Adventures in Kokhanok

 We slept in till 9:45 when someone was knocking on our door. I made Corbin answer it. It was one of our neighbors bringing us pancakes!! Corbin made some pizza dough, and it turned out awesome!! We left at 2 with a group of kids and one of the teachers, and we rode back to Gibraltar to try and see some bears before they go into hibernation. All the kids brought guns and led the way to the river. It was a beautiful day for a ride, and Corbin and I each got to shoot the kids' guns. We hung out for a bit and saw a momma bear and her cub :) On the way back, we went to fish camp (just a spot where they fish during the summer). We hung out there for a bit and then came back. We ate Corbin's pizza for dinner! 

Corbin was subbing at school again. I got to go on a field trip with the high schoolers!! Probably the coolest field trip I've ever been on! I rode with my teacher, but all the students drove themselves on their Hondas, and we went to Gibraltar to fertilize salmon eggs.  The kids got to fish and catch the salmon. We needed two males and two females. They gently squeezed their stomachs, and eggs came out of the females and 'milk' came out of the males. They had to fertilize for about an hour, and during that time, we got to walk around, fish more, and pick some berries. They put them in boxes with cameras so the students can follow the progression of the life cycle of a salmon. and hopefully, they can go back in the spring and see the progress. It was awesome!! After school, we went to open gym. We got a few packages in the mail today! One from Mom and Dad! One from Grandma and Grandpa and one from Amazon! the massive male salmon that my teacher "milked" our happy ...

 I wore my Josh Allen jersey to school today, and none of the students knew who he was :( We went to open Gym and played Volleyball with the kids.  Corbin made chicken noodle soup for dinner, and I made chicken wing dip! We watched the Bills beat the Dolphins 31-21. Corbin went on a flight around with our neighbor Connor! He saw a few bears. 

 Another good day at school, I had my math group and my reading group. Corbin got to start subbing because one of the aids was moose hunting. I had to record an opening routine for my Brockport class, so I read a book to the K-1 class after lunch before they went into their instruction. I read Froggy Goes to School. For lunch, we had caribou soup! Corbin was the afternoon bus driver!! After school, I had a meeting with all the other student teachers in Alaska and our professors. 

 The kids were back today!! I started my math group with the 2nd, 3rd & 4th graders, and I think it went really well! I also started my reading group with the kindergartners and 1st graders, and it also went pretty well :) In the afternoon, there were no classes because the students and staff were all helping process the caribou. Every student was helping, even the kindergarteners. It was super cool to see everyone working together, and Corbin and I even got to help! It was neat to see how they do it. They made 5 different piles, and nothing went to waste. They had large chunks (for roasts), small chunks (for hamburgers), bones (for soup), fat (to add into the ground), and waste (to feed to the dogs & chickens). The principal explained that they will eventually make a math lesson that requires the kids to work out how much fat to add to the ground meat to have it 10% or 20%.  After school, Corbin made some chocolate chip cookies. 

 No kids again today, more in-service meetings. While I was prepping math materials for my group, Corbin and Seth hung a caribou.  After school, Gabrielle brought us a bowl of her famous salmon Caesar salad. It was so good that even Corbin liked it! Corbin made his third loaf of bread, and it was delicious. After dinner, we went outside and watched the most beautiful sunset, and saw a rainbow at the same time!!                                     

 We Facetimed Mom, Dad, and Max to watch the Bills game! GO BILLS! Corbin made another loaf of bread. I went into school for a little bit to plan with one of the teachers because I am going to teach a math group in her class, so we were just working out what I'm going to be doing. I Facetimed Cierra, and we did a Bible study! Corbin and I went on a quick Honda ride because today looks like the last day with no rain for about a week. We filled up the Honda with gas. After that, we walked up the hill behind our apartment and picked a few berries. I started a collection of rocks that look like hearts :)          

I cleaned the apartment and did some laundry today while Corbin made homemade bread and homemade meatballs. We called Mom and Dad while they were at Uncle Tony's for a bonfire and got to talk to some of the DeMares :) After dinner (pasta and meatballs), Corbin and I carried a double kayak down to the lake and kayaked for a while with my teacher and her partner!   

 No kids at school today, just in-service meetings. I joined one about the math curriculum they use here, and it's called Everyday Math. In the afternoon, I didn't have any more meetings, so I just worked with my SPED teacher on some papers, and I made a poster. We had a short staff meeting with just the teachers in our building and our principal to see how everyone's doing so far, and I think it went pretty well :) After school, Corbin made breakfast for dinner, and we opened a couple of packages from Mom, Dad, Cierra, and Tonya. At 7pm we went to BINGO!!! Unfortunately, neither of us won, but it was fun:)  

 Today was like Friday for the kids, so they were all excited. In my PEP class, we started creative writing stories. I gave them all prompts that were relevant to Bush Alaska, and today was just brainstorming, so they thought of a couple of characters and where they wanted their story to take place. On Tuesday, they will use their brainstorming ideas to create funny stories. And then they'll illustrate some pictures and maybe have a read-aloud with the elementary kids! After school, I went berry picking with my SPED teacher, and I took out my camera because my SD card came in! We went to what is basically our 'backyard' and it was gorgeous! Later, Corbin and I rode the Honda to the Point to take some pictures. Then we went to the dump for more pictures, and then back to the point to watch the sunset. It was awesome!! blueberries, cranberries, and blackberries   The Point    our "backyard" the dump The Point

 I had another good day at school. I made up a chart for the high schoolers to see what credits they have and what credits they still need to graduate. I have never used Google Sheets before, so it was kind of fun to play around with that :) I got some mail from my kiddos in Elba that I babysit 💕After school, I had my Brockport class on Zoom, and I learned about Fat Bear Week! So, Fat Bear Week is a couple of separate weeks, and people vote on the fattest bear! This week is just voting on the best poster to advertise it.  In a couple of weeks, it starts, and there are two rounds: a Jr. week and a regular week. People can fill out a bracket and vote! Later, I rested on the couch, and Corbin went to open gym. 

 I had a good day at school. I am teaching a PEP class (to be honest, I don't even know what it stands for, but I'm teaching soft skills) with six middle schoolers, and I think it is going to be my favorite class! I have always said I could never teach middle schoolers, but it's fun! We did a couple of worksheets, and they chose some traits that described them, and then they also had to describe a peer. It was fun to watch them describe themself and each other :) After school, we went to 'open gym,' which is a time at night for the kids to come to the gym for an hour and play basketball, volleyball, or just run around in the gym. There are three different times. So the elementary kiddos come first, then middle schoolers, and then high schoolers/adults. Corbin and I went and played volleyball for an hour. When we came back home, our door was locked! We couldn't get into our apartment. All of the teachers gave us their keys to try to open our door, but none of the...