Thursday

Woke up about 2am this morning to lots of rain coming down. Wonderful rainforest moment. I couldn't help but lay and watch it flow off the roof. It was POURING. Ahhh the rainforest! I even filmed it so you can see it a bit, it's dark but there was some light out the back window.

Walked out to the main road at 7:15 to catch a bus, and then a school bus stopped and asked if we wanted a ride. Yep, a school bus that dropped off two elementary kids at a private school. I noticed this private school started school earlier this week. He even took us all the way to our school and wouldn't take any gas money. It was very nice of him, and it was fun to be on a school bus. Great start to the day.

Then shortly after 8am we began lovely workshops - content specific. The morning drug out a bit, and then we broke for lunch. Went with a few others to KFC as I didn't have anything to pack my lunch today.

The afternoon was much more engaging than our morning session, although I did have the chance to speak more with one of my fellow science teachers at Tafuna. Started our afternoon with a presentation from Dr. Ferner of the Department of Marine and Wildlife Services. He presented to us on coral reefs, and it was such an interesting presentation. He is very passionate about his work and excited about it, which made me excited and intrigued. This is one thing I hope to emanate in my classroom. The students won't be excited about the material if the instructor isn't.

We also received some diagrams created by the USGS on water quality from the OCIA (Office of Curriculum Instruction and Accountability) science director. Yay, posters for my room!

One teacher from Samoana High School also presented a few starter activities for us, and I can't wait to use this mystery tube activity. I know my head is not visible in this video, but it'll do. Just wanted to show you what the activity is about.

Finished sessions/workshops at 3:05pm, and I headed into my classroom to do a bit moer work on my bulletin boards before heading home for the day. I'm pretty happy with my themed bulletin boards. On the left-hand side of my chalkboard we have the Nebraska board. On the left hand side there are football photos with my brother - who will be beginning his sophomore year at UNL this fall after transferring. On the top right hand corner is a photo I took of a Zimmatic pivot with a great sunset in the background. This photo actually won in its section at the Clay County Fair in Iowa last year. The colors in the background and title were chosen for obvious reasons :-)

Since you cannot see the photos I hung up too well, I decided to post my pivot photo here so you can see it better. My dad printed this photo out larger and has it hanging in his office at work, I believe.

On the right hand side of my chalkboard, we have the Morningside College bulletin board complete with a few photos from campus, with some professors, and with Monte the Mustang. Remember: encouraging college is one of my overarching goals for the year and figured these themed bulletin boards might help. Especially since they both encompass personal stories and experiences that I can share with my students. Local teachers say the students love to hear stories and make connections about what we are learning in class to experiences teachers have had. I think I can handle that. One thing I wanted to do anyway.

As I was walking out of school, a woman pulled over and asked if I'd like a ride up to the main road. I kindly accepted, and it turns out Brenda works in the OCIA office with the English curriculum. Her family moved to the island back in 1980, so we had a nice chat about things. She also said if I ever needed anything to let her know. Boy the kindness of this island... am I ever going to get tired of it? Doubtful. Oh yeah, more kindness happened shortly after. I caught a bus to take me to Pava'ia'i, and I got on and each seat had a passenger. I headed for the back to find that the back seat was broken. A few men got up and offered me their seat. Little bizarre for me to see those sort of things actually happen. The guys proceeded to fix the bench on the back seat a bit before they sat down after letting me have theirs. Kindness I tell ya, and simple gentlemanliness (That word is a mouthful, eh? haha) I got off the bus at the grocery store a quarter mile away from the apartment, as I needed some more lunch and dinner food. As I was walking back out saw my landlord before making my walk home. '

Got back and started working on my blog for the day and checked my messages on Facebook. One popped up from my Aunt Kristin saying she's been trying to Skype me. I don't usually just log on to Skype unless I have a date/appointment planned with someone. Anyways, I logged on right away and chatted with her a bit, and it was nice. Uncle Ron even popped in to say hello. They had a sale today.

Here's a photo with Aunt Kristin:

Then, my friend Ryan chats me up on Facebook asking if I want to Skype with him and Matt quick. Sure. Two Skype sessions in a row for me. Good way to spend my time before eating a beautiful dinner of a PB&J sandwich with an apple. They were getting ready for bed and I was just getting ready for dinner (or supper is what folks at home call it. It was always "lunch and dinner" when I was at school and "dinner and supper" when I was at home. haha)

Here's a photo with Ryan. We were desert adventure buddies this May on the desert ecology trip with Dr. Stroh.

Last thing... I found this fun little thing yesterday online, and I enjoyed it. Time for an Internet high-five everyone!