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!