Wow, the time really flies up here when you are having fun (if you call working 7am-6pm fun!). On the XC front, the numbers are dwindling, this could be for a few reasons. I could be running the little ones too hard, but also it could be because it is flu season (yes in August) up here, and when there is a bug going around in a village of less than 500, the kids are bound to get sick. The third reason kids haven't been showing up to practice is because of the dreaded "gym list." The "gym list" applies mainly to high school and middle school kids, and it is the collection of names each day of students who are unable to attend that night's open gym. One gets on the "gym list" for a number of reasons (didn't do homework, chewing gum, tardiness, or just plain behavior problems), and when your name is on the list, you are banned for all extra curricular activities for that day (If it is a Wednesday, you're out for that night and Thursday because the gym is closed on Wednesdays due to a weekly church service). So as coach, it is my responsibility to check the gym list every day to see if my runners have behaved themselves in class that day, and most days I feel I'm fighting an uphill battle. Still I carry on.
This week I realized two things about Sundays. First is that the village is dead, well at least the schoolyard. This is because Sunday is reserved for the church (Officially Quaker aka Friend's Church, but really Non-Denominational) and your family. This is understandable, however, it leaves the area surrounding the school with an eerie feeling. The other thing I noticed about Sunday was that pretty much every teacher in the school was in the building trying to figure out how to use the lesson plan format that is required by our district to submit to our Principals every Monday morning ( I guess every teacher here is a procrastinator, so I fit right in!). After figuring out my lesson plans, I barely had time to get some rest before school Monday.
Monday is the "early out" for the kids, while we have a staff meeting at 2:40. I found this to hurt XC attendance. I had 5 or 6 kids come to me at about 5:30 (45 minutes after practice started) and tell me that they had just gotten up from a nap! I considered scrapping Monday practices, but then I realized the ones who are truly dedicated will show up for Mondays regardless.
About the only other event of significance that happened this week was the monthly visit of my mentor teacher from the Alaska State Teacher Mentoring Program. He's a 20 year vet of schools on the east side of the state. In a normal situation, my mentor teacher would be at my school, or within my district, but as they say here, "Welcome to the village!" Reed is great, he sat in during Language Arts (or as I like to call it, "Pulling teeth" or perhaps "trying to push a parked car" is a better way to put it) and offered me a lot of great advice about my group. Unfortunately he's only here once a month, but I'm glad to have a good advisor in my corner.
I have been getting packages or some form of mail every day this week, and up here that's like Christmas morning! I just can't wait for my TV, I'm lost without it, no Columbus Crew or Manchester United games! Also, I think I'll finally get to walk around town and take pictures Saturday. It will finally be nice to get pictures up here, because words can not describe the beauty of Buckland. I never imagined that I would be sitting in a valley, surrounded by large hills in every direction, nestled along the Buckland River. This town is truly an amazing site to see. Hopefully I will make a post before Saturday, if I've got the time that is!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
August 20-22 Still Adjusting
I am beginning to feel the pressures of being a first year teacher, so much to do so little time to do it. This is magnified by the fact that on top of teaching, I am coaching cross-country, and on top of all that, I'm still adjusting to a new style of life in a new state, in a community that is far different to the one that I grew up in. As a result of all this, I haven't gotten the time to post anything here.
However, now it is my first day off since I've started working for the district, which feels like it has been 4 weeks instead of 12 days.
As for the past 3 days, there is nothing really new to report on. Thursday and Friday were exhausting, with early XC (cross-country) practice, school than two sessions of XC practice each day. Friday after XC there was a movie night to raise funds for a few students going on a school related caribou hunting trip (Ironically my star runner is one of those going, and its on the day of the first meet!). After the movie, I went to the open gym, and then came home and hit the hay hard.
Saturday has been an easy day so far, I've done NOTHING at all to do with school (Except for hold a cross-country practice). I look forward to resting for the remainder of the day, it really feels good to have a weekend.
However, now it is my first day off since I've started working for the district, which feels like it has been 4 weeks instead of 12 days.
As for the past 3 days, there is nothing really new to report on. Thursday and Friday were exhausting, with early XC (cross-country) practice, school than two sessions of XC practice each day. Friday after XC there was a movie night to raise funds for a few students going on a school related caribou hunting trip (Ironically my star runner is one of those going, and its on the day of the first meet!). After the movie, I went to the open gym, and then came home and hit the hay hard.
Saturday has been an easy day so far, I've done NOTHING at all to do with school (Except for hold a cross-country practice). I look forward to resting for the remainder of the day, it really feels good to have a weekend.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
August 18-19: Long Days, Long Nights, and Early Morning
The past couple of days have been extremely busy for me. It all started way back Monday night, when I got the wise idea of meeting the locals. In Buckland, where basketball is king, there is no better way to get in the mix of things than by stopping by open gym. I went to shoot around with the high schoolers at the 8:00-9:00pm gym session, then I decided to stay and play in the men's open gym night, which is from 9:00 to 11:00. My plan was to stay and play a few games. It was all going according to plan, I was in on the very first game by virtue of me sinking a free throw when we were picking teams. I was thinking to myself "this is great, I'll be out of here by 9:30." That idea was all good on paper, until my team just kept on winning, meaning we didn't have to get off the court. The next thing I knew, it was 10:40, and everyone was leaving, and the game turned into a 5-3 (we had the 3), so we finally lost. This is something I would regret come Tuesday.
Having promised one of my runners that I would get up in the morning and run with him at 6:30, I awoke, and made my way over to school, only to find that all of his running stuff was locked in the locker room, one that I didn't have a key to (As coach, I know have a key to that room, although I probably should've had it from the day I said I would coach the team). So I told L (can't use kids names for obvious reasons) that I am sorry, and then I went right back to bed for another hour.
All day Tuesday I was sore from the basketball the night before, as well as a bit of the running. The day felt a lot longer than Monday, and it was for two reasons; first, the school day was actually 2 hours longer (we didn't have an hour long assembly like we did Monday, and we didn't have the typical Monday early-release), and I split the cross country team up into grades 3-7, and 8-12. This meant that the little ones practiced at 4:00 and the big ones at 4:45, so by the time the kids were showered, it was 6:00 and time for planing. Because of all this, Tuesday was a blur. The only thing I remembered about Tuesday during school was that I had to teach P.E. for the first time ever, and it won't be the last time (my kids better like soccer!). But Tuesday, we just played a game the kids call Run Caribou Run, and kickball, they know the routines, I get to just sit back and relax.
After planning a few things, I was off to the high school open gym, to shoot around. This time I had the self control to step out at about 8:45 to do a little more planning. However, by 9:30, I was out, and by 10:00 I was fast asleep.
Another early morning for L, this time to use the weight room, and at 7:00, so I got a bit more sleep. While my runners were doing weights, I graded math pretests, and planned out my day. Again, now that I'm in the swing of things, I don't remember much about Wednesday pre-cross country.
Wednesday, was a "learning experience" as my Principal put it. I took my older runners on a road that was being used as a part of the sewer project. I didn't know that it was supposed to be kept off, and the project manager called our Principal, and had the custodian come out on the school Honda (ATV) and bring back all the runners. Feeling bad when I came back and confronted my Principal, she took all the blame, and said it was alright, and that since she hadn't told me I couldn't run there, that it wasn't my fault. This made me feel much better, although, I learned my lesson to not listen to 11th and 12th graders that tell me it is alright to go on to certain roads.
Anyways, that is the last few days in a nutshell, time just keeps flying by faster and faster.
Having promised one of my runners that I would get up in the morning and run with him at 6:30, I awoke, and made my way over to school, only to find that all of his running stuff was locked in the locker room, one that I didn't have a key to (As coach, I know have a key to that room, although I probably should've had it from the day I said I would coach the team). So I told L (can't use kids names for obvious reasons) that I am sorry, and then I went right back to bed for another hour.
All day Tuesday I was sore from the basketball the night before, as well as a bit of the running. The day felt a lot longer than Monday, and it was for two reasons; first, the school day was actually 2 hours longer (we didn't have an hour long assembly like we did Monday, and we didn't have the typical Monday early-release), and I split the cross country team up into grades 3-7, and 8-12. This meant that the little ones practiced at 4:00 and the big ones at 4:45, so by the time the kids were showered, it was 6:00 and time for planing. Because of all this, Tuesday was a blur. The only thing I remembered about Tuesday during school was that I had to teach P.E. for the first time ever, and it won't be the last time (my kids better like soccer!). But Tuesday, we just played a game the kids call Run Caribou Run, and kickball, they know the routines, I get to just sit back and relax.
After planning a few things, I was off to the high school open gym, to shoot around. This time I had the self control to step out at about 8:45 to do a little more planning. However, by 9:30, I was out, and by 10:00 I was fast asleep.
Another early morning for L, this time to use the weight room, and at 7:00, so I got a bit more sleep. While my runners were doing weights, I graded math pretests, and planned out my day. Again, now that I'm in the swing of things, I don't remember much about Wednesday pre-cross country.
Wednesday, was a "learning experience" as my Principal put it. I took my older runners on a road that was being used as a part of the sewer project. I didn't know that it was supposed to be kept off, and the project manager called our Principal, and had the custodian come out on the school Honda (ATV) and bring back all the runners. Feeling bad when I came back and confronted my Principal, she took all the blame, and said it was alright, and that since she hadn't told me I couldn't run there, that it wasn't my fault. This made me feel much better, although, I learned my lesson to not listen to 11th and 12th graders that tell me it is alright to go on to certain roads.
Anyways, that is the last few days in a nutshell, time just keeps flying by faster and faster.
Monday, August 17, 2009
August 16-17, the eve of, and the 1st day of school
I hate to group together these two days, but there were two problems (one my fault, the other beyond my control) that prevented me from writing on Sunday. The first matter, the matter that was within my control was organizing the classroom. Because of this Sunday was basically a blur. I came into the classroom at about 10:00am, worked until lunch, took a 30 minute break, came back, and then left for another 30 minutes around dinner time. Following dinner, I worked until about 9:30 pm, and had everything ready I needed to start school the next day.
The other thing keeping me from completing my blog was the fact that the internet in the school, or possibly the whole village crashed. After asking around, I found out that this is a common occurrence in the bush, so it is something that I will have to get used to.
Outside on Sunday, the village was like the calm before the storm.... It seemed that not a soul was out on the playground, and considerably less four wheelers were out roaming around the streets.
As for today, well as most first days, it was a blur. All I can remember is that the day started with me picking up my kids, and bringing them to my room. After letting them design their homework folders, it was time for the whole school assembly, where the new class (pre-K) and all teachers were introduced. Next, we came back to the room, and I went over rules and regulations, and set my standards. Then after lunch with the kids, we went over our goals for third grade. Following that, the day was pretty much easy, around the world math, and an indoor recess to close the day. On Mondays, the kids get out early, while teachers meet.
After the staff meeting, I had the first cross-country practice, and 50 kids grades 3-12 turned out, which made for a logistic mess....My solution, tomorrow, practice for elementary and high school will be separate! Now, it is time to plan for the next day, and rest up! School is officially upon us!
The other thing keeping me from completing my blog was the fact that the internet in the school, or possibly the whole village crashed. After asking around, I found out that this is a common occurrence in the bush, so it is something that I will have to get used to.
Outside on Sunday, the village was like the calm before the storm.... It seemed that not a soul was out on the playground, and considerably less four wheelers were out roaming around the streets.
As for today, well as most first days, it was a blur. All I can remember is that the day started with me picking up my kids, and bringing them to my room. After letting them design their homework folders, it was time for the whole school assembly, where the new class (pre-K) and all teachers were introduced. Next, we came back to the room, and I went over rules and regulations, and set my standards. Then after lunch with the kids, we went over our goals for third grade. Following that, the day was pretty much easy, around the world math, and an indoor recess to close the day. On Mondays, the kids get out early, while teachers meet.
After the staff meeting, I had the first cross-country practice, and 50 kids grades 3-12 turned out, which made for a logistic mess....My solution, tomorrow, practice for elementary and high school will be separate! Now, it is time to plan for the next day, and rest up! School is officially upon us!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
August 15, Day 2
Isn't every person's favorite thing to be required to come into work for a 6th consecutive day? (sarcasm). Well my Saturday morning started bright and early, waking up at 7:30, eating my breakfast (peanut butter sandwich and a Dr. Pepper), and making the short walk to my classroom (although the walk was made slightly longer by the fact that the custodial staff is doing waxing on the tile floors, meaning I need to walk to the opposite end of the school, and enter the Elementary wing that way. Even though it was a Saturday, today felt like a Tuesday. Before I talk about how I spent the rest of my day, I should note that my bags that were left in Kotzebue all arrived safely at my door Friday night. My classroom preparations today were much more successful. I got many posters hung, the books are ready to go, and I've got all the name tags on the desks. I've got my classroom arranged in 4 "clusters" of 3 students each, and I've already got warnings from the 1st/2nd grade teacher about kids to keep apart, ironically one of the suggestions was to keep his own daughter away from another student. Anyways, I'm getting real excited to meet the Nunachiam Sissauni (Buckland Belugas) class of 2019, my third graders.
Other than the boring cleaning of the classroom, we had an informal staff meeting, where I was appointed the school's cross-country coach. Our season is 3 meets long, 4 if you count the state meet. The sites that have meets for those of you interested in researching are Noorvik, Kiana, and Unalakleet. The first 2 cities are north of the Arctic Circle, and are also schools in the NWABSD. Unalakleet is in the Bering Straight Borough, and that is where the regionals will be. I'm looking forward to the trips to Noorvik and Kiana, because according to the fellow teachers at the in service, they have trees, it will be interesting to see trees north of the Arctic Circle. Also, at the Noorvik site there are two new teachers that I met at the new hire training, so it will be good to catch up with some friends. Our first practice starts Monday, however, other schools have already started, so we are behind the ball. This will help me get back into shape, as well as provide me a great chance to meet members of the community.
The other good news of the day was that my final Fred Meyer package, containing my macaroni and cheese and cereal was waiting at my front door for me, meaning everything I shipped has successfully arrived in Buckland! After dinner today, I went home to put in a relaxing movie, and I ended up falling asleep, which took up all of the time I had set aside to go see the village, I guess that will have to wait until next Saturday.
I think the reality of the timezone change has hit me, and of course it is soccer that makes me realize this. Sunday is Manchester United's first game of the season, and at home in Michigan, the game would kick off at 8:30am, which means in Alaska that game is at 4:30am. Not being able to watch my favorite teams is going to be hard at first, (until i get a TV up here with a satellite dish, then it will be no problem) but I will get used to it.
Anyways, if I am going to be ready for school Monday, I need to get back to fixing up my room, I will try and get some pictures up by the middle of the week.
Anyways, I'm going to put in a few more hours here at the school, thanks everyone for reading.
Other than the boring cleaning of the classroom, we had an informal staff meeting, where I was appointed the school's cross-country coach. Our season is 3 meets long, 4 if you count the state meet. The sites that have meets for those of you interested in researching are Noorvik, Kiana, and Unalakleet. The first 2 cities are north of the Arctic Circle, and are also schools in the NWABSD. Unalakleet is in the Bering Straight Borough, and that is where the regionals will be. I'm looking forward to the trips to Noorvik and Kiana, because according to the fellow teachers at the in service, they have trees, it will be interesting to see trees north of the Arctic Circle. Also, at the Noorvik site there are two new teachers that I met at the new hire training, so it will be good to catch up with some friends. Our first practice starts Monday, however, other schools have already started, so we are behind the ball. This will help me get back into shape, as well as provide me a great chance to meet members of the community.
The other good news of the day was that my final Fred Meyer package, containing my macaroni and cheese and cereal was waiting at my front door for me, meaning everything I shipped has successfully arrived in Buckland! After dinner today, I went home to put in a relaxing movie, and I ended up falling asleep, which took up all of the time I had set aside to go see the village, I guess that will have to wait until next Saturday.
I think the reality of the timezone change has hit me, and of course it is soccer that makes me realize this. Sunday is Manchester United's first game of the season, and at home in Michigan, the game would kick off at 8:30am, which means in Alaska that game is at 4:30am. Not being able to watch my favorite teams is going to be hard at first, (until i get a TV up here with a satellite dish, then it will be no problem) but I will get used to it.
Anyways, if I am going to be ready for school Monday, I need to get back to fixing up my room, I will try and get some pictures up by the middle of the week.
Anyways, I'm going to put in a few more hours here at the school, thanks everyone for reading.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Augst 13-14, 2009 My first night/day in the Village
For a journey that started in East Lansing, Michigan on August 4, it is nice to have finally arrived in Buckland, AK, my new home. Since Sunday the 9th, I've been living in a school in Kotzebue, AK. Ideally, one does not want to spend the first days of their first year teaching sleeping on the floor of a Language Arts room, eating food prepared by school cafeteria workers (actually they fed us well), and attending what seemed like endless seminars in an school library. When they notified me I would be traveling home, I was eager to jump on the flight, and move into my new apartment, but the trip home was an adventure in its own right.
While waiting in the Kotzebue Airport, the pilot who was flying our charter flight notified the 9 of us going home that none of our checked bags would be coming with us due to the weight (too heavy in warm weather = bad news). This also meant that I had only the clothes on my back for my first night. Next, we walked out to our plane, a Navajo, which holds a pilot and 9 passengers (one has to ride co-pilot, and every seat is a window seat. Before takeoff, I was informed that our pilot hailed from Rochester, MI, and went to Western Michigan University, so immediately I felt comfortable in the hands of a fellow Michigander. This flight was unlike any flight that I've ever been on. Flying at a low altitude, I was offered breathtaking views of the Baldwin Peninsula, and the Bering Sea. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera due to the fact it was in one of my bags being held back for the night. Near the end of the 30 minute flight, I could see Buckland in the distance, and I was anxiously awaiting our arrival on to the dirt covered runway. After a landing (which was well done) unlike any landing I've ever experienced before, The local VPO (Village Police Officer, that's right there's only one) was there to greet us and welcome us home.
The rest of the night was rather uneventful as I picked up my boxes of food and some other things that I've shipped up (thankfully within one of the boxes I placed some clean shirts), and unpacked them.
After waking up, it was a work day for the NWABSD (North West Arctic Borough School District aka my employers), so I began setting up my classroom, while progress has been made, it is still not anywhere near perfection, and won't be until late Sunday night probably, if ever at all.
I still have yet to go out and explore the village, and meet the kids, however the kids that I have met are filled with questions, most of them wondering why I am so short (I told them it was my moms fault!).
Over the next couple of days, I plan to get some pictures up here of the village and my classroom, but for now, it's back to work, I've got a busy week ahead!
While waiting in the Kotzebue Airport, the pilot who was flying our charter flight notified the 9 of us going home that none of our checked bags would be coming with us due to the weight (too heavy in warm weather = bad news). This also meant that I had only the clothes on my back for my first night. Next, we walked out to our plane, a Navajo, which holds a pilot and 9 passengers (one has to ride co-pilot, and every seat is a window seat. Before takeoff, I was informed that our pilot hailed from Rochester, MI, and went to Western Michigan University, so immediately I felt comfortable in the hands of a fellow Michigander. This flight was unlike any flight that I've ever been on. Flying at a low altitude, I was offered breathtaking views of the Baldwin Peninsula, and the Bering Sea. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera due to the fact it was in one of my bags being held back for the night. Near the end of the 30 minute flight, I could see Buckland in the distance, and I was anxiously awaiting our arrival on to the dirt covered runway. After a landing (which was well done) unlike any landing I've ever experienced before, The local VPO (Village Police Officer, that's right there's only one) was there to greet us and welcome us home.
The rest of the night was rather uneventful as I picked up my boxes of food and some other things that I've shipped up (thankfully within one of the boxes I placed some clean shirts), and unpacked them.
After waking up, it was a work day for the NWABSD (North West Arctic Borough School District aka my employers), so I began setting up my classroom, while progress has been made, it is still not anywhere near perfection, and won't be until late Sunday night probably, if ever at all.
I still have yet to go out and explore the village, and meet the kids, however the kids that I have met are filled with questions, most of them wondering why I am so short (I told them it was my moms fault!).
Over the next couple of days, I plan to get some pictures up here of the village and my classroom, but for now, it's back to work, I've got a busy week ahead!
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