2017 ~ The Reflection

As it's the last night of 2017, I'd thought it'd be fitting to reflect on my adventures this year. If you meet me in person, and you me what I've been up to, my first response is, "Nothing much. I'm pretty boring."

Yeah, have I mentioned that I'm a total introvert and mostly socialize with different online communities?

Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Disneyland

Because really, 2017 had some good adventures. Here's a look back at this year:

*Disneyland ~ I spent my 40th birthday with my family in Disneyland. I wasn't expecting my family to join me but we were all heading down to LA for a family thing, so it just worked out that way. I was thrilled to enter my 40s walking through Sleeping Beauty's castle (one of my favorite places on the planet) with one of my favorite people on the planet (my niece) at my side. Ah-maze-ing.

*Snow day at Donner Lake ~ my brother, his wife, my niece, and my giant snow dog and I took my CRV up to spend the day in the snow. We walked around, took pictures, threw snowballs, Dakota took a snow bath, and had a picnic in my car. As we left, it started snowing...which turned into a storm that left one of my friends stranded right by where we were. We, however, beat the storm and had arrived safely at home by that time. 

Dakota giving himself a snow bath

*Field Trips ~ I went on two overnight field trips this year. I went to Fort Ross, California for an overnight trip with another 4th grade class. I had just decided to change grades and thought it would be a good idea to check it out. It was because I'm not going back again. But I also went to Coloma, Ca (which you can read about here) and that was a good trip. It was a 2 night trip but totally worth it.  

*Conferences ~ I went to one incredible conference and one that I didn't need to attend. The one that I didn't need to go to was about cochlear implants at Stanford University. It was a good conference but not for a 4th grade teacher. The conference was designed for parents who are just starting the journey of getting implants and what to expect in the coming years. Most of the children are under the age of 4 and it just didn't work for me. And even the sessions lead by the doctors didn't teach me anything. One doctor said, "Well, everyone here knows this part, so for the sake of time, let's move on." And I was the only person in the room who had no clue what he was talking about.

Halls of Stanford University

The other conference I attended was incredible and truly deserves it's own post because this conference took place at Columbia University in New York City. It was not only a great conference that I got so much out of but it was also an incredible adventure in the city with my sister-in-law. 

*New grade level ~ Changing what grade level I teach (kindergarten to 4th grade) has been a huge adventure. New curriculum, new classroom, new age group, and new teaching hours for me. I'm liking it a lot, it's not easy but I'm finding that I'm loving a lot about it. K was hard to teach. I had to teach how to be a student and then the foundation of reading, writing, and math. Now, we dive into deeper levels with all that stuff. The math was a little tricky but I think it's going okay. 

Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park, NYC

*Books, books, and more books ~ This year, I read a ton of books! Okay, yes I'm introverted but I still do things. I spend time with my family, I walk my dog, I even went to the gym in 2017 (more than once!) but one thing I did was I stopped watching TV. I caught up on all my shows over the summer. I made a point to watch Game of Thrones and Last Week Tonight but other than that, I'll watch Youtube videos for a bit and then I read. And I read more than one book at a time (they have to be different genres so I can keep them straight) and BAM! I read over 100 books. Goodreads says I read 111 books but I DNFed (did not finish) 7 books and reread 3 books....so really, I read 107 books this year. I count audiobooks, children's chapter books, and graphic novels as books I've read because I just do. When I was working out, I was listening to an audiobook. Any road trips? I've got an audiobook. I even read with my students during our library time (that's when I read the chapter books) so my students will see me reading and I can keep up with the new level books that my students read. 

Some things to look forward to in 2018:

I've got my trip to Europe which I have blogged about in great detail here and here. I'm hoping for another Disneyland trip but I haven't planned one out. I'll be going to Coloma again at the end of 2018. I'd like to take my teardrop trailer out this year but I discovered that I don't like camping so maybe I'll just sell it. I dunno. 

I plan on continuing on my weight loss journey although my focus will be on getting in shape to handle all the walking I will be doing this summer. I do need to lose weight for 2019 because I'm going on a desert camel ride in Morocco and that would be cruel to the camel. 

I'm setting my reading goal at 100 books. I don't know if I'll make that but I can try.

I'm leaving the negative from 2017 behind and taking with me the good. Just as it should be. 

Happy New Year!

Coloma, California

Today is my recovery day after a 3 day, 2 night field trip with 73 4th graders. I'm not going to get into the teacher aspect of the field trip (not the hours planning, gathering permission & medical forms, the shopping, the prepping, or the calling homes of bad behaviors & sick kids needing to leave early, nor my frustrations as what I felt as an educator) but I would focus on the adventure side of it. 

I'm not going to go into the program much because do you really need to know that I sat through meetings and half hour lessons? No, unless you want information on the program itself, then by all means visit Coloma Outdoor Discovery School (which is a great program and if you are a teacher, please consider attending). 

American River

My grandparents lived up in gold country for a while, but that's the extent of my experience with it. I learned about the California Gold Rush in school but that's about it.

Sometimes, we take our own backyards for granted. I've been to San Francisco a bunch of times, Sacramento & LA too. Because places like that are close by, it doesn't seem like a big deal to go there, but for someone who isn't from this area of California, it is a big deal. 

So today, my adventure will be about Coloma, which is a 2 hour bus ride away, in between Placerville (aka Hangtown) and Sacramento.

original location

If you aren't familiar with the history of the California Gold Rush, here it is in a nutshell: John Sutter set up Sutter's Mill in Coloma and while there James Marshall was in the American River, saw something, reached down and pulled out a gold nugget in 1848. Word spread (President Polk said to go check it out) and people flocked to California in the thousands hoping to strike it rich in 1849 (hence the 49ers). Mostly, they didn't. It was lawless and dangerous. The native people and the environment suffered as well.

So, onto Coloma today.

You can visit the original site of Sutter's Mill in a park that was established to preserve the history and the area. Sites offer troughs of river water and silt to go gold panning and you can still find gold in the river, however don't get too excited, it's not going to make you rich or pad your wallets.

mountain lion prints

My first day there, I spent at the camp. There are bunkhouses for the students and parent chaperones and cabins for the teachers. It's located right on the river. You have to cross a narrow bridge that is only room for pedestrians and one car. The bridge was built in the 1930s and while the cement was drying, a mountain lion decided to take a look around and left it's paw prints behind for us to see almost 90 years later. 

The program for the children was great, they baked corn bread over a fire, panned for gold and we ended the night with a hoe-down. The temperature had dropped around 40 degrees and I hadn't been cold like that in a while. I should say chilled because I had my Akiak jacket and was warm enough but my face was cold.

spot on the river

Despite my knowing the schedule, I didn't know what to expect as far as everything else. Sure, on paper I could tell you about it but having never been there, the vibe caught me by surprise. It reminded me of my time in Alaska, showing up for a training and having to check out my surroundings, being totally out of my element...which actually feels like my element now. The excitement, the unknown, the nature....I felt totally comfortable and ready to enjoy myself. 

I had to share a cabin with another teacher. I let her have the bedroom and I took the futon in the living room. It was cold but I had brought my Alaskan sleeping bag, which is normally too hot for me, and a comforter. I spread open my sleeping bag as a base and slept with the comforter. I was cozy and warm the whole trip. Score!

we're hikin'!

The second day was the big hiking day. Breakfast was cold! Some kids chose to go gold panning despite their fingers going numb. I decided to wait. There are all these places to check out in the valley, including a museum. I missed out on the valley stuff because of a sick student who needed my care (no complaints, that's part of my job and I'd rather I be there with my student than someone else) but I caught up to a group to hike up to the ridge.

I need to take a moment to talk about how people label hikes. This hike was labeled "moderate". It was heavily suggested that I go on this hike. Moderate to a plus size person should be taken as "difficult" because it was a difficult hike for me and for one other asthmatic student who attempted it. The inclines were steep in some parts and even going downhill hurt my toes. The view was truly impressive but honestly, I expected my breath to be taken away, and it was, just not from the view...more the getting there.

Granted, the pace was set up for children so there were many breaks. Just when I thought I was going to legit have a heart attack on that trail, the group stopped and I had a chance to catch my breath. Luckily, one of the dads in my group was a paramedic so I figured he'd step in and help me in case I got in really bad shape. He ended up helping the asthmatic who was struggling. I was glad he was there.

stairs in a forest

Moderate my ass.

I didn't break down. The students helped me, even if they never knew it. Because it wasn't easy for them either. Or weird things would happen like dropping a water bottle and it shattering so I would share my water with them, or being terrified of getting a tick or touching poison oak. I couldn't break down, they needed me.

So I carried on. I completed the hike and wanted to take a huge moment for myself when it was done but the naturalist was still teaching the kids and they needed to listen to her. Me chanting, "I DID IT! I DID IT!" wasn't appropriate.

By the way, the naturalists working with the children were phenomenal. Seriously top notch.

After dinner, we got to listen to a Native American speaker who was amazing. 

It wasn't as cold the second night but we were all exhausted so maybe we were too tired to feel the chill.

panning for gold

I tried my hand at panning for gold the next morning. My hands got cold (mostly my thumbs) and I didn't find anything. The kids were having a blast, many children I didn't know were coming up to me to correct my technique and show me how it's really done. Next year, I'm going to bring a gold necklace and throw it in my pan saying, "Look what I found!!" Instead, I announced that I couldn't find any gold and that the gold rush was officially over. One of the dads gave me a pretty good sized nugget he found and as I was transferring it to a student, I dropped it, never to be found again, much to the horror of the surrounding children. But let's face it, that's so typical of something I would do.

You'd think a 2 hour bus ride would be horrible but both rides went by pretty quickly and my students were really well behaved on the bus. 

It was quite the adventure. If I teach 4th grade again next year (and there's no reason to think I won't be) I think I'll avoid the hike and play around more in the valley. But overall, it was a very successful field trip and adventure. 

Miss Ruark at the top of the ridge