An all around OK day. The kids were pretty good, and there were no major traumas. I finally am getting to the point where it feels like fun to go to work. I am not perfect, and not everything always goes according to plan, but it feels better. I feel as if I am beginning to have a slightly more intuitive feel for this group of students to the point that I can make some changes as the situation dictates. That was not often the case last year, and it has taken some time to get there, or closer to there, this year. More to come on this subject as the year progresses...
My mentor is here for two nights this time around. She will be helping our new rookie as well, so she will have two subjects with whom she can visit from now on.
There was snow in the air today, and there is some suggestion that there may be accumulation over night. Excitement is in the air, because as soon as there is snow, someone will get out a snowmachine. Once the river freezes, we will again be able to access the world of Bethel and $30 fajita dinners. Unfortunately, one of our favorite Bethel locations will be no longer, as I understand it. Shogun has been sold to new owners and its fate will remain unknown, at least for the time being. Bummer. If I had known, I would have made it a point to go there the last time that I was in town. I actually have to go back in three weeks. Maybe the Greek place will still be open...
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Substitute NYO Coach...
And boy, am I underqualified! Mostly, I just kept asking them if they weren't supposed to be practicing something. Their real coach was busy filling out paperwork for the Rose Urban-Rural exchange program. She and her husband have acted as host families in the past, and apparently are going to do it again this year. The reps from the program were out here to visit, and we will be exchanging this year again with Ben Eielson High School in Fairbanks. We had an entertaining group here last year, and there will be more visitors in November.
My wife is off steaming with the girls, which leaves me here with the dogs. Fortunately, they are behaving well-sleeping, mostly. Not much else is going on. It is pretty much another week during the school year. No special events that I can think of. We will be a day short this week because of, you guessed it, yet another inservice. Nothing like sitting in day-long meetings for two weeks in a row. We get to do it again in another two weeks from Friday. I would say, "enough, already," but the district is not likely to listen to me all that closely. Funny how that works.
It was a pretty good day, and I hope that tomorrow is another. Not much better that you can ask for.
My wife is off steaming with the girls, which leaves me here with the dogs. Fortunately, they are behaving well-sleeping, mostly. Not much else is going on. It is pretty much another week during the school year. No special events that I can think of. We will be a day short this week because of, you guessed it, yet another inservice. Nothing like sitting in day-long meetings for two weeks in a row. We get to do it again in another two weeks from Friday. I would say, "enough, already," but the district is not likely to listen to me all that closely. Funny how that works.
It was a pretty good day, and I hope that tomorrow is another. Not much better that you can ask for.
Monday, September 27, 2010
It's Monday and I'm Tired...
Time to get some sleep-it's been a busy day. I was up at 5:30, a mistake that I do not intend to repeat tonight. The day went ok-no children were killed, and I am not in custody. Just kidding...well, it is technically true. All is well, and snow is in the forecast for Wednesday, and the rest of the week, for that matter. After all, the first of October is nearly upon us, and winter is on the way.
Now for a good night's sleep...
Now for a good night's sleep...
Sunday, September 26, 2010
And An Evening At Church To Top It Off...
We hadn't been to church since we got back, so off we went this evening...we wandered into a long Sunday night service. I actually enjoyed it-we are both thinking that we want to go more often. I kept having this thought that these are the people among whom I have chosen to live, and I want to be a part of the community in a deeper way. Father Vasily invited us to come up and do veneration of the icons, which we have hung back from doing, mostly out of a sense of shyness of some kind. We talked about it afterward, and had to laugh at the warm feeling that we both get when we go to church. I am not sure where it all goes from here, but it will be interesting.
To top it all off, we had one of those amazing harvest moons tonight. I caught it a little late, but it is the best that I could do...
Too Much Funky Stuff Lately...
Time for some joy. Too much mention of funk and gloom around here lately. We took an invigorating (cold) stroll to the airport this morning, along with the dogs, who like to frolic and run about all over the place. They get really antsy if they haven't had a walk in a while, and it had been a few days.
I got my lesson plans finished at last this afternoon, so that was a relief. The weather is still chilly, but there is abundant sunshine, with nary a cloud in sight. We booked our flights back to the midwest for Christmas, and we even got a discount on our hotel stay in Anchorage on the way back because we are frequent stayers at the hotel in question.
We have a short week because of inservices, and there will only be roughly eleven weeks before the holidays at the end of it. Good news all around, and I didn't even mention the discounted PFD fares and the frequent flier miles that I used to make the more expensive flight home a free one!!
I am hoping for a good week to come.
I got my lesson plans finished at last this afternoon, so that was a relief. The weather is still chilly, but there is abundant sunshine, with nary a cloud in sight. We booked our flights back to the midwest for Christmas, and we even got a discount on our hotel stay in Anchorage on the way back because we are frequent stayers at the hotel in question.
We have a short week because of inservices, and there will only be roughly eleven weeks before the holidays at the end of it. Good news all around, and I didn't even mention the discounted PFD fares and the frequent flier miles that I used to make the more expensive flight home a free one!!
I am hoping for a good week to come.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
One Long-Ass Day...
We apparently slept through the alarm clock this morning, which had apparently been moved to the living room sometime during the night. The upshot of that was that we ended up (ok, I did) going into the second part of our inservice in our pajamas. It was perfect. We were confined to quarters yet again for a silly repetetive exercise, and then practiced some important skills. After that, we proceeded to hang around for another seven hours, doing lesson plans and giving a little counsel. There is a definite malaise in the local atmosphere, and I find myself wondering where it will lead. The amount of workload out here increases steadily, and like so many others in this economy, we find ourselves forced to work an increasing number of uncompensated hours to get our jobs done. Mandate follows mandate, and there does not seem to be any realistic consideration of the idea that people might have a life outside of the work place. I am not sure that there is even a concern about that part of employees' life at all. Maybe the philosophy is diffferent at the district level, but I am not reassured closer to home.
On the plus side, I am enjoying my kids more every week, as we all get to know each other better. This is a fun bunch, even when they are not angelic. Much better than the mix last year. Much. They like to stay after school to use their computers, and I usually don't mind staying around for them. So that part of it is good. It makes the other stuff more tolerable. Not great-tolerable.
In other news, the weather continues to be brisk and cool. There was a one-year feast for Ralph, the VPO that drowned a year ago. I had salmonberry pie and some delicious strips-some of the best that I have had this year. Some of my students were there and I chatted with them for a little bit. We got the mail and walked dogs. Big doin's in PKA...and now my sweetie is using her salad shooter to fix dinner. Man, I am lucky!
On the plus side, I am enjoying my kids more every week, as we all get to know each other better. This is a fun bunch, even when they are not angelic. Much better than the mix last year. Much. They like to stay after school to use their computers, and I usually don't mind staying around for them. So that part of it is good. It makes the other stuff more tolerable. Not great-tolerable.
In other news, the weather continues to be brisk and cool. There was a one-year feast for Ralph, the VPO that drowned a year ago. I had salmonberry pie and some delicious strips-some of the best that I have had this year. Some of my students were there and I chatted with them for a little bit. We got the mail and walked dogs. Big doin's in PKA...and now my sweetie is using her salad shooter to fix dinner. Man, I am lucky!
Not That Crazy About This Pattern...
Up again at 2 am...not anxious or stressed, just awake. It didn't seem to cause me any harm last night, but it is kinda weird...I'm not sure that it is a great thing in the long run...it gives me the chance to catch up with the news stations back home-go Spartans and Wolverines! After all these years and wandering, I am still a Michigan boy at heart.
The long part of our Friday-Saturday daily double is done-most of what we will be doing is recertifying for our crisis intervention certification. I am going to try to get some lesson plans written this morning so I can get it out of the way and enjoy some of the weekend-we will be out at noon. We started prep for after school program last night-I may have to balance that commitment with others this year, like the region director job that I have accepted with our union-the site rep position for Napaskiak is also open and no one seems that anxious to jump on it. October is shaping up as busy-I wouldn't want to get bored!
The wind is still blowing briskly here, and a definite chill is in the air. I am not sure about the weather for the weekend, but I think that the big dogs will still need a run out at the airport-they are pretty wound up these days. The question is what there is to do for a change of pace-those can be hard to come by around here, but I think that one would be nice. I think that we are getting into a bit of a rut these days. A trip to Bethel might be nice, but I don't see that in the cards outside of the work arena for a while. There is an avocado-we could always have guacamole night...
It is about time to get back to bed, and get a few hours of sleep while I still have the chance...
The long part of our Friday-Saturday daily double is done-most of what we will be doing is recertifying for our crisis intervention certification. I am going to try to get some lesson plans written this morning so I can get it out of the way and enjoy some of the weekend-we will be out at noon. We started prep for after school program last night-I may have to balance that commitment with others this year, like the region director job that I have accepted with our union-the site rep position for Napaskiak is also open and no one seems that anxious to jump on it. October is shaping up as busy-I wouldn't want to get bored!
The wind is still blowing briskly here, and a definite chill is in the air. I am not sure about the weather for the weekend, but I think that the big dogs will still need a run out at the airport-they are pretty wound up these days. The question is what there is to do for a change of pace-those can be hard to come by around here, but I think that one would be nice. I think that we are getting into a bit of a rut these days. A trip to Bethel might be nice, but I don't see that in the cards outside of the work arena for a while. There is an avocado-we could always have guacamole night...
It is about time to get back to bed, and get a few hours of sleep while I still have the chance...
Friday, September 24, 2010
That'll Teach Me To Go To Bed Early...
Up at 1:30, just goofing around writing emails to friends, listening to various world music stations on iTunes. I was kind of disappointed that the Khmer music station didn't connect, but now I have on what I think is a Turkish dance beat station...interesting!
It has been an interesting kind of week as well, and it is nearly at an end. I am trying to figure out what to do about my math class. We have a program called Everyday Math that has pretty scripted lessons. My kids seem to be struggling with some concepts that the program assumes that they will already possess. I am not sure how to address this one...the program is supposed to build on itself from kindergarten up. My kids are in 5th grade, but I see them struggling with calculations that the practice exercises include that are not even part of the main lesson. We will see where this leads. It has been suggested that it might have been better if the program had been implemented gradually from the bottom up rather than all at once, but that is the way that it is.
My sweetie is back from her trip over to Bethel, and the two days of student leadership meetings there. There will be a gathering next month for the student governments from around the state, and I think that I might like to go as a chaperone. I have been dropping hints, but someone is not quite picking up on them. Maybe less subtlety is required.
We have our monthly Friday-Saturday professional derangement ordeal coming up this weekend-o joy! Two days of meetings!!!! How fun. Then we have another day-long inservice coming up next Friday. Hope this one is as immensely valuable as the last one. It is good to learn new things, that's for sure...I think that this weekend is going to be a busy one...wish me luck!
It has been an interesting kind of week as well, and it is nearly at an end. I am trying to figure out what to do about my math class. We have a program called Everyday Math that has pretty scripted lessons. My kids seem to be struggling with some concepts that the program assumes that they will already possess. I am not sure how to address this one...the program is supposed to build on itself from kindergarten up. My kids are in 5th grade, but I see them struggling with calculations that the practice exercises include that are not even part of the main lesson. We will see where this leads. It has been suggested that it might have been better if the program had been implemented gradually from the bottom up rather than all at once, but that is the way that it is.
My sweetie is back from her trip over to Bethel, and the two days of student leadership meetings there. There will be a gathering next month for the student governments from around the state, and I think that I might like to go as a chaperone. I have been dropping hints, but someone is not quite picking up on them. Maybe less subtlety is required.
We have our monthly Friday-Saturday professional derangement ordeal coming up this weekend-o joy! Two days of meetings!!!! How fun. Then we have another day-long inservice coming up next Friday. Hope this one is as immensely valuable as the last one. It is good to learn new things, that's for sure...I think that this weekend is going to be a busy one...wish me luck!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
More Moose Soup'n'Stuff...
Tomorrow is Thursday, which means laundry. This week will probably feature two-part laundry, because my spouse doesn't get home until 4:30 or so from her little trip to Bethel. It may be time for 4-wheeler duty again...then I will have to get her travel stuff clean. Fortunately, we have the use of the laundry until 1:00 a.m. Friday, so there is lots of time for that kind of thing.
I went to Eric's house for a swinging bachelor evening. Both of our wives are traveling, so he took the rest of the moose meat that they had and made another batch of soup. He also invited our brand new teacher, Sean, who replaced Jim in the junior high. A nice evening of goofy conversation and not a few laughs ensued. And the moose soup was pretty darned good. I think that Mrs. Jung trained up her boy to fend for himself in the kitchen.
I hooked up the new TV and DVD player last night and watched a little bit of Seven Samurai, just to see how it all works. Pretty nice, thank you for asking. It will be nice to watch movies on something bigger than a computer screen. Now we will see about the possibilities for football viewing...stay tuned for further news on this front. I was actually going to make the pilgrimage to put the question to the authority in question tonight, but the boss had a question, and I had some quick union business to take care of, and frankly I forgot after that. Kind of felt a bit foolish, because I stood up the teacher with whom I was going to make the pilgrimage in question, but she seemed to forgive me after a little well-deserved teasing.
On to such of the weekend as we can salvage from professional development activities-the district has its hooks in me this time. Lots more to come...
I went to Eric's house for a swinging bachelor evening. Both of our wives are traveling, so he took the rest of the moose meat that they had and made another batch of soup. He also invited our brand new teacher, Sean, who replaced Jim in the junior high. A nice evening of goofy conversation and not a few laughs ensued. And the moose soup was pretty darned good. I think that Mrs. Jung trained up her boy to fend for himself in the kitchen.
I hooked up the new TV and DVD player last night and watched a little bit of Seven Samurai, just to see how it all works. Pretty nice, thank you for asking. It will be nice to watch movies on something bigger than a computer screen. Now we will see about the possibilities for football viewing...stay tuned for further news on this front. I was actually going to make the pilgrimage to put the question to the authority in question tonight, but the boss had a question, and I had some quick union business to take care of, and frankly I forgot after that. Kind of felt a bit foolish, because I stood up the teacher with whom I was going to make the pilgrimage in question, but she seemed to forgive me after a little well-deserved teasing.
On to such of the weekend as we can salvage from professional development activities-the district has its hooks in me this time. Lots more to come...
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Surprises From Old Friends
I was very pleased to hear from my old friend Steve Cohen this evening. We went to law school together sometime in the Late Cretaceous period, and are most likely best thought of as a couple of old fossils who were frustrated comics. Well, I might have been more frustrated than he was.
We blabbed on about this, that, etc...and I got to hear him talk with pride about his kids and the law firm that he has helped to build. It was nice to catch up, and I hope that I might have another reader of this blog from time to time.
Kiddies were ok early, and fractious late. It is hard to get them to work together well in the afternoon, and I find myself losing patience too much. I may be trying for some kind of internalized concept of the perfect classroom in a world of real kids. Maybe I need to lighten up a little bit, even if only inside my head. The positive stuff worked well last week and has not gone so well since. I just get pissed off too quickly. They are just kids, and they are going to have goofy days. I could wish for a few less of them, but them's the breaks...
I am abandoned by fate and the necessities of student leadership conferences in Bethel. My bride has flown across the mighty water for a couple of days. There will likely be more of this this year than there was last. For someone who spent as much time alone as I did for the past fifteen years, I don't seem to be all that fond of it. It will be over on Thursday, but I will probably be in a light sulk until then.
Tomorrow is hump day for the week, although any week that requires PD on Saturday has a different hump than Wednesday in reality. I am going to hide my head in the sand and pretend anyway. And for now, I think that I will amuse myself with a little dishwashing and electronic media assembly work. Good night, Napas...
We blabbed on about this, that, etc...and I got to hear him talk with pride about his kids and the law firm that he has helped to build. It was nice to catch up, and I hope that I might have another reader of this blog from time to time.
Kiddies were ok early, and fractious late. It is hard to get them to work together well in the afternoon, and I find myself losing patience too much. I may be trying for some kind of internalized concept of the perfect classroom in a world of real kids. Maybe I need to lighten up a little bit, even if only inside my head. The positive stuff worked well last week and has not gone so well since. I just get pissed off too quickly. They are just kids, and they are going to have goofy days. I could wish for a few less of them, but them's the breaks...
I am abandoned by fate and the necessities of student leadership conferences in Bethel. My bride has flown across the mighty water for a couple of days. There will likely be more of this this year than there was last. For someone who spent as much time alone as I did for the past fifteen years, I don't seem to be all that fond of it. It will be over on Thursday, but I will probably be in a light sulk until then.
Tomorrow is hump day for the week, although any week that requires PD on Saturday has a different hump than Wednesday in reality. I am going to hide my head in the sand and pretend anyway. And for now, I think that I will amuse myself with a little dishwashing and electronic media assembly work. Good night, Napas...
Monday, September 20, 2010
Flaky Monday...
The usual...sleepy, cranky, distracted kids. Mondays are rough in these here parts. The fine weather over the weekend didn't help. They are usually a day to get through. And that is done. Everything is done-the laundry, the dishes and Monday night football. It's nice to have the advantage of that four-hour time difference. Besides that, I am not too fond of time-dependent media anyway.
I will be stricken with the plague of bachelorhood tomorrow for a couple of days. My sweetie is off to Bethel with some of our kids for a leadership conference. My understanding is that they will be back on Thursday night, so I guess I will just cope with the inconsolable lonelieness the best that I can. In the meantime, I think that I will just appreciate what she does for me.
On to Tuesday!
I will be stricken with the plague of bachelorhood tomorrow for a couple of days. My sweetie is off to Bethel with some of our kids for a leadership conference. My understanding is that they will be back on Thursday night, so I guess I will just cope with the inconsolable lonelieness the best that I can. In the meantime, I think that I will just appreciate what she does for me.
On to Tuesday!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
A Good Sunday...
Man, what a fine day I got to spend with my baby...up and off to walk the dogs early, yummy muffins for breakfast and a convo with the parental types, a nice early afternoon nap, a quick trip over to the school to make some posters and shower, another walk with Sara J, and delicious moose soup at she and Eric's house accompanied by corn muffins and some wonderful homemade cherry pudding ice cream made by the best cook in the world. I am soooo lucky-and the weather continues to be insanely beautiful-it was a great day to be outside.
Time for another busy week-only 13 left before Xmas break. We will have an inservice ordeal weekend, which means that we get to go Friday night and into Saturday. Blah. We get another inservice on the following Friday, with two more in the month of October. Enough already-I'm getting inserviced out. Blech.
A little bit of frost was on the boardwalk this morning. Sooner or later, reality will rear its ugly head in these parts, and winter will emerge. The sun is more noticeably inclined towards the south than it was just a few weeks ago. That means that it won't be long before the snowmachine is out of the garage. Now, if I only had my own...we have vowed to take more screw-off days and run around out on the frozen tundra this winter. I think that it will be fun.
A good week, all things considered, and I hope that the next one will be as good.
Time for another busy week-only 13 left before Xmas break. We will have an inservice ordeal weekend, which means that we get to go Friday night and into Saturday. Blah. We get another inservice on the following Friday, with two more in the month of October. Enough already-I'm getting inserviced out. Blech.
A little bit of frost was on the boardwalk this morning. Sooner or later, reality will rear its ugly head in these parts, and winter will emerge. The sun is more noticeably inclined towards the south than it was just a few weeks ago. That means that it won't be long before the snowmachine is out of the garage. Now, if I only had my own...we have vowed to take more screw-off days and run around out on the frozen tundra this winter. I think that it will be fun.
A good week, all things considered, and I hope that the next one will be as good.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Arrgh-Lesson Plans...
Hate 'em absolutely. Even if they are a necessary evil. Hate 'em with a passion, even on the good weeks. Right now, I'm kinda stuck on a science plan. Part of it is because I am not that sure of myself in this area, and the other is because we have a new book that I am trying to absorb. And that is with varying degrees of success...
The weather is still holding nicely here-it is currently in the mid 60's, as it has been for several days now. Rumor has it that the rain will come back to the forecast in the next several days. Of course, it will eventually have to get cold-the days are getting shorter and shorter. Freeze-up will likely be approaching in the next 30 days. In the meantime, I am going for all of the walks that I can cram in to each day, and enjoying it.
Our septic house didn't get pumped yesterday, and it may or may not Monday, depending on the repair schedule. Sewage seems to be a continuing issue around here this fall, and we haven't even gotten to the frozen pipe season yet. Hope that the new neighbors next door don't have the same problem. They are here to work on a large new project that will be happening over the next several years. Apparently there is a significant extension of the existing boardwalk system in the future, as well as a breakwall/pier system of some kind for the slough, designed to control erosion. Sounds pretty ambitious, and it should employ some local folks, which will definitely be a good thing. Now if we can just get pumped out regularly...
The weather is still holding nicely here-it is currently in the mid 60's, as it has been for several days now. Rumor has it that the rain will come back to the forecast in the next several days. Of course, it will eventually have to get cold-the days are getting shorter and shorter. Freeze-up will likely be approaching in the next 30 days. In the meantime, I am going for all of the walks that I can cram in to each day, and enjoying it.
Our septic house didn't get pumped yesterday, and it may or may not Monday, depending on the repair schedule. Sewage seems to be a continuing issue around here this fall, and we haven't even gotten to the frozen pipe season yet. Hope that the new neighbors next door don't have the same problem. They are here to work on a large new project that will be happening over the next several years. Apparently there is a significant extension of the existing boardwalk system in the future, as well as a breakwall/pier system of some kind for the slough, designed to control erosion. Sounds pretty ambitious, and it should employ some local folks, which will definitely be a good thing. Now if we can just get pumped out regularly...
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Thursday is History
Good spinning workout after work, and some yummy apple cake. The little woman is off to steam, and I am contemplating catching a few z's....Nothing terribly important to report-although my TV did get here this week, so now it's time to talk to the housing people about sticking a satellite dish on the side of the house. I will update as news becomes available.
Last day of the week tomorrow, and then it's the weekend. Not much more I can say than that.
Last day of the week tomorrow, and then it's the weekend. Not much more I can say than that.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Over...
Tomorrow is Thursday, and I have to remind myself to post notes about my home visits tonight. Nice to talk to some concerned parents and even share a funny story or two. The week is flying along. I suspect tomorrow will be another breathless day. Tiring, but it makes the time go faster. I need to remember to work out, too. Where does the time go?
Nothing much else to say, except that the run of extraordinarily good weather is continuing. Gotta like that. It is supposed to last through the weekend, so I hope that some more pleasasnt strolls will be in order.
September 15!
It amazes me how quickly time is moving this year when compared to last! I don't even want to go back to look at the old posts, because my memory is that they were pretty unhappy, and things are going so much better than they were. It is probably good to review from time to time, but I prefer to do that some other time.
The most gratifying thing that I can think of is the relationship that I am growing with my students. It is not perfect by any means, but we are emphasizing a positive behavior support model, and it makes me think constantly about how to approach counseling and discipline in the classroom. The kids are interesting as well. They may be absolutely intractable at some point (especially late in the afternoon), and wanting to stay after a few minutes later to work on a project or explore their computers. We are also starting to explore leadership roles for some of them, which is a concept that they may be new to. Interesting.
Now that I have this out of my mind and on to this page, I think I will go back to bed and hug my wife. I am lucky.
The most gratifying thing that I can think of is the relationship that I am growing with my students. It is not perfect by any means, but we are emphasizing a positive behavior support model, and it makes me think constantly about how to approach counseling and discipline in the classroom. The kids are interesting as well. They may be absolutely intractable at some point (especially late in the afternoon), and wanting to stay after a few minutes later to work on a project or explore their computers. We are also starting to explore leadership roles for some of them, which is a concept that they may be new to. Interesting.
Now that I have this out of my mind and on to this page, I think I will go back to bed and hug my wife. I am lucky.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
It's Almost Wednesday...
and halfway through the month of September, too. Sorry about the brief outburst yesterday-I'm back to lovin' life and livin' with verve. It is mostly a secret as to what and why and I don't know that I am inclined to share in this public a forum, ever.
The weather is still beautiful here and we strolled out for a while, discussing life and plans for the future. We ran into some of our favorite students, and had a riotous good time trying to push-start a 4-wheeler and hanging out talking. Not to mention getting bu-bopped with an empty plastic pop bottle. I'm not sure about the spelling there, but it's close enough. It is kind of hard to imagine students yakking with their teachers elsewhere, but maybe I just don't have enough imagination. I will let you all from elsewhere fill me in on that.
It was a revitalizing end to an exasperating couple of days, even if this one was better than Monday. Now for staph (deliberate) meeting Wednesday, and then on to the end of the week. Let's get this mother over with!
The weather is still beautiful here and we strolled out for a while, discussing life and plans for the future. We ran into some of our favorite students, and had a riotous good time trying to push-start a 4-wheeler and hanging out talking. Not to mention getting bu-bopped with an empty plastic pop bottle. I'm not sure about the spelling there, but it's close enough. It is kind of hard to imagine students yakking with their teachers elsewhere, but maybe I just don't have enough imagination. I will let you all from elsewhere fill me in on that.
It was a revitalizing end to an exasperating couple of days, even if this one was better than Monday. Now for staph (deliberate) meeting Wednesday, and then on to the end of the week. Let's get this mother over with!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Nice Day...
It is 61 beautiful, sunshine sparkled degrees at 7:42 pm. The day has been beautiful from the beginning, especially nice because we did all of our lesson planning yesterday. Copies are made, and the classroom is straightened up. We just played around today, except for that part about vacuuming and mopping the floor. With 630 square feet involved, neither took very long.
It was a perfect day for a stroll at the airport with the big dogs, and that we did. Naps have been taken, and I even watched Sunday Night Football. Thanks to NBC and its streaming video, I was able to watch two football games this weekend. The other was the Michigan-Notre Dame game yesterday, which made my lesson planning session much more entertaining. The streaming feed was not perfect, but it was a lot more satisfying than last fall, which involved no football watching at all. Not good.
We do have a 26 inch TV on the way, but I am not sure whether the village will consent to the mounting of a satellite dish on the house. Something mysterious in that process. However, I plan to make the pitch anyway. We shall see how it is received. In the meantime, I plan on a consultation of the future NBC streaming video football schedule.
Now we must complete the thank-you notes to all of our friends who were gracious enough to attend our little party a couple of months ago. On to Monday...
It was a perfect day for a stroll at the airport with the big dogs, and that we did. Naps have been taken, and I even watched Sunday Night Football. Thanks to NBC and its streaming video, I was able to watch two football games this weekend. The other was the Michigan-Notre Dame game yesterday, which made my lesson planning session much more entertaining. The streaming feed was not perfect, but it was a lot more satisfying than last fall, which involved no football watching at all. Not good.
We do have a 26 inch TV on the way, but I am not sure whether the village will consent to the mounting of a satellite dish on the house. Something mysterious in that process. However, I plan to make the pitch anyway. We shall see how it is received. In the meantime, I plan on a consultation of the future NBC streaming video football schedule.
Now we must complete the thank-you notes to all of our friends who were gracious enough to attend our little party a couple of months ago. On to Monday...
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Pretty Dark For 9:45...
Well, it can be ignored no longer. It is even getting dark earlier these days. It will make it easier to sleep in on those blessedly alarm-free weekends.
Out for a stroll on the boardwalk tonight (the sun was out!), visiting with the little kids, we heard the high-pitched beep-beep of heavy equipment at work. Not a daily sound in these parts. As it turned out, a barge was being unloaded by an enormous fork lift. They were deliviering huge pallets of wood for the new boardwalk project. As the village has grown, the need for an extended boardwalk has apparently become more obvious. We will apparently be getting something in the nature of three miles of additional boardwalk, as I understand it. I will be really excited when they start to unload the barge for the new teacher housing (Hint, hint).
Time for the weekend, although I suspect that some work will have to be done as well. I have to actually plan for an entire week of school this week!! For some reason, two and a half days this week was ungodly tiring. Not sure what that is about.
Not to worry-it's Friday night, and time to relax for a few hours....
Out for a stroll on the boardwalk tonight (the sun was out!), visiting with the little kids, we heard the high-pitched beep-beep of heavy equipment at work. Not a daily sound in these parts. As it turned out, a barge was being unloaded by an enormous fork lift. They were deliviering huge pallets of wood for the new boardwalk project. As the village has grown, the need for an extended boardwalk has apparently become more obvious. We will apparently be getting something in the nature of three miles of additional boardwalk, as I understand it. I will be really excited when they start to unload the barge for the new teacher housing (Hint, hint).
Time for the weekend, although I suspect that some work will have to be done as well. I have to actually plan for an entire week of school this week!! For some reason, two and a half days this week was ungodly tiring. Not sure what that is about.
Not to worry-it's Friday night, and time to relax for a few hours....
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Backing Up...
And I don't mean onto a hard drive...the septic is doing its charming thing again. Fortunately, we keep a supply of bleach handy, so it isn't the end of the world. However, we are not even at the cold season yet, and we have had septic back-up issues twice already. Not pleasant.
The Napaskiak Striders had their last meeting as currently constituted tonight. I assume that the tradition will likely carry on, but one of our members is scheduled to leave tomorrow night. We have gotten a long-term replacement for the 5th and 6th grade spot. Our new friend, Jim, is going back to his home in Soldotna, and then on to Ecuador for the winter. I think that I can speak for the both of us when I say that we will miss having him around. He was a very pleasant addition to the group this fall. I am happy for him, though. It sounds like he will truly enjoy this winter.
The weekend is nearly upon us again, and that is a good thing. I was surprised how tired a couple of days of teaching made me after the long weekend. I guess I need to keep a sharper edge...A half-day, some PD, a home visit, and then a good night's sleep before we start doing lesson plans and prepping our classrooms on Saturday.
The rain took a break this afternoon, and I would be perfectly happy if it stayed that way for a little while yet. This place is waterlogged. It won't be too long before all of it freezes. We will be halfway through September already next week. That means winter cannot be far behind. It is already dark when we get up in the morning, and we have two more months to head in in that direction before things start to turn around. Onward, to the times of darkness...
The Napaskiak Striders had their last meeting as currently constituted tonight. I assume that the tradition will likely carry on, but one of our members is scheduled to leave tomorrow night. We have gotten a long-term replacement for the 5th and 6th grade spot. Our new friend, Jim, is going back to his home in Soldotna, and then on to Ecuador for the winter. I think that I can speak for the both of us when I say that we will miss having him around. He was a very pleasant addition to the group this fall. I am happy for him, though. It sounds like he will truly enjoy this winter.
The weekend is nearly upon us again, and that is a good thing. I was surprised how tired a couple of days of teaching made me after the long weekend. I guess I need to keep a sharper edge...A half-day, some PD, a home visit, and then a good night's sleep before we start doing lesson plans and prepping our classrooms on Saturday.
The rain took a break this afternoon, and I would be perfectly happy if it stayed that way for a little while yet. This place is waterlogged. It won't be too long before all of it freezes. We will be halfway through September already next week. That means winter cannot be far behind. It is already dark when we get up in the morning, and we have two more months to head in in that direction before things start to turn around. Onward, to the times of darkness...
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Back In Business...
The weekend was long and pretty uneventful. We celebrated Labor Day by spending several hours working at the school. We were not alone. I did manage to clean two full totes of laundry and did two loads of dishes to boot. I would have rather not have been working on Labor day, but I was strangely pleased with what I was able to get done. I think this job is starting to get to me.
Today was an inservice day. It was district-wide, which meant that we were all on the closed-circuit TV loop, able to participate from remote locations all over LKSD. Considering that the district is the size of West Virginia, that is probably the easiest way to approach an event like this. The content, on the other hand, was a little stale, because it was basically much the same material that was covered at my second year teacher inservice a couple of weeks ago. Oh, well, I guess they paid me for working.
The weather here went from just dreary to more actively miserable today. The wind was blowing hard when I woke up, and it has not let up all day. The rain has been blowing sideways, and our new replacement teacher ended up stuck in Bethel, because the airplanes weren't flying. With any luck, this stuff will lift somewhat tomorrow, and he will be able to get across.
We are going to have a rollout for our computers as well as the announcement for sports for this year tomorrow night. That one will likely be complex and confusing. It is a short week, and I will probably be happy for it by Friday. We have gotten our new science texts, and I get to start making sense out of that this week, too. It looks kind of neat, but I am starting to feel stretched by all this new stuff that I am processing simoltaneously. It is probably good for me at the same time.
When Betty, my mentor, was here last week, she asked the usual questions that she is supposed to about challenges and concerns. The interesting thing is that I see the challenges, but don't feel concerned about them. I think I will just meet them as they come.
It does feel good to be wrapped up in the cocoon of my warm house as the wind rumbles outside, dry and safe on a wild night in Western Alaska...
Today was an inservice day. It was district-wide, which meant that we were all on the closed-circuit TV loop, able to participate from remote locations all over LKSD. Considering that the district is the size of West Virginia, that is probably the easiest way to approach an event like this. The content, on the other hand, was a little stale, because it was basically much the same material that was covered at my second year teacher inservice a couple of weeks ago. Oh, well, I guess they paid me for working.
The weather here went from just dreary to more actively miserable today. The wind was blowing hard when I woke up, and it has not let up all day. The rain has been blowing sideways, and our new replacement teacher ended up stuck in Bethel, because the airplanes weren't flying. With any luck, this stuff will lift somewhat tomorrow, and he will be able to get across.
We are going to have a rollout for our computers as well as the announcement for sports for this year tomorrow night. That one will likely be complex and confusing. It is a short week, and I will probably be happy for it by Friday. We have gotten our new science texts, and I get to start making sense out of that this week, too. It looks kind of neat, but I am starting to feel stretched by all this new stuff that I am processing simoltaneously. It is probably good for me at the same time.
When Betty, my mentor, was here last week, she asked the usual questions that she is supposed to about challenges and concerns. The interesting thing is that I see the challenges, but don't feel concerned about them. I think I will just meet them as they come.
It does feel good to be wrapped up in the cocoon of my warm house as the wind rumbles outside, dry and safe on a wild night in Western Alaska...
Friday, September 3, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The Weekend Awaits...
We had our last full day before the holiday weekend today. Tomorrow we have a half day and we will be having a celebration sponsored by the company that has supplied all of the sewage hookups for the village. They had a similar celebration to announce the "end" of the honey bucket in Napakiak, the village across the river, a week or so ago. We even get released from our usual Friday afternoon professional development classes a couple of hours early to attend. Oh, and there is a raffle, too!
My wonder mentor from the state of Alaska, Betty Walters, is here, having arrived a few hours ago. We chatted, and I answered some questions that the program requires, and we headed over to our house for some yummy chicken teriyaki. Betty was so kind to give us a nice card for our nuptials, along with a very nice gift. Thank you so much, Betty! Along the same lines, we figure that we can surface for long enough this weekend to get thank-you cards done. We do apologize, but it has been crazy since the wedding.
The dishes and laundry are done, which always feels good on a Thursday night. The water level in our tank is so low that we both strolled over to the school and took showers. We are scheduled for water delivery tomorrow, but I am a little inclined to offer a gentle reminder under the circumstances.
On to tomorrow, and the weekend. Hope that everyone out there has a great Labor Day weekend!
My wonder mentor from the state of Alaska, Betty Walters, is here, having arrived a few hours ago. We chatted, and I answered some questions that the program requires, and we headed over to our house for some yummy chicken teriyaki. Betty was so kind to give us a nice card for our nuptials, along with a very nice gift. Thank you so much, Betty! Along the same lines, we figure that we can surface for long enough this weekend to get thank-you cards done. We do apologize, but it has been crazy since the wedding.
The dishes and laundry are done, which always feels good on a Thursday night. The water level in our tank is so low that we both strolled over to the school and took showers. We are scheduled for water delivery tomorrow, but I am a little inclined to offer a gentle reminder under the circumstances.
On to tomorrow, and the weekend. Hope that everyone out there has a great Labor Day weekend!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Sleepy...
At 9:15, no less. Not sure why, but sleepy anyway. Not much to say again today.We had our second day of parent-teacher conferences today. Most of the parents that came, came yesterday. Today is the first day of moose hunting season, and food on the table is probably seen as more important than SBA results.
We have only a couple of days left until the weekend, and that seems about right. It will be a long one, and I could use a couple of days off. Sleeping in, or at least getting up without an alarm clock, sounds pretty sweet right now. Other than that, I have absolutely no plans for the weekend. Maybe something will turn up.
I did let my class sing "Happy Anniversary" to my parents' answering machine. They liked it, and asked me to thank the kids. Everyone seemed to have a good time with it.
It is still light out-the dark will not come for more than an hour, even though the days are growing shorter quickly. But I am sleepy, and I think that I will let sleepy win tonight...
We have only a couple of days left until the weekend, and that seems about right. It will be a long one, and I could use a couple of days off. Sleeping in, or at least getting up without an alarm clock, sounds pretty sweet right now. Other than that, I have absolutely no plans for the weekend. Maybe something will turn up.
I did let my class sing "Happy Anniversary" to my parents' answering machine. They liked it, and asked me to thank the kids. Everyone seemed to have a good time with it.
It is still light out-the dark will not come for more than an hour, even though the days are growing shorter quickly. But I am sleepy, and I think that I will let sleepy win tonight...
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