1st Blog of the New School Year

Well it is that time again..... Summer flew by and now I am back at school ready for another year at Anderson High School. I have a great new group of freshmen students that are ready to start blogging and meeting new students from South Korea, Australia, and California. It has been a really long week so far. It is always hard to start back to school and adjust to getting up earlier and having to teach again. I think the students are feeling it too. Usually by 8th period they are very loud and talkative. This week by the time 7th period arrives the students and myself all look like we are ready for a nap.

I will start by telling a little bit about what I did over my summer vacation. I worked a lot during vacation but I did manage a few short trips to Jacksonville, Florida and back home to Missouri. A friend of mine from Missouri was moving to Jacksonville and wondered if I could drive his car down for him while he drove the moving truck. So my sister and I flew to St. Louis arriving after 11:00 pm because of flight delays. The next morning we were up and ready to go at 6:00 am and started out on our adventure. Thirty minutes later and in Illinois the car broke down and we spent the next 2 1/2 hours on the side of the highway waiting for a tow truck and highway patrol. But they finally arrived and after 4 hours we were finally on the road again. We decided that we would take our time and enjoy our trip since we had already had such bad luck. We noticed a sign for a huge Superman statue in Metropolis, IL where the original Superman series was filmed. Of course we had to stop and have our photo taken. The other photos that I have included are from my adventures in Florida and the road trip getting there. The following week I was back on the road again heading to Missouri to visit family. While I was back home the Missouri State Fair was going on so of course I had to go. I've also included pictures from my Missouri trip as well.

I have a feeling that this is going to be a great year in room 241 at Anderson High School.

Food day

It is a really good day in World Geography room 305. Today is food day....the students have been working hard on the Map a Meal project and are bringing in food today from the project. So we are going to be eating lots of food from South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. So far we have had excellent noodles, rice balls, dumplings, and potatoes. I can't wait to try what everyone has brought. It is getting towards the end of the year and this is an excellent way to begin winding down. I think the students also learned a valuable lesson about procrastination when the website they needed to use for the project went down the night before the project was due. Hopefully in the future they will not wait until the last minute to work on a major project.

If I could go anywhere in the world on vacation right now I think I would go some where in Southeast Asia....like...Thailand or Cambodia. I would like to see the temples and statuary from the Angkorian Empire. I usually want to go to Europe but I think Southeast Asia is so beautiful and mysterious. It is so lush and green. I think so much of it has not been touched by the human need to make things bigger, faster, and better. I would also like to explore China..... One of these days I will go but until then I will continue to dream.

Skydiving!

This school year has gone by really fast. We are currently getting ready for a religion seminar on Tuesday. We are going to have representatives from Islam, Judaism, Catholicism, Episcopalian, Buddhism, and Hinduism. I think it is going to be a great opportunity for all the students to learn about the different religions. The students have already about holy books, hierarchy, religious places, and holidays of the different religions, however, this seminar will give them the opportunity to ask questions of the different representatives.

As for things happening outside of school........

This past weekend I went skydiving for the very first time. It was such an adrenaline rush that I can't wait to go back and do it again. Next time I go though I think I will go solo instead of tandem. (Tandem is when you are harnessed to an experienced jumper) The weird thing is that I was more nervous before I got on the plane then at any other time. Once I was on the plane and we were in the air it was rather relaxing. Then the next thing I know they are opening the door and I am hoovering 10,000 plus feet above the ground ready to plunge into.......nothing......it was the most exhilarating experience. When we jumped out of the plane we began tumbling head over heels through the air and all I remember thinking is oh my gosh what am I doing.....this is so awesome. Then before you knew it we were just gliding through the air under a huge parachute. It was a very serene silence. It was so beautiful and calming. I can't wait to go back. As soon as I figure out how to upload my video of my jump I will. Here is a link to my video: http://www.edb.utexas.edu/culture/RachelHollrahSkyDiving.3gp

Africa Mask Project

This has been a good week for me. The students have begun to study Southwest Asia and have the Africa Masks due. So far they have begun to present them and they are all very creative. Each student had to create a mask based on a tribe and country that they selected. The masks were had to have traditional African qualities and represent something the tribe would have actually found important. They had to use geometric shapes and have the overall spirit and purpose reflected in the mask. We are going to finish up the masks tomorrow and begun Southwest Asia next week. We are hopefuly going to cover water and oil resources in the region and how it influences the region.

This is the time of year that Texas starts to experience spring and the grass and trees begin to turn green. It is also the time of year that the famous blue bonnets and indian paintbrush begin to appear. You will see people stop on the side of the road and lay in the blue bonnets to take pictures. These are beautil blue flowers that grow wild throughout the state.

The Week Before Spring Break

This has been a really good week at school....despite the fact that I got sick. We had our socratic seminar over Rwanda and Darfur. The students really impressed me and the assistant principal with their knowledge and discussion skills. I am hoping that they will want to continue doing socratic seminars in the future.

Things have been hectic in my life. I am preparing to leave for Missouri tomorrow. I checked the weather and it is still in the 30s there. I am hoping that it will warm up at some point this week otherwise I will freeze. I am not taking my dog this time. She loves road trips but I think she will have more fun playing outside at my sister's house in the country. I have learned a lot since moving to Texas. My sister has a place in the country so I have been introduced to Texas snakes, scorpions, cows, and other various wild animals. It is a fun experience but some of the things like huge spiders, scorpions, and snakes I could live without. I have included a picture of one of those scary insects I found on my floor one night. It was terrifying. I do not wish to relive that experience.

East of Austin where she lives is very flat and you can see forever. West of Austin is the hill country. Texas has its own form of beauty. I think the most beautiful part about it is the huge open sky. It seems to stretch on forever with big beautiful clouds.

I had better log off of here and finish packing. I hope everyone has a wonderful spring break!

The end of February

It seems like just yesterday it was the beginning of the new year. Now it is already March. This week in class we have been discussing the genocide that happened in Rwanda. This has always been an important topic for me and I am glad that the students seem to be taking an interest in it. I wrote several research papers on it in graduate school and was amazed to find out how many people didn't know about the genocide. I think it was a shame that the international community turned their backs on Rwanda when several easy steps could have been taken to prevent of to stop the genocide.

This week in my life:
It has been a hectic week for me. It hit 90 degrees in Austin. I am still trying to adjust to the climate change in Texas. I am originally from Missouri and I am still not completely used to it being so warm in February. I was in Missouri last week and the temperatures were in the 20s and there was lots of snow and ice. By the time I got back to Texas it was in the 80s. It is definatley an adjustment.

Things that I have learned since living in Austin:
1. You can wear flip flops all year long. It never seems to get really really cold. Even if it is cold it usually only lasts a day or two and then it is back to being nice outside.

2. Austin Bats:

How Many Bats Live Under the Congress Avenue Bridge?: The Congress Avenue bridge in downtown Austin is the spring and summer home to some 750,000 bats with up to 1.5 million bats at the peak of the bat-watching season. It's the largest urban bat colony in North America.

Why Did the Bats Choose the Congress Avenue Bridge?: While bats have called Austin home for many years, it was after renovations to the Congress Avenue bridge over Town Lake in 1980 that they found their favorite hang out. Narrow but deep openings created in the bridge turned out to be perfect accommodations.

Congress Avenue Bat Flights: Each evening around sunset the Congress Avenue bats emerge like a black cloud from the crevices of the bridge. Covering the countryside in search of food, it is estimated that the bats consume from 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects.

Giving birth in June or July, the bats and pups hang around til October when they head back south. Watching the nightly forays for food is a favorite evening activity, especially in late summer.

Great Students

I just logged onto the Learn World Culture website and saw how many students had been using the website to post questions and help each other out with our project. I am so impressed with how my students are using the website. I am teaching a great bunch of kids who are always willing to help each other out. I think I am a really lucky teacher.

Tomorrow I will be out of the classroom again for an Advisory meeting but I can't wait to see what the projects look like when I get back.

Good Luck Everyone!

I made a blog!!

Hey you guys.....well I did it...my first blog. So I know if I can do it then you can do it as well. I am writing this Monday evening after a long day of students not turning in physical maps. I am hoping that things will change by tomorrow. This week we are discussing Russia and there is a lot of stuff to learn.

I hope you guys have fun with this project. I am really excited about it and can't wait to begin reading your blogs. So start posting and have fun!