Siberian looking at you

Temperature 22 °F, wind speed 10 mph (which makes the wind chill temperature 11°F)

Did you calculate the wind chill factor and temperature for yesterday? It’s still windy in Anchorage today, giving us the 11 degree temperature stated above. This is two straight days of wind whistling at cracks of windows, rippling flags straight out, and sneaking inside unzipped jackets or up long sleeves. Ask your students what is personified in the italicized sentence.

This afternoon the teacher conference visited Jon and Jona Van Zyle’s home and kennel of well-behaved Siberian huskies. Both of them are talented artists, and Jon creates the official Iditarod poster each year for the race. The dogs played in the dog yard with us, exercised on their exercise wheel, which they jump on and off as they wish, ate at their “buffet” table, and gobbled down fish snacks.

Before the visit to the Van Zyle’s, I gave a program at Denali Elementary School which is a Montessori School. The school is about 8 years old, and was designed to let in as much light as possible with skylights and small windows tucked in everywhere. Light is important in a part of the world that has so much darkness in the winter time. Research the scientific reasons why Alaska is “in the dark” in the winter. An aquarium held salmon eggs which, when hatched, would be returned to the fish hatchery that the eggs came from.

When I left the school, I had to help hold the doors open for students and adults returning from a cross country ski field trip to a nearby park. The school owns these skis for students to use as well as the special boots worn with these skis. In physical education classes, they had learned about cross country skiing, and judging from their faces, they all had a great time on their field trip today. What’s your favorite physical education activity? Is it an unusual activity, or a common activity?