sprinkled with flavor

This past week was a week of pleasant surprises.  As I stepped outside at the start of the week, the air was crisp and cool.  While these temperatures do hint at the impending winter, I must admit I am quite a fan.  There is just something nice about bundling up in mittens and hat before going out to meet Lena on my way to school.

     

Upon arriving at school on Monday morning, I was again met with a pleasant surprise.  One of the other teachers had baked cupcakes to celebrate the PE teacher’s birthday.  While the cupcakes were delicious, it was what was on top of them which made them even more delightful.  As I took my first bite, I noticed that the sprinkles on top had a bit of flavor.  A little bit of strawberry.  Strawberry flavored sprinkles on chocolate cupcakes.  Yum.  Later in the day, I learned that most Swedish sprinkles have flavor.  Peppermint, caramel, chocolate, and other fruity delights.  I can’t say I have ever had flavored sprinkles before.  Brilliant.

Pleasant surprises continued throughout the week.  In science, we are wrapping up our first unit about organs, tissues and cells.  On Wednesday, one of my sixth graders raised his hand and made the observation that the word “intestines” has two of every letter.  Two i’s, two n’s, two t’s, two e’s, and two s’s.  I can’t say I have ever noticed that before.  Clever, huh?

In math, I am continuing to experiment with different ways of engaging students and assessing their learning.  This week, I introduced some fake whiteboards.  Every student got a white sheet of paper covered by a sheet protector.  Using the whiteboard markers that my parents shipped from the US, students were able to solve problems on the sheet protectors, show me their responses, and erase.  The students applauded at this idea, and in return, have started to teach me a few words in Swedish.  No, you may not use a miniräknare (calculator) for this problem.

My week finished off with a lovely dinner at a fellow math teacher’s house. She and her family live in a small, cream-colored house that is perched on a hill overlooking a lake just outside of town.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we enjoyed parmesan chicken and noodles outside on her deck.   As if on cue, the sun started to set when dessert was brought out.  Bright pinks and oranges lit up the sky as the raspberry chocolate cream cake disappeared from my plate.  The evening culminated with the arrival of the second full moon of the month.  Honestly, I can’t really imagine a better end to the week.  It surely was a week of pleasant surprises.

Julia, one of the other science teachers,
and I enjoyed the views from the deck.

I felt like I was on vacation.

I love sunsets.