Stop 1...

Fours days after getting off a plane, it was time to get back on a different one! Rorey, Bekah, and I were headed to Austria for a few days! We traveled on what is possibly the smallest plane I have ever been on. The stairs folded out the side of the plane and we walked past the little propellers before climbing in. I was a bit nervous about the tiny size, but the flight was great (read: slept the entire time).

Stop one on our three part spring break was Vienna, Austria.
It was sunny and warmer than Riga! We laughed lots, saw lots, walked tons. And of course, enjoyed lots of yummy food!

The bells were ringing in
celebration for Easter! 

Mountains! (maybe not, but still more
elevation than Riga offers

We saw Batman vs. Superman, did some shopping, tiptoed through a butterfly house, went to a ballet at the theatre, and enjoyed the beauty the city had to offer. I also did a solo venture to Hundertwasserhaus... a funky fun apartment building/art piece.

Karlskirche (baroque church)

Hundertwasserhaus

Hundertwasserhaus

St. Stephen's Cathedral

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Butterfly house

Dessert! 

Hochstrahlbrunnen Fountain

Off to stop 2...

Saying goodbye...

Before that next Spring Break adventure could begin, a small tragedy struck Room 123.

It had been observed weeks earlier that dear Betsy's coloring was a bit off.  She had a lot of black something on her. One or two of the students had pointed it out, and Kristine and I had done some googling, but she didn't seem too affected.

Of course, that changed too. Betsy became less active but more reactive. It seemed every time a student went to a book from the library, little Betsy would puff out her gills. Then she began hiding more. And then she just wasn't really moving. Even when multiple tiny fingers would tap on the tank.

Kristine and I were keeping a close eye on Betsy, and after two days of her not moving from the same spot, we figured it was time to call it. So after school on Thursday, the day before the break, the somewhat/sometimes moderately-cared about class fish left the classroom.

When the kids returned after the break, it took them a while to even notice the tank, and Betsy, were gone. They were sad to hear, but they had also noticed she was acting differently. Naturally their first question was, "Are we getting a new one?!" .... haha. hahahah. no.

They did prepare a funeral for Betsy one day at recess. I wasn't aware it was happening but they did tell me about when they came in. They all said a few kind words. I'm still not sure if they dug a hole and buried something as I got contradicting stories. But at least they found their way to say goodbye.


TWO MONTHS LATER....

While discussing what unit to use when measuring liquids, one question was how about the amount of water in a fish tank.
Ivan: Let's look at Betsy's tank!... wait? Where is Betsy?
Rest of class: (gasps) (giggles)
Others: Dude!! Betsy died! Like two months ago!
Ivan: really? huh? okay.

Apparently, they hadn't all said goodbye. 

UK

Latvia is part of the Schengen zone, meaning you can travel from country to country within that zone without having to do passport control every time you hit a border. Which makes traveling from place to place faster and easier. But it also means my year-old passport is still relatively empty. Fun fact: I have yet to get a Latvia stamp despite living here for two years.

Even if my passport hasn't been getting much abuse this spring, my suitcases sure have!

Way back in March it all started with a weekend in Birmingham, England for an IB conference. It had been a fast and heavy few weeks in grade 4 so I was kind of looking forward to an escape. Once I had settled into my hotel room, I was a bit worried I wouldn't want to leave that cozy little home. But I did, and the conference was awesome! There were 15 of us in my section, but probably over a hundred professionals at various points in their education careers. In my group we chatted about inquiry- what it is, how we use, how to make better inquirers of our students. It was nice to be with people who had the same questions, and some great ideas, outside of my school community.

The conference leader was also really mindful of her attendees and graciously did not assign too much homework or reading for us. So I got to walk about the city a bit as well. March in the UK can be miserable, but thankfully it was wonderful instead! There was a massive mall with several familiar brands and the city was full of great food options. So overall, that weekend was well balanced and very fulfilling!

I couldn't get a decent flight out on Sunday, so I had to take Monday off as well. I came back to school ready to really get into teaching again and push my kids forward... except it was the week before and Easter meaning Good Friday and then Spring Break. So, while we did learn and do lots in those three days, I was also focused on getting laundry done and repacking that suitcase for the next adventure...