Truth.

(via bakethatlinguist)

Brilliant.  I wish my students were more outwardly hilarious and creative like this.  Someday…

(via chiigusa)

Ugh, these past/next few days have been/will be torture, as we’re getting down to the nitty-gritty.  Amusingly enough, none of my anxiety has to do with school (besides getting the yearbooks handed out/picked up); it’s all about the snowmobiles, getting things ready for summer, packing, transporting things from the house to the school, and then traveling.  It’s enough to make my heart collapse.  Mix in a little family worry, and I’m amazed I still function. 

Happily, my students are being pretty awesome in doing what needs to be done, be it tests, final standards, or just helping with cleaning up.  Hopefully we all remember the fondness of the last few days throughout the summer, and no one breaks into my house.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed. 

The weather’s been one of my greatest foes, going from a long, extended winter to a wet, miserable spring in a matter of days, creating a slushy mess that’s going to be hell to get through.  It’s probably one of the worst scenarios for us in this particular village, as we have 2 modes of ground transport: snowmobile and four-wheeler.  Neither do well in the slush, which is what life will be like here for probably the next week or so, which frustrates me because had the thaw come earlier we could have boardwalks to use the four-wheelers, or had the warmth waited just another week we could have snowmobiled.  But instead we’re sitting in the middle, which may result in wading out in rainpants, dragging my bags behind me.  I guess we’ll see.  I just need to keep reminding myself that in a few days it will all be over, and I’ll be on my way to Anchorage, then Chicago, then Columbus.  But first, I should probably pack.  Ugh.

Every year on May 14th I try to do something I can kind of dedicate to my dad.  This year I had the great fortune to be able to participate in manuqing, or ice fishing, happening just out on the river behind my house.  It was a great time to just kick back, hang out, and laugh with the locals, and I know it’s something my dad would have loved to do.

A portion of the group we joined up with

My failed attempts at jigging.  I kept getting caught on the ice :/

Others were far more successful than I.  Maybe next time!

So even though I didn’t catch anything, I had a great time, and am glad I dismissed my bedtime in favor of playing on the ice.  And for anyone keeping score, these photos were taken between 9:30 and 10:30 at night.  Oh Alaska, you so crazy!

This says it all.  Always a tough day.

This year I had one student give birth (and come back to finish strong and graduate, so proud of her!), and found out 2 more have little ones on the way.  I’ve decided to put together Brilliant Baby care-packages for them this summer, with an emphasis on books, both for them and for them to read to their babies.  We talked a little bit today about the importance of reading to infants and toddlers, and one of them said she’s reading to hers now, and feels it kick a bit more when she reads :D The others seemed very interested in the prospect of reading to their little ones, especially as I told them my own stories of my mother reading to me, and that I still remember parts of the stories she read, some 20 odd years later.

I’m hoping Half-Price books will have a plethora of books to pick through.  I’m really excited about this and hope it takes root with the girls as well~

leliokun:

lemon-the-epic:

naninutella:

1.PLUG IN YOUR HEADPHONES

2.PRESS PLAY

3.CLOSE YOUR EYES

ENJOY A VIRTUAL HAIRCUT.

DO IT NOW.

YOU HAFTA USE YOUR HEADPHONES OR IT WONT WORK

the part with the bag blew my mind. I actually cringed away from the noises.

Oh god it’s actually making me cringe I can’t take it oh goooooddd D:

The part where he whispers SUPER spooked me!  That was incredible, and I can’t believe more people haven’t done this with audiobooks, like an interactive story element (especially with some kind of thriller story, could you imagine the heart attacks?).  I want to play this for my students, it will blow their minds.

I have students that point blank tell me they don’t care about school, their education, their future, literally anything that will get them on-board with this newfangled “learning” thing.  It doesn’t matter how engaging or interesting I try to make things, especially if they don’t participate and don’t retain anything being taught.  And their parents are absolutely no help.  I’m at a loss for ways to inspire or motivate kids that would just as soon spend their life living off of others.