Updates

So here are some pictures of recent happenings in the Hanna family.

Grace loves to ride on our shoulders in the car. We call her our parrot. 

Back in July Drew and I started training for the Soaring Wings Half Marathon. The funds go to help a home for children in Conway, AR. When school started we were still semi good with our training but as September and October hit it seemed as if all time went away and we pretty much stopped training. I would still get a run in every once in a while but it wasn't regular like it should have been. Even with the lack of training we decided that we should still do it (the money was already spent). Even with the lack of training we finished in 2 hours 59 minutes and 56 seconds. This was really good for me! When I was training I wanted to finish in 2 hours and 30 minutes so being able to accomplish it in under 3 hours was pretty awesome!

As a Hanna you have to kiss the medal or trophy or whatever you win. So here is Drew and I kissing our medals. 

Other than our really strange dog and running the half marathon nothing really exciting has happened in our family. Drew is still doing his internship. As of today he has 22 teaching days left and he is looking forward to having his very own classroom. I am still subbing and loving it! Every time I get to go into the classroom and work with kids I feel that that is where I need to be, with children in a classroom some where helping them to learn and grow. Hopefully this next year I will be able to have my own classroom and help kids in any way possible. I really want to start working with special education students. People keep telling me that it is really hard and that the paperwork is tremendous but those kids need someone who is willing to be there everyday hoping and wishing and praying for them and working hard to make sure they can succeed in life and I want to be one to do that. Isn't that what teaching is all about, helping someone become a better them? 

Well that is about all we have going on at this moment. One blog that I read always leaves her blog with a quote and I think I would like to start doing that, this entries quote is one of my favorites in life:

"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world"

New Life

Well I guess it is time to announce the news. Drew has officially accepted a job in the Russellville school district so we will not be heading back to Alaska next year. I am happy and sad all at the same time. Last year was hard, no doubt, but I did fall in love with my students and the families that I did get to know. I really hope that they keep working hard to become the best they can be.

So Drew is now working at the Adult Education Department for Russellville. He will be helping adults to get their GED and get ready for other tests so they can be ready to work out in the world. I know that he is going to come home with a broken heart for some of these people a lot but I also know that he will be able to do so much good with the people there. He is such a friend that I know that the more people get to know him the more they will want to succeed. He has also been approved to do his internship this fall!!! This is such a blessing for us! He can now get his teaching license in December instead of having to wait until May which we had previously planned.

Right now I do not have a job but I am filling out the miles of paperwork to become a substitute teacher. It amazes me what all they need to be a substitute. It was worse than filling out the application for a job! I have also applied and been accepted to go to graduate school!! YAY!! I am actually really excited about this. I am getting my masters in special education. I know this field is a lot of work and heartache but I also know that students in special education are choice spirits from our Heavenly Father and that he loves them.

Some other exciting news, we got a puppy!! Her name is Grace and she is a mut....we found her in the driveway at Drews parent's house and decided that she needed a home. When we first found her she was covered in fleas and ticks, weighed only 7 lbs (the vet said she should be 14) and very skittish. Now after a month or so of having her she is tick and flea free, 11lbs and very playful and friendly. She does tire easily so most of the day she just lays around sleeping but that is ok for me :) she also loves to cuddle. She will crawl up into my lap and just curl up in a ball and sleep, it is really cute!

Well that is our life right now. Lots of exciting things are happening and I am excited to see where things go! I know that Heavenly Father loves us and is looking out for us, there is no doubt in my mind that as we listen to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost we will know of that love and know of his plan for us!

End of School Projects

The last weeks of school are always filled with fun activities that you don't get to do during the rest of the year because you have been cramming for tests. Well this year is no different. Our kindergarten class joined with the Spanish class to do a Cino de Mayo project of creating piñatas. Here are the pictures from the project.   

After having our fun with paper mache we got messy with shaving cream. I thought this would be a fun way for the kids to get a little messy and practice writing our letters. The kids thought it was really gross but really fun. I don't think many of them have ever played with shaving cream before. 

After our piñatas dried we painted them and stuffed them with candy for a real fiesta!  The students had a real blast trying to break it open. It provided a cool science lesson too about what the inside looks like and what happens when you mix glue and water and paper. 

Prom is a lot different here than anywhere else I have been. The entire village is invited!! It doesn't matter how old or how young you are, Prom is a time to come and dance and just have a nice time. The DJ for this prom was a lot better than all of the DJs combined for all 3 of the proms I went to. The kids stole my camera and decided that they wanted to take pictures with their teacher. Needless to say I had some pretty cool dates. :)

Here I am teaching the students how to disco dance.

My buddies for most of the night. 

The senior class of 2012

Spirit Levels

Since my last post the temperature has gotten all the way up to 45 degrees!! It was so crazy to be able to walk outside today with no hat or gloves on and not worry about frost bite! The snow is starting to melt and the sun is out longer...so naturally spirits are high!

Teacher spirits are really high because we are only 7 weeks away from the end of the school year. I am so excited to see the growth in my students! They are so nice to each other....well as nice as kindergarteners can be. They are actually asking others to walk down the hall using the word please and saying thank you. They are sitting in their chairs and listening to lessons and remembering what they are being taught. Many of them are getting close to being on a first grade level in their subjects. In the Lower Yukon School District they are on a level system where the standards that are to be learned has to be passed off either with a test or some project. In order to get to the next level the students must pass off all of their standards. I have had this fear all year that the students would not learn anything this year other than how to sit in a chair and now to see them passing off standard after standard it makes me so excited to see what they can do with someone who is not a first year teacher trying to figure things out.

So Drew and I are really considering coming back to Alaska next year. It has given me so many great growing and learning experiences that we think it will give us a great opportunity to grow and learn together without a lot of distractions. We are still waiting to hear if he will be offered a job in the Russellville School District but it is a big possibility that we will be back up here next year. I am excited and looking forward to the opportunity to come back. There are so many things that I would change about the things that I did this year but I think that is part of being a teacher. You take what you did and modify it to make it better than before. I do hear that the kids next year will be tough group to crack but I also know that I am more prepared than I was at the beginning of last year. I will also have someone to lean on more than just a phone call. Having Drew here will really help me emotionally. I know that with him here instead of having a relationship with a phone I will be able to go home and talk to him face to face. I will also have someone to help me clean the house :). It isn't official but it is a serious possibility.

It is also getting closer to my wedding and that has me really excited and nervous too. I have been living on my own for the past 5 years now and it will be so different to be living with someone else....forever!! I can't think of a better roommate but it is still nerve racking! I love him so much and he has been so wonderful through this past year. Listening to me cry about the one student that I can't get to or laugh about the funny things that my kids say (it is true that kids say the darndest things). He is the best support system that I could ever ask for. Even if this year has been hard for us, we have grow so much closer and I know that our relationship has been strengthened from the trials. I really cannot wait to be Mrs. Nichole Hanna :D!!

Winter

Winter in the Bush is a strange thing. Last week we were hitting temperatures around -40 and today we are at 34 degrees. Also, I have never seen so much snow! Here are some pictures of what the outside looks like. 

This is a picture outside my window of the snow storm that was going on yesterday. The football field was just past that light pole and you could hardly see it.

Here is from the other window. You can't even see a few yards past the houses due to the wind and snow. 

They didn't put the doors in quite the right way so I got mounds of snow inside of my door. 

Another picture of it a little while later. 

Due to the wind there were really cool pattens in the snow. 

The playground outside my window. The snow is so deep you can walk on it to get to the ledge of it. 

The slide

It is hard to cross the monkey bars at this time. 

The swings.

Yesterday we had a really huge snowstorm. I included some pictures from it. The past few weeks the heat in my house has not been working the right way. The bottom floor has been on average about 60 degrees and sometimes I would wake up to have it be 55. That is really cold especially when it is -40 degrees outside. It is working now but outside it is 32 degrees so it has gotten really warm! I am excited for the warmth.

This week has been a really good week behavior wise. The student that I have been having the most problems with has started listening more and controlling their anger. It makes me so happy to see them doing the things that are needed to learn the most! I have also seen my student starting to be nicer to each other! It makes me happy to see my students saying sorry or using words like please and thank you to each other. My kids may not be able to read or write well but they will be able to control their anger and are kind to each other. I think these are more important than anything that can ever be taught to them. Hopefully they will take these skills and teach them to others to help improve their lives.