More student art

This assignment had the students all take the same object- a large purple circle, and incorporate it into an illustration. First we brainstormed what the circle could be- bicycle wheel, face, fruit, soccer ball...

So here is what turned out:

Solar System:



Hot Cheeto Guy Gone Cold:



The Pizza Party:



Ninja:

Running around the Monterey Area

I know its random, but when I google myself, the first thing that comes up is of course my masters thesis. the second, are the race results for all the runs that I have recently completed.
I have completed four 10k (6.2 miles) races in the last 8 months!! If I go back an entire year, that would include a half marathon (13.1 miles) and if I go back a year and a half, that would include a 21 mile marathon!! I guess I love running. The best thing about it, is running with a partner. Teresa, a great teacher friend of mine ran the 21 miler with me. Darling Lex ran the half marathon with me. Both of the longer races were in Big Sur.

For the most recent races I have been training and staying motivated by my good friend and salsa dance partner, Hector.

So time to get to the stats of the races.

Date: February 14th
Location: Pacific Grove
Course: race along the ocean-side street from lovers point (out and back)
Weather: Sunny, misty spray off the ocean
Results: 9:08 min mile; 56:35 minutes
Racer # 228 out of 560+ participants.

Date: April 11
Location: Santa Cruz
Course: race along the Santa Cruz Coast line. From the boardwalk (out and back)
Weather: foggy, windy
Results: 8:48 min mile; 53:56 minutes
Racer # 195 out of 1118

Date: September 12
Location: Aromas Rock Quarry
Course: race through an active rock quarry (very hilly!)
Weather: thick fog; very chilly
Results: 59:00 minutes
Racer: # 26 out of 55 (8th woman to cross finish line!)

Date: September 25th
Location: Pebble Beach/17 mile drive
Course: Start at Stevenson High School, through the forest, out along the 17 mile drive coast line then back into the trees. Incredibly hilly!
Weather: 75-80 degrees!! Gorgeously sunny day!
Results: 57:25 min.
Racer: 2nd in my age/gender category!! (58th overall out of over 100).

Next race... Half Marathon in Monterey (my own backyard)
I've got the t-shirts to prove it!!



**Thanks abba for the photos!! Guess I need a photographer at all the races.
Next one is November 14th!! (hint hint)

the scribble game

This post is specifically for the sisters. As much as I teased you two about the ridiculous games you would come up with -singing as your ramen cooked, making up a language, and making paper doll clothes, I can't help but acknowledge and attribute some of the things I do today to that wackiness!! For example, the scribble game you two would play in the car- often.

For those unfamiliar with the activity, one person would scribble a bit on one paper and hand it to the other, the second person would have to create a picture from those random scribbles. To introduce my students into art this year, I took the same general idea. It took a few tries for them to "break out of the box" and really turn out some clever art- all based on another classmate's scribbles.

Enjoy. (the titles are always entertaining!!)

This student enjoys science...




This student is quiet, but hardworking. I had her older sister two years ago.




this one really made me laugh (make sure to read the caption!)

Gardening in Carmel Valley

A couple weekends ago I helped my good friend Teresa kick start her garden in her new little place in Carmel Valley. Once the protective fence was up and ready... Carmel Valley-ites have terrible trouble with a certain pest, deer!! So in order to keep the hopeful veggies safe from nibbling lips, a fence had to be erected.

I helped out the following weekend when we headed over to the nursery for good soil, and "deer-tolerant" plants. We worked all afternoon, moving a raised bed into the garden and filling it- for the veggie plot. We then transplanted and potted a host of lovely little guys- a meyer lemon, lavender, peppers, basil, morning glories. The day was lovely, and we got wonderfully dirty!! Moose, her 114 lb. dog found his own way to help out too!

Zion National Park, Utah

I've decided to break my 2 week road trip with my good teacher buddies, Teresa and Heather, into several blog posts. Each post will highlight a different piece of the trip. This one will focus on Zion National Park in Utah, which is day 3 and 4, but the first time I started using my camera on the trip. I need the girls' photos from the previous days to fill in the early gaps.

We stayed in a private campground right outside the park. Since we didn't make reservations, we almost never stayed in the National Parks that we visited. This campground however, was one of our favorites of the whole trip. Aside from the fact that we were all sandwiched together with other campers and RVs, we had a site directly above a flowing river (the same one that flows through Zion and created that Canyon that was so gorgeous). We bought inner tubes and enjoyed floating and relaxing down the river. This campsite was very windy, and it almost never cooled down (I stayed in my bathing suit well into the night).

We took our full day and drove into the Visitor's Center. At Zion, that is as far as guest vehicles can go. They have a great and efficient shuttle system that got us to all our interested hiking trails. We did one major 5 mile round-trip vertical climb about 1200 feet above the canyon floor. Heather even continued on another 200 feet up or so on a narrow ledge of cables and rock to another look-out point!!
We also did shorter walks along the river and to see some natural waterfalls.

Spring Break- Las Vegas and Orange County

I just enjoyed a relaxing 10 day spring break vacation. I got to spend time with my parents and sister- tennis games and long walks. I also flew down to Las Vegas to hang out with a good teacher-friend of mine. We enjoyed the penny slots, but I won big at none other than...Bingo!! Who would have guessed?? I walked away with a grand $200!! We also enjoyed seeing shows.




For Easter, I celebrated with the Nazaroff clan at my grandparents house. Traditions included: Blinze brunch (delicious); dart tournaments (stressful); and guys vs. gals Easter-egg hunts (competitive).



New traditions included:
-generation #4: with little Shiloh
-reminiscing and laughing at old slides from the 60s that Dzeda had converted to a dvd slide show. My dad and uncle both looked like they belonged in a Leave it to Beaver episode with my dad's thick rimmed glasses and their matching plaid collared shirts and Uncle Steve's all-teeth smile.

It was during this slide show that we commented on a bright florescent orange dress that my grandmother was wearing...what do you know, over 30 years later and she was able to head upstairs that instant and find it!! Well, I HAD to try it on. That led to Baboo opening up her closet of period outfits from the 80s and 90s and Shanel, Daniela and I had a blast trying them all on!!

March 4th- CA teacher strike

Bright and early Thursday morning, I met up with my fellow teachers and administrators for a peaceful protest. For several days leading up to the state-wide strike, my students had been working on posters to display. It was the perfect timing, because I could incorporate what was happening across the state with what we had been learning in the classroom. We had just completed our unit reading Esperanza Rising and we had incorporated discussions about Cesar Chavez and his nonviolent strikes for farm workers' rights against the corporate growers. The students were eager to show their support through these signs which I took to the strike on Thursday morning. I will let the photos express their sentiments too!





although small, we were mighty!

class projects

My students and I just finished reading Pam Munoz Ryan's novel, Esperanza Rising, as a class. This was my second time deviating from the required Houghton Miflin Language Arts Curriculum that is usually shoved down our throats. The biggest drag with this anthology is that each week, for a series of 4 weeks, we are required to race through a different snippet of piece of literature. Most of the time the kids have no idea what the story is about, because we only get to read one chapter. We only spend a week on it which is both too long and too short at the same time. Last year, another teacher and I requested that instead of one of the anthology themes, that lasts 5+ weeks, we would create a unit with the mentioned novel. She supported our idea. This second time around things are going really well. We had the opportunity to analyze character growth- the main character is a perfect example of maturity throughout the novel. We also discussed symbolism, setting, and difficult themes like illegal immigration, worker's rights and the reasons to strike, segregation, and racism. As well as the values of family and what makes a person's life rich. Now that we have finished the novel, we are continuing this week with a series of different extended projects.

My class is very crafty, so I knew they would love the project I introduced to them on Thursday. We each made a yarn doll. The project was based out of what the main characters make in the novel and the doll is referenced several times throughout the story. Each student had to help his/her partner to complete each doll successfully. Even the boys took to the project with energy and enthusiasm. The results were adorable. Each doll took on a different personality! They were so adorable.




I highly recommend you check out this novel. It was especially pertinent to my
students' life experiences and we all loved it!

**notice the title in the first photo- credit goes to Lex for creating beautiful bulletin board letters for each theme!

(theme 5 is right around the corner...hint, hint)

How did you spend your Valentine's day?

Just in time, the fog lifted and the sun sparkled off the crashing waves. It was of course the perfect backdrop for a run this morning.

My good friend, and Salsa dance partner, Hector and I ran an organized 10k run this morning through Pacific Grove. He and I kept a really good pace, pushing me slightly faster than my normal weekend run speed. We stayed really consistent at 9:08 minutes per mile. My goal was to cross the finish line in under an hour, and we did just that, crossing at 56:40.

Checking the official results on line, I found out that for my age group (20-29 yr old women) I came in 26th out of 72!! Not shabby. The overall race felt really good, and we got super cool black shirts...
...all in support of the Monterey Rape Crisis Center.



OF course there will be salsa dancing later tonight!! So now share how you spent your day!

Pinnacles National Monument

Over the weekend, the weather stayed dry and in addition it was a three day hiatus from school!! I had a fabulous Monday hanging out with Teresa and Heather, two teacher friends from school. We spent the afternoon at the West end of Pinnacles National Monument.

I had hiked through here about a year and a half ago with Lex, but Monday was quite different. Due to all the rain of the past few weeks, the brooks and streams were babbling and gurgling and there were waterfalls too. Unfortunately, with all the water the caves were flooded, and unless we wanted to wade through knee deep rushing water, it was best to just hike around the caves, rather than through them.

Here are some photos from the excursion.

right in my backyard

Seriously, I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I love how ever-changing the ocean is. This afternoon, I spent almost 2 hours walking up and down my beach (about 3 miles). I was astounded and mesmerized by the powerful waves-bigger than I have ever seen them since I moved out here. Throughout the evening the clouds and light gave a magical touch to the water. I will let the photos speak for themselves. Enjoy and come visit me soon!

Crafty for my birthday!

I turned 26 on Friday!! Thanks to all the love and good wishes that I received during that special day.

The festivities all started on Thursday afternoon when 2 teacher friends and I took over the kitchen and created and crafted a "Shark Attack" themed batch of cupcakes. I shared them with my enthusiastic students on my birthday then next day. You will note: the blue ocean, swimming and diving Swedish fish, life preservers- note the "shark bite" in a few of them, and of course several mean sharks!!

A big thanks goes out to the following important people in my life. I feel so loved.

Mary Anne- I loved the "chocolate" birthday card.
Dans- a great phone conversation and sweet card.
Baboo and Dzeda- a fun card and generous gift
Mom and Abba- coolest ipod touch ever and a great day in Santa Cruz!
Lexi- amazing hand-knit wool sweater
Hector- a trip to Universal Studios and fabulous chocolate cake
Molly- for joining me salsa dancing!!
My students- for a host of gifts from clothes to chocolate and cheese cake and singing for me and making the school day most enjoyable!
Oma and Opa- a good phone conversation
Luis- a good chat, y no puedo esperar hasta que regreses a los estados!!
Heather- a lovely bouquet of flowers
Heather and Teresa- for helping me decorate the cup cakes
Teresa- for taking me out for drinks and plenty of Wii bowling!
Kathleen- for having her class sing me happy birthday over the phone!!
Facebook- plenty of great wishes

Universal Studios Weekend

A good friend of mine invited me on a trip with his family this weekend.  To celebrate his younger son's 5th birthday, 4 of us took a road trip down south to Universal Studios.  I went because: I enjoy hanging out with Hector and his 2 sons, I had never been to this theme park in Hollywood and I had a three day weekend from school.

Leaving long before the crack of dawn, we got to spend all day Saturday at the park.  Most of the attractions feature special effects, 3-d and even 4-d presentations and plenty of pyrotechnics to create that WOW! affect.

Although embarrassed to admit, one of my favorite things was getting a tour of the back-lot of Hollywood and driving through Wisteria Lane- the set for Desperate Housewives!! As well as a town square- with central garden and court house where movies such as Back to the Future have been shot.  We did enjoy riding roller coasters- both virtual and real.  

That night for dinner we ate at Bubba Gumps- and surprising myself to the 10th degree- although I ordered a mushroom/avocado burger- the only veggie item on the menu, I was convinced to try the shrimp.
I was shocked at myself for trying it, and even more shocked when I realized that I really liked it.  And here I thought I hated seafood.  Good thing there's a Bubba Gumps on the wharf in Monterey- because I might have to go back...it was that good.

 

NYE- Berkeley Style

First of all, happy new years to all and here's to a blessed, safe and fun 2010.

Being in the bay area for new years, meant that Lex and I had to search for something local and relatively cheap to do for the evening. Every other year (for the last 6 years) we have spent new years with the Shubin family (relatives of my grandma) in a snowed-in venue in Idaho. So for lex and me, our only other New Years where we were old enough to go somewhere fun enough sans parents was two years ago when we found a bizarre pirate party in the city playing a variety of mash-ups to popular songs. We had a blast- dancing like crazy.

Well one up on the pirate party was what I thought would be a ballroom social dance scene. It was, to an extent... I think the photos will explain more than I can. Suffice to say that we ended up at the I house on Berkeley campus, and were able to convince the parents to come. The ages ranged from infancy to people in their 60s. Average age around 35ish. Although we were told by the website that "formal attire" was optional...we had no idea what kind of "formal" they meant until we arrived. Instead of ringing in 2010, we were reliving the 1850s.



The ballroom was large, with a live band playing a variety of waltzes, polkas, and marches. The dance schedule was posted on the walls. Gentlemen, in coat tails and top hats and even a few gloves, escorted ladies on and off the dance floor. Notice quite a few ladies in hoop-skirts and corsets. Honestly, I was totally jealous. Although I love my new skirt, it did not match up to these incredible dresses.



Lex and I had no difficulty dancing, as we were asked to dance often. It was fun to glide across the floor on the fast waltzes and hop and skip like a child on the polkas and sing along as the band played tunes from the Sound of Music.