Sunrise today!

Sunshine is a very rare sight here in Juneau! I generally get out and take pictures on a sunny day. This is on the way to school! It is about 5 blocks from my school. The picture would have been better 5 minutes earlier. The sun rays were beaming through the clouds then. I am ok with these shots though.

Mendenhall Glacier

Yesterday, Mendenhall would have been spectacular! I had to work though.

You don't speak for me Sarah Palin, song/video

Here is a great Sarah Palin song! 'You don't speak for me, Sarah Palin'
CUT AND PASTE I think it is great!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/1/01425/9440/194/648646
Another good site:
http://bettybowers.com/betty4president/?p=147

BEAUTIFUL DAY IN JUNEAU! Bad part - I was stuck inside most of the day! I drove to school and wished I had a camera. The Sunrise was amazing! I got to work and then the fire alarm went off - FIRE DRILL! I got to go outside and it was amazing. THE MOUNTAINS WERE SUNLIT and their were clouds as a backdrop behind them. I wish I had my camera. My room has no windows, so I miss regular weather until recesses, which I volunteer for to get outside.

It gets dark at 3:15 or so and I get out of school about 4:00. I had 4 days off - I wish we had great weather on one of those days. Not meant to be. Maybe next weekend!

Mendenhall Glacier

Good old Mendenhall Glacier. I would have to say, it is my favorite place in Juneau!

Teaching Story 5

This is a story about Robert. Robert was in the fourth grade and homeless. Robert had set a record for most suspensions and ripping apart the class/ school the previous year. I was new at this school. At the teacher inservice before school started a lady came into my class crying.

She, Robert, an older brother, little sister and baby brother were homeless and school started in 2 days. They had lived in low income housing but at an inspection, the house did not meet standards so they had to leave the home: HOMELESS! Mom and 4 kids.

They were living in the car just outside my school. Robert was big and he had a separation problem mom told me. He will hold on to mom with a death grip when mom was to leave. When the separation took place, he would explode and get objects and throw them. It was a regular pattern mom said. She cried that she wanted Robert to do well in school. She knew it was important. Robert could not read, write or do math. I told mom that I would take control of Robert when she needed to leave and I would stop and dangerous behaviors. i went out to the car and talked to Robert. He seemed very shy.

They spent the last few nights in the car by the school. The first day came and mom was in with Robert in tow. Robert was almost as big as mom and hiding behind her. I showed him the room and got him a snack and mom left uneventfully. He did well. The counselor came in and we talked to her about finding housing for Robert's family. She went out to the car and talked to mom after talking to Robert and I. We got his family into a motel until housing came available. The counselor found furniture for them. Robert worked hard in school after this. The separation problem did happen a dozen times but I would pull him off mom and he would try to throw but we took him away from others and things. It took less time and less intense with each episode.

He did have blowouts during the year, but much less than before. He learned to read and do math. He even went in front of the school board because of his great gains. He had two great years and I was pleased to be his teacher.

It is snowing!

We have snow in Juneau. It is sloppy and wet and will melt soon. It means that the ski resort is getting snow for the opening next Saturday. I can ride to the top! Hiking to the top gets old fast. Along with that, the old snow was grainy and rained on, not good for snowboarding. (Sounds like an excuse for snowboarding like crap.) We need new snow so I can be an accomplished snowboarder - THE PROBLEM WAS THE SNOW!

Hope all are having a good Sunday.

Teaching Story 4

This is about Juan (name has been changed). Juan was the oldest child of illegals from Mexico. I knew him when he was in HS. His brothers and sisters were born in the US, so they were US citizens. His parents had lived in the US for 15 years and worked on farms.

Juan and his uncle would go out every 4 hours and change irrigation pipe for a local farmer. (His uncle would do it while Juan was in school.) They would switch off on the middle of the night changes. They had this job for a few months.

One day, Juan came to me and told me he wanted to beat up the farmers son. We talked and this is why he was mad. When Juan went to get his monthly pay for work already done, the son, also a high school student, told Juan, "You won't get paid for doing that this month." He went on to call him wetback and I will call immigration if you say anything. Juan wanted to quit school, beat the boy up and move because a migrant worker could get a job at lots of places at that time. Juan was a senior, the other boy was a junior. Juan could have easily crushed the farmers son.

Another teacher an I talked to Juan about finishing school to set a good example for his brothers and sisters. If he dropped out, the liklihood of them dropping out increases greatly. Juan made it through his senior year! He and his parents went on to become legal shortly after graduation.

October Picture

This picture is from October, before the snow. Now, this pond has a little ice with water on top. That was as of last week. Three weeks ago, it was frozen over with snow, but now the snow has mostly melted.

Teaching Story 3

Name has been changed.

Robert2 started the year yelling, screaming and throwing chairs. He could neither read, write or do math. "I am stupid" was a common comment by him. We got him learning, he made friends and he showed good improvement. He had some goofy behaviors but they were less and less.

One day, he came to school and started throwing chairs, desks, etc. He was upset. He was worse than I remembered. We isolated him so he could not hurt himself or others and he settled down. I called mom:

I got this message: "Linda, you fu--ing bitch. You were sleeping with my man so i beat the shit out of you. I hate your fu--ing guts - you wh--e, I threw all your shit out into the street, come and get it. I will beat the shit out of you when you come:"

The tone rang: I said, I am Robert2's teacher and he is having a very bad day, could you please call or come to school immediately.

She never called. I went back and asked if things were rough at his house last night. He just cried.

snowboarding

I went snowboarding today! I had to hike up to the top of this lift and then snowboard down. I was terrible!!! That was so bad- Yikes! I will do it again next week though.

If I break something, you have permission to laugh. I should be cross country skiing but my daughter feels I need to snowboard. My snowboarding is not a pretty sight but it is kind of fun, so I will keep trying to improve. (or break something)

Another Sunny Day picture on a rainy day!

It is getting light at 8:15 AM and getting dark at 3:30 PM here in Juneau.

Teaching Story 2

Names have been changed.
I taught a 2nd boy who was always fighting and getting into trouble. His name was Chance Johnny _______. He could not read and had no friends. He lived in a foster home with his sister. The Foster family were 2 nuns. The Nums and I decided to take a hard stand with him. I asked why he was named Chance? His mom named him that because. "You don't have a fu--ing chance in this world." I started calling him Johnny after hearing that. When he felt like fighting, I made him run laps. He became a good runner. I also made him come off running and read. He learned to read too.

I was at my daughter's college graduation and one of the Nums saw me. Johnny was at the same ceremony because his sibling just graduated. Johnny was to get out of the army in 3 months and he was planning on college. It was great to see him and talk about his past and future. His buddies still call him Chance.

The nuns kept both kids through their schooling and beyond. I believe those two women saved those two kids. They are heroes. They had only planned on having the kids for a year, to stabilize them after the chaos of abuse, alcohol and drugs from bio mom.

Up the road

A True Juneau Story

A fellow was driving his pickup with a camper down the road. A guy on a motorcycle was driving about 100 MPH on our one highway, weaving in and out of traffic. The motorcyclist ran into the back of the pickup. The fellow in the pickup stopped and looked to see what had hit him. He saw a motorcycle but no person. He saw the camper door caved in and then he saw his two dogs stick their heads out off the door. Then he heard the groans. A third head, a person, got in his sight. The fellow was beat up pretty bad.

An ambulance came and took the motorcyclist away. The driver asked why the motorcycle fellow had so much blood in the groin area. Evidently, the biker had a couple of piercings on his penus. When he went flying through the camper, his piercing got caught on something and ripped his Johnson up pretty good.

By the way, the truck and camper were totalled as was the motorcycle.

Note: There are not a lot of places to travel fast. Going 60 MPH is quite rare here. There are no real freeways.

Eaglecrest Ski Area

Today, I hiked up a slope to check out the snow. There is about 8 inches at the bottom and about 20 inches on top. There were about 8 or so others that hiked up and either snowboarded or skied down after walking up. I have the stuff and should have done the same. It officially opens Dec 6.

Eaglecrest Ski Area

Here is the ski area in Juneau. It is about 15 minutes from my apartment.

Cloudy again today

Thought I would put up a picture of a rare sunny day.

Teaching Stories

I am a teacher. I am going to use this forum on occasion to highlight the lives of some of my past students. Names have been changed.

I taught Robert many years ago. Robert did not want to be in school and he prided himself on not doing any work in school. I felt it was a waste of his life and after contacting his parents, I started keeping him after school for 1.5 hours, 4 days a week until he started completing his work. We had an activity bus which set the amount of time I would need to keep him. It took 2 weeks before Robert got the hint and he started working. One day another student came to my class and did the, "I don't work in school talk." I was so happy when Robert went up to him and told him about his staying after school and it being easier to work. The new boy took Robert's advice.

Sad: One Monday, Student came to school devastated. His dad had been depressed about losing his job. On Saturday. Robert had been off playing and his mom was working and Robert went to look for his dad. He looked in the shed out back and found his dad, dead. His father committed suicide with a shot gun and Robert found him. Robert continued to come to school and worked even harder than he had previously. As time went by, I asked him why he was doing better.

Robert said, "My dad always wanted me to do well in school."

Eagle

The Eagles were everywhere at Mendenhall this Thanksgiving Day. They were chirping and chattering like crazy. One flew about 10 feet above me and they are quiet gliders. You really do not hear much when they fly. Below this bird, there was another eagle sittin on another, lower tree. An eagle flew up to the lower tree eagle and flew right into it. They kind of fought a bit and then both flew off. Then I looked up and saw this eagle with his wings out. I can leave my apartment and be at this place checking out eagles in about 20 minutes. Kind of neat.

Rocks

Mendenhall Glacier - Thanksgiving

Here is a picture of Mendenhall Glacier on Thanksgiving Day 2008. There are a lot of eagles hanging round the glacier. The snow is mostly gone and the ice is giving way to water again.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hope you are having a great Thanksgiving! I am being lazy so far.
Yesterday for lunch, I had a deer meet sandwich. Another teacher bagged a deer and he brought some to school.

It is a cloudy and rainy day in Juneau. The usual weather really.

Rain - past few days.

We have had rain the past few days. Not a downpour but a rain. Lots of clouds. It has been very busy at school. It sure keeps me busy and tired out. Things are going well though, I am pleased with where I am. I will have Thanksgiving at a teacher's house. She was kind enough to invite a few people over. I have been told that the food is great.

Rain Today!

We are back to rain. In the early afternoon, it was raining hard and it looked like early evening. It was dark and rainy all day long. There was snow falling up in the mountains though. We need the snow in the mountains.

More Snow on Mendenhall Lake

There is fresh snow on the glacier and the lake. There is not enough ice to walk on the lake but it is looking like it is freezing over.

Eagle Tracks on the snow

The eagle walked on the snow and left these tracks. The track is about as big as my hand. I was surprised at how big those talons are. I also found a spot where the eagles at something. I assume it was a fish but nothing was left so I really could not tell.

Bear seen! (Not by me though)

A bear was seen IN DOWNTOWN JUNEAU!! It was sleeping in a tree behind a pizza parlor in town about 11/14. They tranquilized the bear and took him out to the woods and let him go. His picture was in the local paper.

Light at the end of the tunnel

In Juneau, if the sun shines at all, you take pictures. The sun will not last long here. Do you see the little bit of sun at the end of the tunnel?

Snowed yesterday

It started snowing about noon Thursday. We got about 2 inches of snow. I had to park my truck down the hill. I still do not have chains.

THE STORY OF STUFF

The Story of Stuff: CUT AND PASTE

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

This picture taken while hiking on the Sunny Sunday. Weird: No rain for 5 days! Now we need snow for the ski season to start. We have had almost constant rain, until 5 days ago. The temperature has dropped so, we would have snow in the mountains if we get the moisture. It is OK to rain again, so we can get our snow. (I have a season pass at the ski area, so I want lots of snow.)

This is an article from MatSu, Alaska. It was written by a tenth grade girl and her impressions of the election of President-elect Obama. This young lady has some important words. I am most impressed. CUT AND PASTE

http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2008/11/17/opinion/columnists/doc491d0c71aa9b4424387056.txt

20 to 30 degrees, No Rain

Since our Sunny Sunday, we have had no rain! It has been cold and windy though. Monday, the wind was gusting to 40 MPH. It was about 30 degrees. Today it was splitting snow and 25 - 30 degrees. No rain though. It has been cloudy Monday and Tuesday.

Sunny Sunday at Mendenhall Glacier

This is Mendenhall Glacier on a Sunny Sunday, 11/16/08. Notice the blue sky and no clouds! That never happens here. If we have a day with no rain, it is a reason to celebrate. THIS WAS SUN!!!! ALL DAY LONG, WE HAD SUN!!!!

The lake is freezing over. In the foreground, there is breaking ice. You could hear it crackle, pop and crack as the sun hit it. I was talking to a fellow who said he was able to ice skate on the ice this past week. I want to cross country ski to the glacier this winter.

I do not have sun glasses here either. I will bet that it will rain tomorrow! We do not have 2 nice days in a row here in Juneau. I was told that Ketchican is rainier than Juneau.

Mendenhall Glacier 11/16/08 - sunny

This is Mendenhall in the winter sun. IT WAS A SUPER SUNNY DAY! An iceberg broke off exposing the blue ice. THAT ICE AT THE BOTTOM IS OVER 200 YEARS OLD! It is a very beautiful blue.

There are now salmon back in the streams but the bears have not been seen for about 3 weeks. I was talking to a Ranger. He also drove my old pickup truck, when it was a FS vehicle. My truck was the work truck for Mendenhall.

It was sunny and beautiful in Juneau!!! Mark it on the calendar - rare event here!

Down the road to nowhere! Sunshine!

I call it the road to nowhere because it just goes for 20+ miles and stops at campground. If we had more days like this, people would flock to this place. This sun is a rare thing here though. We have had maybe 2 days like this since I came late August. There have been 3-5 other sunny days but it was sun and clouds. Today was straight sunshine.

It did melt some surface water on the road and then froze creating black ice. I saw two cars that went off the road. No one got hurt.