Pretty Little Liars Nights Also known as PLL Nights!

So starting back in the fall my girl friends and I started watching a show called Pretty Little Liars. It is a show based on a book series written by Sara Shepard. It is the story of four friends (Aria, Spencer, Hana, and Emily) who live in a small town in Pennslyvania whose world is turned upside down when their best friend Alison is murdered. The police do not know who did it and there is a lot of mystery surrounding the case. The other main character in the story is someone we did not know about until the Season two finale last week. This character is named "A." "A" is a person who is always around, who knows all of their secrets, and is sending them texts to make them do things.  Aria is my favorite character on the show because she is spunky and things for herself. PLL also has a lot of really cute clothes so we have learned a lot about fashion while watching the show. The girls also remind us of how fun it is to have close girl friends who can share secrets with each other. Yes it is teenage drama but it is a lot of fun to watch. The show is one of those shows that once you start you just want to keep watching because you never know what will happen next.
During a typical PLL night we start with eating Pizza Hut pizza, watch the episode of PLL, paint our nails, and then watch Vampire Diaries. PLL night stands for a lot of P's- Pizza, painting our nails, and  PLL.
 Season two is officially over and Season three starts in June so last Friday was the last PLL night of the year. Do not be worried, we started watching the show Vampire Diaries, which we call VD, so we will have VD nights for the rest of the year.
I know it may seem that we watch a lot of tv in Saipan which is the truth, there is not a whole lot to do at night, but it has been a fun bonding time to get to hang out every Friday with girls who are a lot of fun and easy to talk with. It is also something really fun to look forward to after a long week at school.
So I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Only two can keep a secret...

The first season of PLL.

Me, Rachel, Anna, and Becky at a PLL night.

We dressed up as the characters for Halloween!

Baby Caleb attended two of the evenings.

Loving PLL nights.

Caleb and I.

Rachel and I.

Amy and I.

Anna painting her nails.

Rachel and Anna drinking hot chocolate.

Becky and I having a dance party.

Our last PLL night together. Becky, Amy, Rachel, Alison, Anna, and I.

Our expressions after finding out who "A" is.

PLL is "A- Mazing"

Hope you enjoyed learning about what my friends and I have been up to on Friday nights! PLL nights is another memory I have loved while being in Saipan. Hopefully this may inspire you to have a girl tv night with your friends!
-Kara-

Trip to the Zoo

A turtle at the zoo.

On March 14 I took my 1st graders to the zoo for a field trip. I took my kids last year and they loved it and I wanted my first graders this year to have the chance to take a fun field trip. My first graders this year are also really interested by animals so I knew that they would be able to see and learn a lot. It was a beautiful and sunny day when we went and the kids kept saying that it was the best day ever! I also had 12 parent volunteers which was wonderful since I only have 20 kids. It made it easy for everyone to enjoy the day while making sure the kids were safe. When we first got to the zoo we took a class picture, from there the lady who works at the zoo took us around the zoo and talked/fed the animals. The kids enjoyed watching the animals be fed and to see different kinds of animals. The zoo is a small zoo but it has a leopard, lion, monkeys, lizards, pigs, guinea pigs, rabbits, ducks, emus, and a baby bobcat. After this part the kids were able to feed the guinea pigs with carrots. They loved this part! From there the kids played on the playground and were able to see the animals they wanted to look at longer. The only downside of the trip was the Fish and Wildlife people usually come and talk about the brown tree snake and the kids are able to touch and see the tree snake. Without this the field trip was cut shorter than expected. All in all it was fun to see my kids enjoy their time at the zoo, feed the animals, and enjoy being able to do hands on learning. One of the God moments for me on this trip was that one of the parents paid for my entrance fee since I would have had to pay to get in. It was such a blessing!

Students looking at the turtles.

The whole class before we started!

Watching the monkeys being fed.

Watching the monkeys.

The students looking at the deer.

Students and parents.

Pigs.

A student with an animal.

Two students feeding guinea pigs.

A student feeding a guinea pig.

A really cool looking animal.

An exhibit where the kids could be the animals in the zoo.

Two students hanging out.

Students at the playground.

Swinging.

A student looking at the guinea pigs.

Silly faces!

It was a great time and it was worth all of the time spent organizing the trip.
Hope you enjoyed the pics!  My students ask when will I take them on another field trip and I said that I only do one a year:)
-Kara-

Grant's March Update

Dear Friends, Family, & Readers:

I felt like sharing some of the things that have gone on at school during March.  As usually I will let the pictures talk and describe them below.  I don't have a whole lot to say except that I am ready to move on from Saipan and enjoy being next to family for a change.  I will definitely miss my students and the exploration I have been able to do on Saipan, but it is time.  If you have time to pray during your day you can pray for my wife and I to find jobs in the states and be awarded enough money to attend grad school.  I hope you enjoy the pictures and their explanations.  The two major things that have happened are Science Fair and Merit Party for 3rd Quarter.   
     Merit Party is something our school does to celebrate the achievements of students who have done well in all aspects of school life among the junior high students.  In the past, merit to be a part of this party was only based on GPA score. This year we changed the qualifications for participation.  This was done because the argument was made that some students who always meet the GPA criteria were behaving poorly and did not merit being at the party and that students who did poorly had nothing to look forward and would never get to go.  I totally agree with this argument.  This year the criteria are as follows: 1. Students must not have an F in any classes 2. Students must improve their GPA from the previous quarter (we wants students to strive, not be satisfied with the status quo) 3. Once students have been weeded out through this selection process the students must pass a vote among teachers.  If the majority of teachers agree that a student is not improving behaviorally that student will not be able to attend the party.  This allows teachers to stand together in support of one another and teach the student that they must behave for every teacher regardless of their subject interest.
     Remember to click on the pictures to see an enlarged version of the photo. Enjoy!

A cool experiment in one of the elementary rooms.  The lemons had copper pennies inserted into them and were attached to + and - adapters.  The adapters were then connected to a very small red light.

A view from the second floor of our elementary building showing the immense popularity and undertaking the science fair is for everyone involved.  It is truly an event to see.

Some of my goofy sixth graders on the elementary side.

A group of sixth grade girls posing for a picture that evening as they head to chapel for the announcement of the winners.

Some of my eighth graders checking out the various rooms and their projects.

To the left a first grader talks with a kindergartener about their class project involving a large diorama of the past as it were with dinosaurs.  To the right outside the picture frame there was a large volcano, possible doom for the dinosaurs.

One of our teachers, Alison, as she finishes judging a project for the scientific method.

Our science teacher, Jake, giving the finishing touches to his scoring of a project.

Another of our many interesting science fair projects. CSI anyone?

Pastor Greg Dickerman of Saipan Community Church with our overall eighth grade winner Dylan.

Me and my co-worker Ms. Nierras with our six students who were able to attend merit party.

The students on the hike down the trail. An eighth grader in the back seems to be too cool for pictures haha

A picture of one of our 7th graders going down the rope to the bottom of the hill.  I was glad that the students got to go as none of them had been to Bird Island Beach and rarely do they get the chance to go on hikes such as this.  Ms. Nierras and I were proud of their willingness to try something new and then to swim in the water.

The group of us with Bird Island in the background as we hopped up onto a coral  or volcanic rock.

The group after having swum at the beach and eating snacks.  I had a great time enjoying our adventure away from school and those who had to do clean up of garbage and random exercises.

Saipan time is also Guam Time:

Science Fair!

Science Fair is always a busy time of the year but it is so rewarding to see the children learn while being able to participate in a hands on project. This year I used the same idea that I used last year, just with a few changes. I split my class into three groups so that way there would be variety among the projects and so the students could all learn about different types of habitats. This year my three habitat groups were: Ocean, Safari, and Rainforest. Every student was responsible for creating their own animal habitat out of a shoebox. We also learned about the habitats in our science curriculum. The cut outs and idea came from http://www.firstpalette.com/ .

The first step in the process of making the habitat shoe box diorama is painting:
The Ocean painted in blue, the Safari painted in yellow, and the Rainforest painted in green.

The Safari group painting at once. Yes it was organized chaos!

A student painting her box.

A student painting her box.


The next step is to wait until the paint dries before starting the next part. From there you color and cut out the animals and surroundings. Then you cut out stands(I used cardstock and note cards for this part) and then glue the animal/surroundings to the stand and then glue it inside the box. 

The rainforest group working!

A student placing her animals.

A student cutting and gluing the pieces together,

The next step was the crowd's favorite part of the process. With the help of our teacher aide, I took our class to the beach (which is right next to the school) and they were able to grab materials to add to their habitats. If they were in the Safari group they could grab sand and rocks, the Rainforest group- leaves, twigs, and anything green or brown, and the Ocean group could grab seashells and lots of sand.
It was so fun to see them get into their project and nobody ended up in the water!

Students walking along the beach looking for materials.

Students gathering materials.

A beautiful morning!






Then the last few steps are to have the students add their materials to their habitats, double check their work and then they are finished.
Here are pics of the final products:

A student with his Ocean habitat.

The Ocean Group.

The Rain Forest Group.

The Safari Group.

Here are pics from the night of the Science Fair:

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! The kids worked hard on their projects and had a lot of fun in the process. I am glad they learned a lot through this experience. Now I am getting them ready for the Young Writers Showcase next month! I just can't believe it is already the 4th quarter!
-Kara-