Hey Everyone,
Well, while all of you were having rain showers and thunder storms, we were having a blizzard. It was actually kind of fun and Ben and I enjoyed staring out our window not worrying about having to drive in the crazy weather. It's been pretty cold lately. Today the sun is shining and it is a whopping 9 degrees out. Ben and I look forward to warm weather in a little less than two months. We will be coming back to Minnesota on June 2. As for our summer plans..yep, we don't have any really. Ben will be helping out with some projects around his parents house, visiting our families, attending some weddings, walking our dog, enjoying our time off. :) Oh yeah, Ben is going on his Pine Ridge Mission Trip and is very excited about it.
Last weekend Ben and I got to go manaqing which is the same as ice fishing, but you literally use a stick, some twine, and a hook. One of my students mom's took us out to a place called Big Lake. It was a fun ride there and there were quite a few Eskimos out fishing. It was just like what you would picture when I say Eskimos fishing. People were out with their snow machines putting their hooks in the water and waiting for the fish to bite. Ben did actually catch one. I was very proud of him until he bashed it on the head to make sure it was dead. I screamed and the Eskimos laughed at me. However, when we got home the fish was in the bag and was still moving. I thought it was the strangest thing and Ben just laughed at me and explained to me that it was just the nerves. I don't know, I still think the fish was possessed.
This last weekend we went to Eskimo Dancing. It was our friend Sean's first dance. I'm not quite sure how to explain this, but it is kind of like an initiation into the Yupik Culture. Sean went to dance practices all year and he had to learn a dance to perform in front of the community all by himself. He did a really good job. Ben and I might do this next year. If you notice in the pictures, all the women wear quspeqs. (guspucks) I have a friend who just made me one. I love it and will post a picture of it as soon as I take one.
Well, just a little over a month left of school and we will be busy as ever. I have to give my end of level tests which take forever. For example, last week I had a sub on Monday to complete some of these tests. I only got half of my kiddos done in 8 hours and that was just their reading test. I still need to give their writing, and math test which are 8 pages long. To me it seems a bit extreme for a Kindergartner, but I gotta do what I gotta do. Last week Ben administered the SBA test which is Standards Based Assessment. It is a huge test that the whole state of Alaska takes from grades 3 to 12.
Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading!
Ben and Anne Harvey
