Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Hello, OCS!
Today was the first full day of my conference and it was filled with exciting tools and resources to bring back to my classroom!  This year's Teacher on the Trail, Brian Hickox, showed us a couple of websites we can use to create games for our students.  The first game we played was on the history of the Iditarod - I had to guess at a number of the answers; the second one was all about Boston (where he is from) and I got every question right and won a beautiful poster!

Then we went to visit Jon Van Zyle, the official artist of the Iditarod.  Check out the video on this link
Right outside their back window were 2 beautiful (and massive) bald eagles, just hanging out.  They are young eagles which you can tell because their tail feathers aren't entirely white yet.

He had photos of all the dogs he's raised - they are all so adorable:

And last, I got my picture taken with him:  
Tomorrow is going to be really awesome - we'll be watching the vets check the dogs to be sure they are healthy enough for the race, visiting a real dog kennel, and hopefully going out to see the Northern Lights! 

Thank you to everyone who's been reading my blogs and especially to those who are commenting and asking questions - I love reading and responding to them!  Enjoy your early dismissal tomorrow!


30 comments:

  1. this is julianne those dogsare so cute

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  2. thats so cool that poster is cool and the dogs are so cute

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  3. hi its Lucas is guy that you took the picture with in the iditarod?

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    1. He has run it in the past, but he's not running dogs anymore. I believe he ran in it in the 1970's.

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  4. Replies
    1. Bald eagles are pretty common here, but we don't see many in Connecticut.

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  5. This is Vincenzo, those hawks are really cool and those puppy's are so cute especially the ones in the santa hat.From,
    Vincenzo

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    1. Hi, Vincenzo! Glad you liked them (but they are eagles, not hawks).

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  6. when are you going to see the northern lights???

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    1. Tonight - we'll head out about 10 pm and be outside most of the night so I'll be exhausted tomorrow but I'm SO excited!

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  7. Mrs. Abbott's class would like to know how the vets determine if the dog is healthy enough to race.

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    1. They did blood work earlier in the week. Today they did the HAW checks: H = hydration and heart rate; A = attitude W = weight. They check temps and make sure there are no sore spots on their pads; they rotate their legs to see if there's any discomfort. Since each team has up to 20 dogs, it takes a while to get each team done. There were multiple vets and assistants working with each team.

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  8. Oh, Mrs. Redfern...I am officially very jealous! You know how much I love dogs! We sure hope you see the Northern Lights tonight! Take video if you can!

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    1. This is from Mrs. Sharkey's class

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    2. Wait til you see the pics - cuteness explosion!! And PUPPIES!!

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  9. All these pictures are amazing Thank you for sharing such a great experience- Jenna.M

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  10. Thank you for sharing such a great experience.

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  11. Hi Mrs. Redfern!

    I am very glad that you are able to get this opportunity.
    I am wondering if you can get a good photo with our mascot sled in front of the northern lights?!

    Thank you very much!!

    Indy

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  12. your pictures are cool from julianne

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  13. The northern lights were so amazing, Thanks- Jenna.M

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  14. Truly enjoying your journey in AL. Love all the pictures. Miss you here at OCS. Safe travels.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I will miss Alaska, but am excited to get back to OCS on Monday!

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