It has been a while since I have been able to write, but I have been very busy, and time is flying by. It is hard to believe that there are only 3 weeks left of school until Christmas Break, and then we will only have 18 weeks of school left following that!
This weekend has also flown by, I have had kids over helping me cook, do dishes, and clean (It is amazing how eager they are to help with chores!). Also, I was able to have a great Thanksgiving dinner. When you are a teacher in town there are two options for dinner. The first option is to go to the church for a combination of a traditional native dinner and a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The other choice was a Traditional Thanksgiving dinner with the rest of the teachers, I opted for the later of the two. It was nice to get together with 7 other people (there were 3 teachers out of town, and 3 teachers having meals with their own families). It was a great way to spend time with colleagues outside of the workplace, and I truly am thankful for all the help that they all have given me in this, my first year of teaching.
The rest of my weekend was spent doing two things, 1. WATCHING FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL, and 2. helping out the volleyball team fund raise. For the later, I took money at the door for the "mini" basketball tournament that the volleyball team hosted to raise money for their trip to Point Hope this upcoming weekend (Thankfully I don't have to go!!!!). Obviously it was more fun watching sports, but to be visible in the community, be out of the house, and help out the basketball team, it was not a bad way to spend the weekend.
Now, it's all about preparing the kids for the Christmas show and getting ready for the break! I am eager to return home on the 20th, and I can't believe that it is so close to coming!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
November 11, "Survivor: Buckland"
I am able to write this blog right now, during the school day because currently I am watching only 4 kids! We started the day with 7 kids, but, I feel like I'm on an episode of Survivor, as 3 kids have left throughout the day. I still feel fine (knock on wood), and hopefully I will be back to a full class by tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
November 10, Flu Season
It appears that a flu bug has hit Buckland hard, almost 50% of the school was out today, including 6 of my 11 students. Which meant that no new instruction went on for my kids, however I did get a lot of work done. Fortunately, I am feeling fine, after getting a bunch of sleep Monday night.
Also, I've just gotten word that the first big snow storm is on the way, unfortunately unlike at home, there are no snow days here, since everyone has a snowmobile to navigate the fresh powder. Hopefully there is a lot of snow, it is about time that it starts to fall!
Also, I've just gotten word that the first big snow storm is on the way, unfortunately unlike at home, there are no snow days here, since everyone has a snowmobile to navigate the fresh powder. Hopefully there is a lot of snow, it is about time that it starts to fall!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
November 8--Finally a free second
Sorry it has been a while since my last post, but the NWABSD has the teachers here on a pretty busy schedule, so it has been tough to get a free second, but now that I have one, I will update everyone on the last (almost) two weeks.
First, the kids are doing great, aside from the sugar induced week after Halloween, they come to school every day ready to learn, and for the most part they come on their best behavior. For my parent conferences, 8 out of 11 parents came, a really high turn out that I was proud of, and the two students who give me the most problems had their parents come, and I've already seen an improvement in their behavior.
After conferences, it was Halloween, and it is bigger here than I have ever seen before. The Inupiaq people have a strong belief in spirits. For example, one reason the people in Buckland believe that there has not been a caribou herd come near town is that there is the spirit of a dead caribou that has red eyes that is warning all the other caribou to not come near town otherwise they will be killed. Another belief that the people here have is about Innuquns (sp). These are small people that live in the willows outside town that are the explanation for anything slightly out of the ordinary that happens (For example, any strange noises that could be heard). So with their beliefs strongly rooted in ghosts and such, it is no surprise how huge Halloween is. First, everyone for the most part wears a mask, and they enter the school at 6:30, and begin walking around the gym for a costume contest. There are many different categories, each with a monetary prize to encourage more people to come. After 30 minutes of walking around, the winners are announced. Following that, each teacher gathers their class, and we break a pinata. After this, there is the Haunted Hallway, which runs from about 7:30 to 9:00. This is the conversion of the High School side of the school into a Haunted House, where almost everyone in the village goes through at least one time (except for me, I was helping run a cakewalk). Finally, it is time to leave the school, and kids go trick-or-treating from about 9:00 to 11:00 or 11:30. I luckily had just enough candy, and ran out as the last kids were coming to my door.
The weather here is Allaapa outside (Inupiaq for COLD). It is dipping into single digits, but thankfully, I've got enough cold gear, and I don't notice the cold weather. The snow is not coming as much yet, but I hear there is supposed to be a storm Monday night! Even though there is only like a few millimeters of snow on the ground, people are driving around their snow-gos. However, to me this doesn't seem like a wise idea, since at times I've seen sparks flying from the bottom of the sleds. But then again, the people here also water skip their snow-gos in the summer (that means to drive them on the water in the manner of a jet-ski to see who can go the farthest). But I have a feeling that pretty soon, they will be on a good amount of snow for the rest of the school year.
Finally, I went on a trip this past weekend again (going into the weekend, I had traveled 2,515 miles via plane since arriving in Buckland!). This weekend, I was asked last-minute to chaperone the volleyball team again (I've been on every school sports trip this year, except the wrestling trip). This time the trip was to Noorvik, my 2nd time at that school, 3rd time landing/taking off from the airport there. There were no real volleyball highlights, as the team dropped all four games they played against the mighty Noorvik Bears, moving their record 0-6. However, there was one example again of how moved the Inupiaq people are with the Innuquns. Friday night, the coach decided that it was a good idea to tell scary stories and Innuqun stories right before the kids went to bed. While this was going on, I just sat as a silent observer, taking in another bit of cultural education. I was exhausted and I checked out about 10 minutes before the kids. When I went to sleep, the kids were all pretty far away from me on the floor. At about 2:30am, I was having a dream which included what could be described as a murderous scream. However, it was not a dream, it was one of the kids, who was actually screaming, most likely due to night terrors as a result of the story telling. I also noticed that two of the kids (including the screamer) were now close to me (as for comfort of being near an adult), it really seemed that those stories did a number to the kids' psyche, and it clearly showed in their performance on Saturday.
Now, I'm back in Buckland, ready for WEEK 13 of school!!! 12 down, 24 to go! 6 weeks until I come home! Time is flying by really fast, and next weekend will be no different as Point Hope, Selawik, and Noatak will all be sending their volleyball teams to Buckland for a 5 team tournament, (Buckland will have 2 teams). Since all teachers will no doubt be asked to help, I'm sure I will be put to work, hopefully keeping the score book (I didn't have any idea how to do that until this weekend, but Noorvik paid me $10 a game to do it, so I learned quickly. Now I can keep a score book for Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Cricket, and Volleyball.)
First, the kids are doing great, aside from the sugar induced week after Halloween, they come to school every day ready to learn, and for the most part they come on their best behavior. For my parent conferences, 8 out of 11 parents came, a really high turn out that I was proud of, and the two students who give me the most problems had their parents come, and I've already seen an improvement in their behavior.
After conferences, it was Halloween, and it is bigger here than I have ever seen before. The Inupiaq people have a strong belief in spirits. For example, one reason the people in Buckland believe that there has not been a caribou herd come near town is that there is the spirit of a dead caribou that has red eyes that is warning all the other caribou to not come near town otherwise they will be killed. Another belief that the people here have is about Innuquns (sp). These are small people that live in the willows outside town that are the explanation for anything slightly out of the ordinary that happens (For example, any strange noises that could be heard). So with their beliefs strongly rooted in ghosts and such, it is no surprise how huge Halloween is. First, everyone for the most part wears a mask, and they enter the school at 6:30, and begin walking around the gym for a costume contest. There are many different categories, each with a monetary prize to encourage more people to come. After 30 minutes of walking around, the winners are announced. Following that, each teacher gathers their class, and we break a pinata. After this, there is the Haunted Hallway, which runs from about 7:30 to 9:00. This is the conversion of the High School side of the school into a Haunted House, where almost everyone in the village goes through at least one time (except for me, I was helping run a cakewalk). Finally, it is time to leave the school, and kids go trick-or-treating from about 9:00 to 11:00 or 11:30. I luckily had just enough candy, and ran out as the last kids were coming to my door.
The weather here is Allaapa outside (Inupiaq for COLD). It is dipping into single digits, but thankfully, I've got enough cold gear, and I don't notice the cold weather. The snow is not coming as much yet, but I hear there is supposed to be a storm Monday night! Even though there is only like a few millimeters of snow on the ground, people are driving around their snow-gos. However, to me this doesn't seem like a wise idea, since at times I've seen sparks flying from the bottom of the sleds. But then again, the people here also water skip their snow-gos in the summer (that means to drive them on the water in the manner of a jet-ski to see who can go the farthest). But I have a feeling that pretty soon, they will be on a good amount of snow for the rest of the school year.
Finally, I went on a trip this past weekend again (going into the weekend, I had traveled 2,515 miles via plane since arriving in Buckland!). This weekend, I was asked last-minute to chaperone the volleyball team again (I've been on every school sports trip this year, except the wrestling trip). This time the trip was to Noorvik, my 2nd time at that school, 3rd time landing/taking off from the airport there. There were no real volleyball highlights, as the team dropped all four games they played against the mighty Noorvik Bears, moving their record 0-6. However, there was one example again of how moved the Inupiaq people are with the Innuquns. Friday night, the coach decided that it was a good idea to tell scary stories and Innuqun stories right before the kids went to bed. While this was going on, I just sat as a silent observer, taking in another bit of cultural education. I was exhausted and I checked out about 10 minutes before the kids. When I went to sleep, the kids were all pretty far away from me on the floor. At about 2:30am, I was having a dream which included what could be described as a murderous scream. However, it was not a dream, it was one of the kids, who was actually screaming, most likely due to night terrors as a result of the story telling. I also noticed that two of the kids (including the screamer) were now close to me (as for comfort of being near an adult), it really seemed that those stories did a number to the kids' psyche, and it clearly showed in their performance on Saturday.
Now, I'm back in Buckland, ready for WEEK 13 of school!!! 12 down, 24 to go! 6 weeks until I come home! Time is flying by really fast, and next weekend will be no different as Point Hope, Selawik, and Noatak will all be sending their volleyball teams to Buckland for a 5 team tournament, (Buckland will have 2 teams). Since all teachers will no doubt be asked to help, I'm sure I will be put to work, hopefully keeping the score book (I didn't have any idea how to do that until this weekend, but Noorvik paid me $10 a game to do it, so I learned quickly. Now I can keep a score book for Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Cricket, and Volleyball.)
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