Kokhanok

      This is just the perfect time for a blog. Thanksgiving break is finally upon us! Snow is falling! The weather is getting colder! Just grab your laptop, curl up by the fire, and enjoy my fun blog today. :) Well, maybe that will happen but if not, I just want to first say thank you for all of you who have kept up with me and read my blog over the past four weeks.

       It has been very busy over the past week with all the traveling I was able to do. I went to Kokhanok for the volleyball jamboree. Many different schools traveled to the central location of Kokhanok and stayed there for 4 days. We brought 3 planes because we had 17 students and two chaperons. I had no idea what to expect when we first got there. I had 7 high school boys, this made it interesting because we barely knew each other and I also did not know anyone at the school. All I knew was that I was suppose to make sure all the other students arrived. The boys started out playing volleyball but then ended up just working on homework. I was so impressed with their dedication and hard work with schoolwork and how much effort they put into it over the 4 days.

    

The gym was a nice size for everyone to fit in. We (all the girls) fit into the gym to sleep each night. I will say this, bring something soft to sleep on because the floor is not nice and comfy with just a sleeping bag. Somehow, I forgot to bring an air-mattress with me. Thankfully one of my friends Kasie found me a roll out pad so I had a little more cushion at night. The boys slept in the classrooms upstairs and downstairs.

Kasie and Me!

    During this week, we had 3 man mixed teams along with 6 man mixed team games. There was one all girls volleyball team that played but could not move onto states. We had an A and B team of mixed 6.  I was very proud of all the students who put up me sitting right next to the coach yelling "Get Low." They all began to listen to me and eventually it paid off because at the end of the tournament they took first place. They made an extremely amazing come back being down 2-0 games, As we came into the huddle after the 2nd game they had just lost, I made the comment of them having 3 more games to play. Well if they did not make that statement true because they won the next 3 games making it 3-2 for matches won. Port Alsworth mixed 6 team made it to states! I would love to go with them but that is the weekend that I am graduating from college. I wish them all the best and will keep them in my prayers. 

        While we were in Kokhnok I was able to go out and sight see with a few of my students. I was very excited to see what their store looked like so we ventured on out. Hope you enjoy these!

Just a few of them who wanted to come withe me.

This was such an unique experience and yes of course my students wanted to get ice cream bars. We waited outside for a good 15-20 minutes while the lady was away at another person's house. My students thought it would be a great idea to have snowball fights while we waited. Let's just say I ended up having quite a bit of snow in my face. High school boys did not tone it down for the student teacher.  

This one is for you Neeks!!! I know how much you love spam. This made me think of you!

This was a really neat looking church. I did not get to go inside or explore it too much because I had my students with me. However, I did get see this much.

     During this week, I also helped the coach warm up the team and get ready for games. I was a referee, homework enforcer, and I proctored tests. We had down time which was filled with eating, sleeping, volleyball, homework, and shooting air-soft riffles. Our team took 2nd over all for having the highest score in the riffle competition. We also had one student who received 1st place for having the highest of score for shooting. 

Just a few other pictures from this past week include the morning of our flight to Kokhanok and  flight home.

This is where I am living right now. The n shape in the picture is where the two airport landing strips are. The mountain in the background is Tanalian Mountain. I hope to hike it when I come back.Yes, I will be coming back to teach in the spring. I will start in January and finish out the year until May. This is a full-time teaching position within the school! I am beyond excited and blessed!

This was right after I had found out that I would be coming back to teach. Words cannot explain how happy I am to have a job even before I graduate.

Student Projects

I wanted to start this blog off with some of the work my students have been doing over the past few weeks. We do a lot of hands on projects and the students create quite a bit of their projects.

One House for the different civilizations the student's were studying.

My first grade students needed to do a recycling project. We made piggy banks.

My first graders started a new science book and our introduction was about a lady who has 4 giraffes living at her house. She took care of them and made sure they had a good home. The students were required to make their own giraffe pen and then make a giraffe to fit into their pen. They decided to split their pen in half and then make a mom and baby giraffe. The neatest piece of information I learned was that you can buy color pencils that if dipped into water become like paint brushes. You can then use these pencils to color on model magic, but not sure what else they can paint on. These are both really great for students and children.  

3rd grade project of the ring of fire. The student then proceeded to erupt it. 

My 1st grade student made their own volcano out of casting material, baking soda, and citric acid. This does not leave a smell like the apple cider vinegar does. Fun tip for anyone wanting to make a volcano with some students or children. My students thought it would be nice to put people near our volcano as well.

      This week has been more relaxed and less frustrating just with everything going on. I feel that I can finally breathe and I feel more confident in all that I have been doing. I have been working with a variety of different students on projects and papers throughout this week. I was also involved in playing against the A team volleyball team with our own elite team. I was able to work with the team a little bit warming up. I enjoy watching the skills the students have along with the encouraging, and positive attitudes. I was able to attend a Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) meeting. It was 5 parents, the principal and 6 teachers. It was very insightful and I was also able to share my opinion of how my experience teaching here has been going. 

         I also attempted to hike today and have some tips if you ever get caught in the same situation I did. I started out hiking and then ended up not feeling well. My stomach hurt so I told the people I went hiking with that I was going to turn around. Tip # 1. If you do not feel well, do not continue. Once Katie and I started walking back, I had to immediately stop because I ended up getting sick. At this point I did not think I could physically walk back. Tip # 2. Know your limits, and never walk alone. At this point I did not think I could walk back the little bit of hike we just did. I then asked Katie to come pick me up. She took off running and I ended up taking two of my jackets off and laid in the middle of the trail. I ended up following a trail to a house where I have only been one time. I laid on their chair until someone could drive me back to my house. Katie was searching for me with a few people while I was staying here to get my stomach to calm down. Since Katie could not find me she headed to Asha's where I am staying. By the time I got back to my house she was there and her an Asha were heading out to come and find me. Tip # 3. Stay where you are and where the person left you. Overall, I have no idea why I got sick or why it hit me so suddenly. All I know is that I hate the feeling of being out in the middle-of-no where and having to tough it out until I made it back. I am grateful to have the experience I did today and it is one that I will never forget. 

Lake Clark National Park

      This past weekend was absolutely amazing. Friday night into Saturday we had what my co-op says is a "school night." The one social studies group of 5th & 6th graders stayed after school Friday, spent the night on mattresses in the gym, and stay until Saturday afternoon. During this time the students are working on their massive projects they need to do. The students are required to meet specific standards throughout their grade level and one standard is to construct their own project based off of a specific civilization. The students not only created their idea of what they wanted to display but also another visual to go along with their project. This included: posters, I-movies, and power-points. After one night of working most all the groups were finished entirely. Today they presented their projects to the 7& 8th grade students. Having the students present their projects works on the students public speaking, confidence in front of peers, and an overall ability to work within a group setting. These are all skills that are extremely important in students as they become adults in society.
        I was able to a few other activities this weekend/week which included hiking, church, and parent teacher conferences. Asha's roommate Katie took me hiking for the day to what they call a waterfall.

This was an absolutely beautiful sight to see. We also went hiking up to see the mountains, part of Lake Clark National Park, along with Lake Clark. It was breathtaking. I was also able to drink from Lake Clark because the place we were at was glacier fed water. These are some pictures of the mountain ranges I was able to see while hiking.

This is a picture of Tanalian Mountain which I would love to hike this weekend if the weather permits. Tanalian Mountain climbs to 3,560 feet above sea level. If you look at the first bump in the mountain it is called the knee which is safer to hike due to wind and snow crossing over the side of the mountain to the top of the mountain.

This is a really interesting picture because this is exactly like a sauna. The natives use this as a shower room and go in here naked. I was told that when I came, that I could be asked to join the natives in this activity. So far I have not been asked.   

         As for the church aspect here, it was a blessing to look out the window and see the mountains in the background. As the pastor was preaching I kept looking out the window in awe. I was also impressed with how the church was really a body of Christ. There are about 60 people who attend church on a regular basis. These are people that really live out their faith on a daily basis. During prayer time, the pastor told all the prayer requests there were and had anyone pray for them out loud if they felt led. The men of the church really stepped up and lead in prayer. There was a worship and praise team and you could really feel the presence of the Lord there. Something that I feel goes along with the people and the lifestyle here would be this quote. "Our influence on others should be purposeful rather than haphazard. We ought to ask ourselves which people we are impacting. Are we in fact making a difference in anyone’s life? The truth is, we can turn our “ripples” into powerful waves for God that affect wide circles of individuals. For instance, consider the impact of prayer. There’s no end to its possibilities—your influence can extend to the remotest places on earth when you are on your knees before the Lord."  I really believe that we have a huge impact on those are around us and we need to choose how we are going to treat those people.

    The last I have to say about this week is about me going with my co-op on parent teacher conferences. Two of them were home visits because the mothers had just had a baby. My co-op has a great repport with the parents and they respect her and her teaching style. I was most taken back by the one mother turning to me and saying, "Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you teach my son. I want to raise him to be the man of God he should be." This made me feel blessed to be here by meeting parents who want the very best for their children, wanting their children to grow up with the fear of the Lord, and parents who really pray for their children. There are a lot of students who are here because of adoption and the parents love on them just as much as they love on their children. It is a beautiful sight to see. 

      As for how I am handling Alaska, I am really being stretched in more ways than one. I have had no desire to work on school work because I have that desire to graduate and start teaching. I am trying to seek the Lord's will in my career and where He wants me after this is done. The Lord has also revealed quite of bit of crap that is in my heart and how I really need to be broken of it. I am at the early stages of really becoming hungry for the Lord and only the Lord. It has been a very emotional week and yet the Lord has comforted me through all of it. I know that there is a reason for me being here but it is not crystal clear yet. Looking forward to another busy weekend and finishing an intense week.  

Embarking to Port Alsworth

WOW!!

       I cannot explain how awesome this has been but I definitely will try! After I finished packing everything, Chris, Levi and I waited to board our plane. We waited about an hour and a half because there was a huge rain storm that had knocked out power around Anchorage. The storm also caused some minor flooding around the area. We then boarded a Bush plane which carries 9 passengers, 1 pilot, and 1 co-pilot. Since Levi was taller that anyone else on the plane, he rode co-pilot for the entire flight. After about an hour flight and a few stops in between, we landed in Newhalen where Chris and Levi were dropped off. I was asked to pick up my luggage from an open wooden box and take it with me to the next plane. This plane was even smaller than the last one I was just in. It was a pilot and me who were then off to Port  Alsworth in a two seat Bush plane! This was truly an amazing experience as I was able to see all the mountains, scenery, and the beautiful blue lake water. Lake Clark which I flew over was just breathtaking! I was curious of why the water looked like something you would swim in at a tropical beach and the response I received was that it was caused by a glacier.
       As soon as I arrived to the site, I was greeted by a very nice lady with a pickup truck. I was taken a few feet down the road and shown my housing. Mind you I flew in on a runway that was made of gravel and rocks. I immediately met my two roommates Asha and Katie. They were very welcoming when I walked into my new home for the next six weeks. I have my own room with a comfortable bed which is very nice after house hopping for the past 8 weeks. Asha made me a sign that welcomed me through the front door, and another sign that was posted on my door with hand written Bible verses. Quickly after arriving, my co-op Becky invited me to come to her house for dinner with her and the 3 foreign exchange students living at her house. I soon found that her and husband are believers. This was very encouraging and uplifting to know they were believers. Yet again the Lord has worked on my behave to provide such a Godly influence in my teaching career. The community is a Christian based community and on this site there is a Christian camp that runs during the summer. There is also a church that is fully running and I will be attending on Sunday to see how it is set up.
       Everywhere I look I see mountains that are covered in snow. I have encountered a fox, 3 moose and a beautiful dark sky filled with stars. Today for fun we watched one of the bigger planes that has flown into Port Alsworth take off. It was pretty incredible to stand on the runway and have an airplane fly directly next to you! I have joined a ladies Bible study with about 17 ladies who attended this week. I am eager to see what else the Lord has in plan for me while I am here.
      Now, onto the teaching aspect of the trip (the reason I am actually here). Today was only my second day and yesterday I walked around to each classroom and met almost all of the students in just a few short hours. There are only two buildings in which the students attend class. There is a gymnasium which is not that big but is perfect to have because of the weather here. The school has cross country, basketball, and volleyball for sports. It is pretty interesting because at times this reminds me of when I went to North Rome for my schooling in K-12th grade. Everyone knows everyone and everyone is either related, adopted, or family friends. It is such a warm and friendly community to be involved with because everyone takes care of you and makes you feel as comfortable as possible. I was able to teach for almost the whole day which was amazing because it was only my second day here. I have 5 students in my class who are either in Kindergarten or 1st grade. I have two more students coming back within the next few weeks before I leave which will give me a total of 7. I worked with 2 students individually with reading, writing, and math. My co-op teaches Kindergarten, 1st, 1-3 science, and 3-5 Social Studies. It is impeccable that she maintains 3 different ages groups or more at one specific time. In this school, the students work on their grade level and the curriculum is centered around common core standards but also based on where the student is individually. There are some whole group classes but that is just because there are not enough teachers to work with all the students on an individual basis for every subject. There are 3 seniors this year, but I do not know how the graduation process is done. In our Kindergarten and 1st grade classroom my co-op and I split the students up based on grade level. Today I taught the Kindergarten class all morning and in the afternoon I have the two 1st grade students for writing. I love this style of teaching because the student is getting exactly what they need in order to push them to the next level. I am looking forward to immersing myself more with the curriculum and the students over the next six weeks.

View from plane

View from plane

Where I flew out of with Chris & Levi

Levi and Pilot

Airplane view

View from plane

Bush plane where I flew co-pilot

Bush plane 2 seats

View from Bush plane

View from Bush plane

Airport landing strip

 

One of the largest planes leaving Port Alsworth