorts everyday...........

Ponder that one for a bit,

Stay warm,

Peter

12 year old girl quote of the day: "Mr. Larsen, you should try Bosley."  

Ouch.

What do you wish you had learned in college?

Busy, busy, busy.
Tonight's blog will be short(er).

First of all, it was a half day at school because it is Wednesday and thus, we had planning meetings after the students left.  Peter and I sat in on the 8th grade committee and talked a lot about Promotion.  WOW!  It is a HUGE deal for the 8th graders!  Apparently, some of the students will miss school to go to Anchorage and buy prom-worthy attire to wear at the ceremony (which, by the way, will be covered by their gowns).  But the major issue is that there are no standards for the students who get to walk during Promotion.  So the teachers talked a lot about setting up some grounds for who will be allowed to walk in the future...for example, if the students aren't coming to school and if they are failing their classes, they shouldn't be allowed to participate in Promotion.

After meetings, we took Sharon to the Heritage Center to show her around and then came back to the college for dinner.

This evening at dinner we were posed with the question, "What do you wish you had learned in college? (but didn't...)"
Some of the topics we discussed were: legalities of teaching, how to apply for a job, how to manage money and finances, how to prepare for teacher licensure exams, when to begin applying for teaching licensure, basic math skills that are used in middle and high school, etc.  It is amazing how much we have learned just in the past semester of student teaching!  EXPERIENCE has been so important to gaining all of the information that we maybe weren't directly given in our college courses.

So now I would like to ask you all that same question: What do you wish college had better prepared you for???  Are there things that you learned after college that you wish you were taught during those 4 years???

PS Send us questions that you have about Barrow!!! We want to use the blog to answer them!
PPS I'll post more pictures ASAP, I promise!

-K

It's Electric!

No, not the dance, but everything that you touch up here!  We have commented in the past about how dry it is here in Barrow (my hair is full of static on a regular basis), but to give you a better idea of how "shocking" the arctic can be, I'm going to share with you all of the sparks that flew today because of static electricity.

Turning on the light in my room in the morning, bumping Peter's arm as we walk down the hall for breakfast, grabbing the door to my classroom, the door to the teachers lounge, my classroom, the teacher's lounge (etc...), turning off the lights to the classroom, the door between my classroom and the exit, turning on the lights in my room, and a couple of other accidental shocks from bumping into people throughout the day.


Every time I go to enter my classroom or turn on the lights, I hesitate, preparing myself for the shock to come. The students here sometimes shuffle their feet in the hallway to try and shock each other or their teachers!

At least it's not surprising anymore, but sometimes the anticipation is worse!

Our supervisor from Gustavus is here this week and enjoying the middle school with us everyday. This is her first time in barrow and we're trying to keep her busy while doing all of our lesson planning as well. We hope to take her to the Heritage Center and a couple other adventures before she heads home on Friday. She already got to experience Pepe's (the furthest north Mexican restaurant) and got her certificate saying she has visited the top of the world!

Caribou, Owls, and Whales OH MY!!!!

This weekend we had some fun experiences, mostly surrounding wildlife.  So today I think I will write about the wildlife we've experienced so far in Barrow.

Yesterday afternoon we went to the BASC (Barrow Arctic Science Consortium) building to check out a lecture on marine mammal sounds.  Kate Stafford- the lecturer- is the world leader on marine mammal sounds. She gave a great lecture letting us hear her recordings from a hydrophone (underwater microphone) of bowhead and beluga whales, walrus, and 3 species of seal.  Each has a unique noise and they are all found off the coast here in Barrow.

This is the BASC building- within walking distance of the college (away from the ice- no polar bears)

Here's a snow fence near BASC.  I think it's working, that's about a 15 foot snowdrift on the right side.

After the lecture I went skiing out on the tundra with my cooperating teacher Deb Greene.  Deb is great, she's very excited about being outside and adventuring.   (She's climbed Mt. Mckinley twice)  Our goal was to see caribou, or Tuttu (Tu-tu, short u's) as the locals call them.

It's incredible how flat and white everything is.  We were hoping to see caribou on the horizon as we started, but we couldn't so we started skiing.

Flat, white, grey, no caribou.  Tundra skiing at it's finest!

 As we moved across the tundra, we first came upon something that wasn't white!  Hoping it was a arctic fox den we moved in closer to take a peak:

As it turns out, what we saw was made by an arctic fox, but it wasn't a den.  It was a hole where the fox had dug to find mice under the snow.  VERY COOL (for a science nerd like me)

We continued skiing, and then on the horizon we started to see dots, more specifically moving dots!  Well, at first I wasn't really sure if they were actually moving or even existed; my eyes were playing tricks on me because of all the whiteness.  It was incredible!  The dots were moving and sliding across the horizon, my eyes were going crazy!  I wish I could describe it better to you.  Deb commented that it was like vertigo because you couldn't tell where the white snow ended and the grey sky began, a very confusing experience.  

However, we skied towards the moving dots, and as it turns out they were actually there, not a figment of our imaginations!  We kept skiing, wondering if what we saw were snow machines (sno-ma-sheens) or Tuttu.  We kept moving until we were close enough to tell that they had legs! They were Tuttu, but they were still over 1 kilometer away.  Unfortunately, we had to turn back for dinner.  We turned around and could still see the truck....somewhat depressing after skiing for 40 minutes, but we started on our way home, achieving our goal of seeing Tuttu, but not getting close enough to take a good picture (I tried but it didn't turn out.)

On the way home, something caught my eye on the left side of the road, I looked and there! A snowy owl!! It flew right across the road then perched on a post about 150 feet off the road.  I did my best to take, zoom, and edit a picture so you could see, and here it is, but it doesn't do justice to the beauty of this animal.

New goal- get a better picture of a snowy owl.

All in all, we had a great weekend, and now you know a little more about the wildlife here in Barrow.  As I learn more, I'll write more!

Stay warm,

Peter

Inupiaq word of the day:

Nanuk (na- nook): Polar Bear

The place we call home

I was talking to my mom today and she gave me an idea for a blog topic today. I want to give you a little tour of where we live here in Barrow, Alaska. Fist off, I don't think that the location of the college can even be considered Barrow. There are two parts of town up here and I think we both go to school and live in Browerville.  Here's a map:

The red circle the furthest south would be considered Barrow. The green circle is considered Browerville and the orange star is where the Middle School is. The purple circle further north is Ilisagvik College, home sweet home.

Now that you know where we are, I'll tell you a little bit more about the school.
The building itself is shaped like an H. On one of the long sides, the girls sleep on one side and the boys on the other with a lounge in the middle where we can all hang out and watch tv. We like to sit out there and talk to "mom" when she is working and every once and a while play a dance game on the Kinect. The students work on homework and play card games there constantly.  Our dorm rooms are very simple with just two plain twin beds, a dresser, two closets, and two nightstands. We do have huge windows (with very heavy curtains) in our room and, I can't speak for Peter, our view is fantastic.

Panoramic Picture of the lounge. The door on the right leads to the boys dorms, and my dorm is off to the left.

On the other side of the building (if you cross the short part of the H), is the dining room where we find our good friend Steve, always there to serve us our food for the day. The food here is good and people from town come to the college and eat often. Every few days we see some of our students eating dinner here with their families. We have a ton of options everyday. For breakfast there is always fresh fruit, cereal, bagels, toast, biscuits and gravy, french toast or pancakes, breakfast potatoes, eggs, yogurt, sausage, and bacon. Dinner is different every night, but there is always a great salad bar, rice, some kind of meat option, veggies, and desert options. I have to admit, I do like that I don't have to cook my own meals everyday!

Down the other long part of the H is where some of the scientists have their offices here. We haven't spent a lot of time exploring, but one of them skis and Peter is hoping to go out skiing with him very soon.

On the short part of the H (which if you have been following, connects the cafeteria and the lounge), is full of offices of employees of the college, a conference room, a place to use computers, the bookstore, and more offices. This hallway is filled with pictures of the native people, information about what is going on at the college and some maps of the area. Near the computers there is even a seal skeleton on display.

Outside, but within walking distance, we have the rec center. We try (okay so the other two try, and I just tag along) to go here everyday and work out. They have a half court for basketball (which I mainly use to dance if no one else is around), and a lot of workout equipment. I've even been starting to run here!

As much as I try to give you a picture of how life is here, it's hard without actually being able to see it. There is a really good map here with tours of the facilites. They don't look quite the same, but they are pretty close. The dorm room is just about spot on though, except that Katie and I have an amazing view of Browerville from our window which I will show you one day when it's not so cloudy!

If any of you people out there reading our blog have something that you want to know more about, just leave us a comment and we'll do our best to relay you the information!

Top 10 reason's you know you're in Barrow

#10  It's spring, daytime highs are 10 degrees

#9  More students ride snow machines (that's snowmobiles to you midwesterners) than bikes to school

#8  Eskimo time means you might have to wait over an hour for a van to pick you up

#7  When you ask a 7th grade class "Who has helped someone in their family butcher an animal?",  every single hand goes up

#6 Shooting a caribou for a science experiment is no big deal

#5 If you say you're going to "the store" there's really no question as to which one it is, there is only one.

#4  Dusk starts at about 11pm, night doesn't really happen

#3 Middle school girls laugh at you when you tell them 32 degrees is cold

#2 Running outside is not an option for fear of being eaten

#1 You haven't seen a 2 wheel drive vehicle since Chicago


And remember, lunch is a sprint, not a marathon.

-Peter

Taking a test I don't know the answers to

Coming into this placement at this time of the year feels like taking a test I don't know the answers to. For multiple reasons. I have no idea what my students already know or are capable of, with high school it was different basic math skill are to be expected and I remember learning things in high school and, for the most part which order they came in. It's been a long time since I've been in 7th grade. I also am very aware that I have classes that although the students are in the same grade, they can't be expected to do the same warm-ups. We didn't get the chance to learn as much from observing here because by Friday of week one we were all teaching at least one, if not more classes. It's a learning curve and sometime I push them too far and sometimes not enough.

Classroom management has become more of an issue as well. Students are excited for school to be done and want to see what they can get away with when there is a new face in front of the class. I want to have the same expectations that their teacher has for them but I don't know what all of her expectations are! It's been interesting to try and pass these tests the students are giving me each hour when I never had a chance to study.

I learn each day what I should and shouldn't be expecting from my students and by the end of this week I feel like I will have a really good idea of what my students can handle, both with content and with my expectations.

Prom, Polar Bears, Craftsmen, and a Potluck

Hello friends!

The three musketeers (as I have decided to call us) had an interesting Monday.  We didn't have school!!  For one reason or another the middle school decided that today would be a good day to take off, so we had the day to enjoy.

The first plan was to visit the high school, we made it there on time...only to realize that they also did not have school but teachers had an inservice- so naturally we ran as fast as we could from that whole situation, but not before taking pictures of some of the posters in the high school.

Prom this year will be themed NEON MASQUERADE!  So, in contrast to all the white snow, ice, and tundra out there, make sure to wear bright colors.

Also, watch out for Polar Bears.  They tend to eat highschoolers wearing bright colors.  I jokes, I actually learned quite a bit from this informational poster.

We left the high school and went to the Heritage Center, a place that we were told we HAVE to go to to learn about the Inupiaq (that's i-noo-pee-ack, Mrs. Larsen says I have to write these out so you midwesterners can say them correctly in your head) culture.  As always, everyone was very friendly and welcoming.  As I walked around the museum, I noticed something I found peculiar.  All the exhibit writings were written in the plural first person (not an english major, I don't actually know if that's a real thing).  What I mean is they would describe something using the word "we" not they or a proper noun.  For example, "For at least 4,000 years we have lived along these shores, building camps on the best hunting grounds."  This is only one demonstration of the pride that the Inupiaq people have of their culture and history.  The museum was filled with artifacts and exhibits about both the historical and current traditions of the citizens of Barrow.  Here's a few pictures from the Museum:

This is a "shoulder gun" Used for whaling for the last 100+ years.  It fires a bomb- seen below it on the right, which is a crude pipe-bomb like projectile that explodes with the purpose of killing the whale quickly and humanely after it has been harpooned.

 Here is a frame of an umiaq (oo-me-ack) which sealskin would be stretched over and still is used as a boat for whaling.

This is a whale-hunting parka.  The white color acts as camoflage against the snow, ice, sky, and boat while whaling.

The back of the museum has a workshop where local artisans can work on their crafts.  We stopped by and learned all about baleen etching and knife making.  The men working there were more than happy to show us their trades and crafts.  This man, Richard Taalak, carved sheath knives and Ulus (ooo- loooo).  Ulus are women's knives, they have a handle on top and a curved blades (Katie and Jess are each holding one).  He used walrus ivory, baleen, and caribou antlers to make his knives.

We spent the afternoon planning lessons- this teacher stuff sometimes gets in the way...... Then went to the potluck at the Piuraagvik (Pee- rah- vik , means "a place to play").  Piuraagvik is the community center.  We had the opportunity to have maktak (muk-tuk) again (when I say opportunity, I mean one of our students basically forced us to take some, I can handle small amounts, especially in soy sauce, Katie and Jess have apparently had enough for their lifetime). If you're not sure what it is,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muktuk ! Along with other traditional foods and the old staples of pizza and cookies (seriously).  The potluck was a great gathering of people from different families hanging out and giving out awards for the Piuraagiaqta (pee-rah- ee-ya-cta, you say this one faster than it seems). Notice how the beginning of Piuraagiaqta and Piuraagvik are the same, the first part means to play, the vik ending is a place and the iaqta means "let's go". So there's your lesson in Inuipiaq language for the day. You now know as much as I do.  After the awards from the events, door prizes were given out.  Overall we estimated that over $10,000 in prizes from the weekend and door prizes were given out!  

We're now ready for the week, lesson's planned and early to bed.  It's back to middle school again tomorrow!

-Peter

oh, I almost forgot: Quote of the day from Katrina: "I hate Polar Bears!  They make it so I can't run outside without being afraid of being eaten!"

Wonderful Weekend

We had a plethora of adventures and activities that we were able to partake in this weekend during Piuraagiaqta!  Peter and Jess already wrote about most of them so I wanted to share a few pictures:

Cross Country Skiing: Jess and Katie's first time! (Friday)

(Saturday) Of course we had to take our photo by the famous whale bone!

The farthest north Mexican restaurant, Pepe's where we had a pancake breakfast.

Sticker shock in "AC."  One watermelon would cost $36.

Setting up for the Umiaq race (Photo Contest Entry #1).

Setting up for the Umiaq race (Photo Contest Entry #2).

Today's activity (Sunday): DOG SLEDDING!!! They are absolutely gorgeous dogs! 11 of them were on Geoff's team pulling us.  Note about Geoff: he went to the North Pole with Will Steger and it was on that trip that he learned to be a musher.  We also checked out the snow sculptures at the city hall and the rest of the day was left for lesson planning and doing work.  Tomorrow we have the day off but plan to visit the high school and the Heritage Center!  Hope you enjoyed the photos! -K

Piuraagiaqta 2012: Let's Go Play!

Yesterday was the big day of Piuraagiaqta, or the Spring Festival, here in Barrow (the word literally means let's go play) and we took part in as many of the festivities as possible!

We started out the morning getting free pancakes at Pepe's (the furthest north Mexican restaurant in the world) from our friends at BP.  It was an odd event to be a part of but the food was pretty good and we got to meet Fran, the owner, and she let us sign the guest book and gave us certificates stating that we had been to the top of the world. So now it's official!

Panoramic view of our view at the parade

Later that day we made our way down town to see the parade. It was fun to see all of the kids out in their coats with bags to collect all the candy! There was so much candy! We got to see the floats, some of the dogs from a team were in the parade, as well as our friends from the college! There was even a group from Alaska Airlines in the parade that threw us some of the snack mix we liked so much on the plane!

Float for Ilisagvik College

We also went out to the lagoon in town and watched the whaling crews do multiple competitions. We witnessed harpoon throwing, umiaq racing (umiaq is the word for boat, they ran a sled over to the seal skin umiaqs and put them on the sleds, tied them down and raced them back), tea races (in which teams chopped a block of ice, warmed it over a coleman stove, and try to make tea the fastest), sled races, avataqpak races (the orange buoys they use to keep track of the whales on the oceans were bounced on across the lagoon!) and 2 x 4 races. We actually all got compete in the 2 x 4 races, honorary members of the whaling crew, and got last place but it was a ton of fun and a lot harder than it looked to coordinate!

Pictures from the Lagoon: Top pictures are of the Umiaq races

Sled races were after that

Followed by the buoy bouncing!

This bottom picture is two little girls waiting for the tea race to start. You can see the blocks of ice they needed to chip apart.

After dinner yesterday, we went to the elementary school gym to see the traditional indian games. We got to participate in most of these as well. Most of these were strength based games and the young boys in town were excited to compete, but these games apparently came out of the tradition of getting the community together after Christmas meals to burn off calories by playing these games!

It was a full day of games and laughs!

Farthest North Ski Race

Today marked the kickoff of Piuraagiaqta, the spring festival.  There are a number of events all weekend, ranging from a dance, a parade, many different types of races for the whaling crews, free breakfast (provided by our friends at BP.......) and many other events.  Katie will be taking many pictures and entering in an amateur photo contest- so I'm sure we'll post many pictures later.

However, I got my chance to shine today.  The students at Ilisagvik keep asking us if we want to play basketball- for those of you that know me, you know basketball is not my thing.  However, Deb Greene, my cooperating teacher organized a ski race for the festival.  Now we're talking.  I brought my classic skis all the way from Minnesota so I could ski here, and now I had a chance to race!  Deb also successfully convinced both Katie and Jess to borrow skis from the community center and ski as well!

Starting temperature for our race was a balmy 9 degrees, with a windchill of -8.  I waxed up with Rode Green Special (should've used Rode Alaska, but let's be honest, my wax was gone after 200 meters and it's a tundra- not much in the way of hills).  Jess and Katie strapped on their skis and I gave them a 5 minute crash course in cross-country skiing.  I'll be honest, it wasn't my best instruction ever......

After we all showed up, Deb gave the  (un)official "Ready, Set, Go!" as we were all standing in a circle, and off we went.  Apparently, in Barrow skijoring is legal for ski races....  So, I set off in the lead group with Jason and Craig (who was pulled by his husky- that's call skijoring, my blogs shouldn't need a glossary.....)  I hung with them for the first half of the race (partially because I didn't know where I was going- racing on the tundra gives lots of options)  About 2-3 kilometers of flat racing in, we hit the climb.  Well, I guess you could call it a climb.....we gained about 7 meters of elevation up to the rise in the pipeline.  Then, we stopped and turned around.  This is where my competitive spirit got the best of me.  I made the turn and never looked back- mostly because I was worried Craig and his husky would be hot on my tail- especially now that I was double-pole kicking into a headwind.  About 400 meters into the return trip, I chanced a look back- I had built a gap, and now I had to hang on.  I just kept my head down and cranked away checking every 400 meters or so, worried about that dang husky.....  In the end, I hung on to my lead and won the farthest north ski race.  We joked and congratulated at the finish line, then went out to cheer in the remaining competitors.  Jess and Katie finished in the top 10 and were still smiling at the finish line.  All in all everybody had fun and we're looking forward to the rest of the events of the festival to come!

Stay classy,

Peter

oh- pictures of the ski race are soon to come

Unfortunately, I don't have any Northern Lights pictures for you (they were not out last night) but I do have a few pictures of where we are staying:

Ilisagvik College (our home for the next 6 weeks)

Hopson Middle School (our second home)

 This place has been phenomenal so far!  We are loving our stay here!  As Jess and Peter have both said, the people are so amazingly welcoming and friendly!  One thing that we were told before coming here but are now witnessing firsthand is the fact that school is secondary for the students here.  Every day we are meeting new kids because they just haven't come to school for the past few days.  A lot of the students will come late and many of them will try to sleep during class.  They are wonderful kids but school just is not a priority for them.  Thus, the teachers here have learned to use A LOT of hands-on, real-world activities to keep students active and engaged.  I am excited to be putting my "tool box" to use!

Ilisagvik College: A Place to Learn

As well as getting settled in the middle school here, we are also getting settled into the college. Ilisagvik College is a very interesting place filled with very interesting people. The students have been very welcoming and often ask if we want to spend time with them. Especially to play basketball (and if you know any us you know that this would NOT go well for us) but we have been spending time in the commons with them, just hanging out and playing with the Kinect. We have the same driver everyday driving us from the college to school and back. And he always has some great new music for us to listen to (usually reggae)! We also got to hear about the Ms. Top of the World Competition that one of the students is competing in later this summer and the outer-fur parka she is making! She has never sown before but is creating some beautiful patterns for her parka of different types of fur.

Hanging out at the college has also left us a lot of time spending with our "dorm mom" Ruth. She is very funny and always picking on us and the other students. She likes to keep our dorm nice and warm (like 80 degrees warm), so all of the moisture leaves the building. She has also been very good about introducing us to some of the more cultural things here in Barrow. She gave us some whale tonight, and as she handed it to us said "Just keep chewing it. It gets better as you chew it." It's a pretty unique taste, fishy and chewy. She also is working with the students here as they sew their garments they will wear for graduation in a few weeks. She said once this is done she will teach us how to sew some headbands made of seal skin. We get to cut up fabric tomorrow!

All in all, the story is the very similar to the one when student teaching at home. We're living with college kids who are on a different schedule than us (we can't stay up so late!) and have to try and balance lesson planning, hanging out with our friends at the college, working out, and sleeping. It will get more difficult as we gain responsibility in our classrooms, but this is the life of a student teacher.

We're going to try and see the Northern Lights tonight too. Hopefully we will have pictures tomorrow!

Day 1 at Hopson Middle School

I'll start with last night.  We landed in Barrow around 7pm Barrow time (10pm CST) after 16 hours of travel.  We landed in a 30 mph tailwind at 0 degrees Fahrenheit.  As a sidebar, this was the first airport we landed in where we were appropriately dressed in our winter boots and parkas, it was over 40 degrees in both Anchorage and Fairbanks.  Greeted at the airport by Steve Culbertson- our host while in Barrow, we gathered our bags and were driven to Ilisagvik College- our home for the next 6 weeks.  The three of us met a few of the other students living in the dorm and then promptly went to bed- at 8:30..... 

The morning started early with a hearty breakfast made by Steve, the nice man who runs foodservice here at Ilisagvik.  Let me tell you a bit about Steve: in the 8 minutes we spoke with Steve last night he gave us more important information about our stay in Barrow than we received from any one person thus far (where to get food, what the van phone number was, and how the internet works among other things).  Then we headed off to Hopson Middle School.  We were greeted again by a Steve (Culbertson this time...seems like everybody in Barrow is named Steve......) and he introduced us to our teachers.  

I'm very excited to be working with Deb Greene.  She has more science stuff in her classroom than I could ever imagine!  The subtitle of her syllabus for the year is "where science ROCKS and Inquiry is ACTION!!"  I'm exited to work with another science teacher who believes science is best learned through questioning and doing! We also spent a good amount of time talking about going skiing, I think we'll be a great team.  

Going back to middle school was a bit of a shock to the system, but once I got the hang of the difference in maturity level, it was smooth(ish) sailing.  I also learned this: kids are kids, whether they live north of the arctic circle or in rural southern Minnesota they all smile, laugh, bug each other, and don't laugh at my bad jokes.

All in all a great day, looking forward to tomorrow!

Peace out,

Peter

p.s. HOW IS A FELLA SUPPOSED TO EAT LUNCH IN 13 MINUTES!!!!!!!! but more on that later.....

Hello all!  We are posting our very first entry while in Alaska!  We are currently at the airport in Anchorage awaiting our flight to Barrow.  It is 3:35pm in Anchorage (6:35pm CST--now that Katie has finally figured out the time change). As we update the blog and add the next few pictures, we obviously needed to document ourselves as we are updating the blog:

Documenting our blogging.

The sunrise on our way from Minneapolis to Chicago.

On the plane to Anchorage, Alaska!

ALASKA!!! <3

We are very excited to see snow and mountains!  Now, we anxiously await our final plane ride to our final destination: Barrow, Alaska.  After many months of planning and preparation we are almost there!

6 Days to Departure

Today was our last day on the hill for the next month and a half or so...Good bye Gustavus! We will be in Barrow, Alaska in less than a week!