A VERY long and EXTREMELY busy day today. It started out in the usual fashion, nothing terribly unusual, except perhaps that I felt really tired when I got up and forgot to take my glasses to school with me. My first hour prep period was partially taken up with a cognitive coaching meeting, in which another teacher and I discussed the observations that we were going to make in each other's classes. The kids were only semi-squirrelly today, except for one of my followers who I have not seen around much this semester. It appears that she and her former friend may have had a falling out that I was not aware of, and that the former friend has been treating her in a mean fashion. She did not come back from lunch after I talked to her at the end of the morning. I felt badly. I would like to see her in school more often.
After school, there was laundry, and kids, and conversations about SIOP observations. By 5:30, I was so tired that all I wanted was a nap. Somewhere about 6:00 or 6:30, the little lady showed up, report cards in hand, and told me that it was time to do home visits. This involved making in-person calls on the houses of parents that did not show up for parent-teacher conferences. Several involved students of mine. One guardian was kind enough to share a few minutes to talk with us about my student and her older sister when he dropped by the school. However, there were still others that had to be visited at home. We walked all over the village getting that done. I thought that we actually had some good conversations, and that it was extremely useful to meet more parents and invite them and their kids to the school. I was glad that we did it.
After the home visits, there were a few more "community outreach" visits that were made, involving a second circuit of the village. We finally returned at 8:45, foot-sore and weary, twelve and a half hours after our work day began. Tomorrow we will teach, spend the afternoon in training, and then do volunteer work for the girls' basketball tournament, which means a fourteen hour day, in all likelihood. The tournament continues on Saturday. The boys' team is playing in the tournament upriver in Kwethluk, which means that our volunteer pool is depleted. The principal and his wife will both be gone, which cuts the numbers back even further. Those of us who are here to volunteer will be working our little heinies off. Sunday is the day that we take to do lesson planning and work in our classrooms, as necessary. Monday is an off day for the students. We will be in school all day for more training. Next Friday and Saturday we will spend either most or all of the day in inservices.
I know, I know...we get our summers off. Not me. I'm going to be taking classes. Gotta do it to keep my license. It is concievable that I spend much more time learning than my students do. On the other hand, I do get to live in a village 400 miles away from the nearest movie theater, without a car, without a 7-11 or a Wal-Mart. Why do I do it?
Because I love it. I would not trade this life for anything, although I don't know whether I can explain it well. Last week, I was in Anchorage for the week. It is a city in a beautiful setting. It has conveniences. I found it to be a pain in the ass. Too much traffic, too many cars, too much complexity. I actually wanted to be back in the village. During our "outreach" visit, I had a chance to visit with one of the fellas that I steam with. I explained my thinking on the subject. He has been outside in the world. He understood my point of view perfectly.
I don't think that I want to come back to the 48 any more...
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