Over our 15 day period with temperatures below -45 degrees we ran into quite a few problems. The main problem was that our sewage pipe froze and backed up into my high school building. That means that there was "smelly" water and what not all over the floor in my bathrooms, in my hallway, and a little bit inside the classroom (not to mention all over Nancy's office). This was a rather disheartening thing to have to hear about and then see for myself. I love my classroom; it's a separate building that is just one big room with a lot of nice open space and ample room for some solid learning. I'm not going to be back in my room for a few weeks at least while the carpet is being replaced and the building is being de-smellified (another word that should exist). We have now invaded the SPED/Native Language/Kitchen classroom and are not adjusting very well; my students live by our nice little routine that we have pounded out over the course of the year, and now that it is gone they are in a bit of disarray. Trying to get them to work with all the distractions in the new room is challenging, but I think we will have it down by the end of the week (persistence is the key on this issue). All of my students miss our classroom as much as I do, but they are in no hurry to get back as they are fully aware of what happened over there. Here is a picture of what it looked like after a pretty significant amount of cleanup, sorry if you're grossed out, but just be lucky that you don't have to smell it. (Notice the plunger and the toilet scrubber in the picture, I thought that was sort of ironically funny)
This next picture is the sewage water line in my classroom.
This is the clutter of stuff that is now in my classroom. It now looks very similar to when I first got here, everything piled up in the middle and just a mess. It will take a good couple of days to put it back together, but it will be well worth it as soon as we can get back in there.
So that's the story with my classroom. I'm pretty good at rolling with the punches, but I have to admit that it has caused the beginning of my second semester to be a little unorganized and hectic. As always, things will improve and I can't worry about things that I cannot control.Along with this, we had quite a few water pipes freeze up and burst during our nasty cold snap. We are still without running water so we are on the haul system again, if you've read my blog in the past you will know that this means blue water jugs near the sinks, manually filling the toilet tank for flushing, and using that sweet rump camp shower that I bought earlier this year (took one two days ago.....still awesome). My principal Nancy is also currently staying in my spare room because of what happened to her house...the whole no heat and exploded water pipes thing generally tends to shy people away from their living quarters. All of this stuff is being taken care of as quickly as possible, remember that all parts need to be flown out which takes time. Our maintenance guy flew back in today and will be here until Friday, most everything should be back to normal by then.
Time for another positive note. The sun really exists!!! That has definitely been a welcome sight; it is already much brighter than two weeks ago and we're gaining about four minutes of sunlight a day. It comes completely off the horizon and seems like it's slowly pumping a little more life and exuberance into everything...especially me. People talk about SADS and how it makes you tired, I believe it as I've done a lot of napping this winter. Once again, I'm not so sure it's SADS related napping, but a medical reason for laziness is just what the doctor ordered for this guy.
We have our first high school basketball tournament next week. I'm the head coach of a four-village team...which means that our team will not be together for the first time until shortly before the first game. I think this first one will be interesting, but I honestly think that we will do fine after the first quarter. They will just need a little time to work with each other and I'm confident they will get it together quickly.
After proof-reading this post it seems a little down-tempo from my usually cheery posts; this is due to me being really really tired today and I promise to pick it back up with some good photos and good news sometime this weekend. I'm going to town on Saturday morning and staying til Wednesday for a Social Studies Curriculum Meeting. Derek and Pete are also going to be there, so I think we'll have a great time. Everyone take care and enjoy yourselves in whatever you may be doing.
Peace and Love,
Nicholas
Forgot to mention this one cool fact. I was outside last Thursday night around midnight and it was -67 or -68 outside. I was just looking up at the stars and moon when I kept hearing this subtle little crackling noise every couple of seconds. It took me a few times to figure out what it was, but it was actually my breath freezing after it left my mouth!!!. Has anyone else ever experienced this? It was pretty unreal.
1 comment:
I must say that I am a bit jealous of your classroom. It seems much brighter and bigger than mine. Keep that chin up kiddo. I'll pray for your situation to improve ;-)
See you in a few days!
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