A Weekend Off...

From everything, including this. My bride just inquired wonderingly why I had not posted. Friday night, I was too lazy and had nothing more to say. By last night, I was in a really crappy mood. My frame of mind is better today but I really do not have a lot more to say.

Our friend Ann called yesterday with the crummy news that our house had been broken into and that my bikes had been stolen. Both of them. Yes, the spiffy new one that I had gotten in the aftermath of my accident last year. Yes, the one that I loved to ride all summer. Yeah, that one. Imagine my joy.

Suffice it to say that I was in a funk for the rest of the day. Into the night. And periodically this morning. I have no real hope that the bikes will turn up, although it is weird that whoever broke in took nothing else. The black bike that has been featured in these very pages is very distinctive, and would be easy to spot in a small town like Cadillac. I can't get my head around it, but I will have to deal with the insurance claim and all of that pleasantness in the morning. There are always new bikes, and there are surely people out there tonight with much bigger problems than mine, but riding that bike was a truly simple joy of summer that I will miss greatly. On to the next, I suppose.

We spent the weekend studiously avoiding the school, not for any reason other than it felt good to have a weekend away from it for a change. Things get hectic from here. The next break will come at Thanksgiving. A four-day weekend will be a welcome respite by then.

Life is good otherwise. It is getting colder here, and there appears to be a real prospect for serious advances on the river freeze-up project. It cannot come soon enough for a change of pace. I have been hearing and even seeing a few more snowmachines lately. It must be getting close to the time where ours comes out of storage. It will be time for the Tundra Vixens to ride again...

Out Early This Week

OK, this is not so literally true. We did do our obligatory Friday afternoon professional development (PD) to which I often refer in these pages. But it was neither too long nor was it too excruciating. We actually acted in a collective, cooperative method to address a necessity. Now that is the way that I like to see it done.

The best part is that, for the first time in several weeks, I have no obligations or commitments of any kind this weekend. No overnights in Bethel, no inservices to attend. Just the weekend, and a few chores around the house. It seems so unhurried and leisurely from this angle. I will eventually have lesson plans to deal with, but not right now. In fact, right now seems like the perfect time for a nap. My only disappointment stems from the fact that the store's shelves are bare of tortilla chips. Because Ms. Jessica Paris was kind enough to bring in a pair of lovely avocados with her when she arrived on Monday, and my bride makes the best guacamole on the planet. Maybe if I can find someone who is traveling this weekend...

Done For The Night

Well, we got through another Halloween carnival (my third, actually) without any major damage or loss of life. It looks to have been a pretty successful fundraising for the various student groups involved, and people seemed to be having a reasonably good time. I especially enjoyed the sponge toss, which allowed me to target students of mine with wet sponges. What could be better?

Now we get to get in a few hours of sleep and start over in the morning. Tomorrow is another full day, but at least there is the possibility for something resembling a normal weekend for a change. I am contemplating bringing work home, if for no other reason than to stay out of the big blue building behind my left shoulder for an entire weekend. That becomes especially true when I consider the fact that I get to do another two day inservice weekend next week. O joy.

Time keeps tripping off of the calendar, and I am enjoying watching it do so. I am ready for some holiday time off. Not too far away....

Astride The Middle Of The Week

Another Wednesday, another week rocketing toward its conclusion. It has been busy, which probably accounts for the flying time. Observation, parent-teacher conferences, and the Halloween carnival coming up tomorrow night, are all making for a hectic, but entertaining week. Eight weeks to go before we head home for the holidays.

Life here has been becoming very fulfilling, and it has been happening in a slow, subtle way. It feels as if my relationship with my students has been shifting and becoming closer. More of them seem to be making better choices, which is my ultimate goal for all of them. Many of them also seem to be thinking a little more carefully about things before they do them, and that is a good thing as well. I have not found any candidates for immediate sainthood yet, but I am very pleased that they seem to be showing signs of promise.

Parent-teacher conferences were very pleasant. I was happy to be able to deliver what was, for the most part, good news to parents. A lot of the kids actually showed up with their parents or guardians. It is a goal that we have been aiming towards, and I felt as if this time, we had some signs of success. I am hopeful that the parents of my students know that they are always welcome in my classroom. Last year, I wanted them there to see how badly their kids behaved. This year, I want them to see what I am becoming proud of, if slowly.

Tomorrow is our Halloween carnival, and I will be working with the seniors and juniors to try to get some fundraising done. I plan on doing some story telling on Friday, and we will wear our costumes to school, and I suspect that pictures will be available later that evening.

Winter showed some more serious teeth today. It was snowy and windy, and the snow went on for a good deal of the day. I actually got out the cold weather gear, because the lighter fall stuff that I was using just wasn't getting it any more. I saw my first snowmachine of the season, and I suspect that we will be waiting for the river to freeze, so that we can go and play. It will be nice to have a little more freedom of movement after all.

Tonight I Love It...

But I kinda miss my sweetie...unfortunately, she got hit by a nasty stomach bug that appears to be making the rounds. She didn't get in to work, and was still in her pajamas when I got home tonight at 8 pm. She went back to bed to sleep more shortly thereafter. A couple of kids were complaining about stomach pain today, and at least one went home. I hope that everyone is better soon...and that I don't catch whatever the thing is.

Ms. Jessica Paris is visting our fine village from AKT2 tonight...she will observe me working tomorrow, so I hope not to screw up too badly in the course of it. We have parent-teacher conferences tomorrow as well, so it promises to be hectic and active.

The winter has made its reappearance around here today, and there was a genuine bite in the air to go along with the snow and the wind. Before too long, we should be out on our snowmachines. Ah, freedom to travel, and even go out for dinner on a Saturday night...I get excited thinking about it.

Halloween is nigh-time to prepare for the carnival on Thursday night and the costume judging on Friday!

My Love-Hate Thing With All Of This...

On the way in from the airport on Friday night, I was musing on how much I love it out here sometimes. It is just so odd, although I doubt whether the local folks would see it that way, or would be especially pleased by me calling it that. I suspect that they would just call it life, and that they might call me a choice thing or two as well. But it is nothing much like anything that I have done with my life before. It is very unique as far as I am concerned.

I had just taken a five-minute flight over the river, hopped into a cab in one of the most taxi-ridden places on the North American continent, and was winding along the only paved stretch of road in the city of Bethel. As I have suggested before, Bethel is not an especially beautiful place by any conventional standard. It has been described in fairly unflattering terms by some people, in fact. But, as my wife put it, it just kind of grows on you.

It is a very busy place, in many ways. Things are always going on-planes flying in and out, taxis moving in a constant cycle throughout the streets, people coming in and out to take care of their business, their health, or their work. When I go there, I see a lot of people working a lot of the time. Maybe it is the nature of the purpose of my visits there in the first place. Maybe it is just a working, practical town. Maybe that is what I like about it.

On the other hand, life out here is insanely expensive, inconvenient, and annoying. My presence in Bethel meant that it would be mandatory for me to take a trip to the store. Not my kind of trip, which is quick and convenient. Oh, no-more like a long and belabored trip involving what the scale at Yute aviation informed me was 767 pounds of mostly sugared beverages, frozen pizzas, and frozen soft pretzels for the concession stand at the school. Jesus, what a mess. Try and consider what moving that kind of mountain of goods involves. Fortunately for a 56 year old with a history of back and hernia surgeries, there were many helping hands. Nonetheless, there was plenty of lifting and carrying for everyone. I got to do a lot of it while juggling a backpack, a messenger bag, and five dozen eggs. What a pain in the ass.

But of course it is not only necessary but mandatory, because we have exhausted our store of that kind of thing, and this is the only way to get the job done. One more time-what a pain in the ass. That is the part of life out here that I absolutely cannot stand. It just drives me nuts to always be weighed down with a lot of crap that constantly must be maneuvered and moved. I hate it. Of course, my lovely spouse points out to me every time that I bitch about it that there is no other way, and that this is how it must be. No matter how I twist and turn, I am trapped and only end up getting pissed off and angry and then apologizing because I, too, know that there is no escape from this slavery, ever, and that is what I have consigned myself to in this near outpost to the epicenter of hell.

Love-hate-get it??

It Is A Small World After All...

Another week come and gone. Except that I had to go to Bethel again, this time for a second-year teacher inservice on Saturday morning. As the cab was pulling in to my hotel, I noticed that the barber shop was open. That is not often the case when I am here, which tends to be on the weekend. I have been looking kind of in need of a trim lately, so I decided to see if I could slip in and get one.

I managed to get in under the gun, although there were five people ahead of me getting haircuts. I figured that I was not going anywhere in any big hurry anyway, and settled in to wait, listen, and read. I noted with interest a copy of a magazine called "Lake Superior." In fact, there were several copies there. As I waited, I flipped through an issue, smiling because it was reminding me of folks and times back in Michigan.

A man and his little daughter got his and her haircuts, with her making a donation to Locks of Love. Finally, my turn in the chair came, and I began chatting with the barber. As it turns out, he is from Munising, Mi, the jumping-off point for the Pictured Rocks, and one of my favorite vacation destinations. I had been talking with the boss lately about getting up there this summer for a little kayaking, as a matter of fact.

Well, we were poised for it, and we took off into a long conversation about things Michigan, including the Michigan State Spartans, who are having a pretty darn good football season this year. It actually outlasted the haircut by a fair piece. It was a pleasant opportunity to get out and spend some time with people instead of being cooped up in a hotel room, and I was glad for it.

Of course, I am currently cooped up in the hotel room, but I will be out of here in the morning. The cold that I was flirting with came, and appears to be in the process of going, and I am glad for that. I will hit the inservice, and hit the AC on the way back to the airport, and should be home at a reasonable hour. That will give me some time for final grade entries and lesson planning before Monday rolls around. It would probably be a good idea to get a little rest, too...

So Much For That...

Another Wednesday, come and gone. Not bad, altogether, and it is downhill from here, at least for a couple of days. I am off to Bethel on Friday night for another fun round of inservices. I hope to have enough energy left to cope with another round of lesson planning for the following week-it will probably depend upon when I am able to get back across the river Saturday afternoon. The last two weeks are turning out to be pretty hectic, and it will be good when the excitement is over for a while. I could use a nap...

Yuk, a Cold!

I seem to be closer to the cold than I was last night...waiting for ordered meds to get here, and it isn't happening fast...sometimes, it isn't so convenient living out here...I mostly would like a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is Wednesday (yay!)...

Not Bad For a Monday, and Nine To Go...

The tykes were pretty good for most of the day, and Mondays after three day weekends tend to be hard on them. By the afternoon, however, they had had about all that they could stand, and started reverting to more traditonal Monday behavior. Unfortunately, that did not stand them in good stead at the end of the day, and there were some unhappy kids sitting after class...with any luck, they will recover tomorrow, and may even pick up a little sense on the way.

We got invited to a feast this evening, and all of the food was yummy, especially the moose soup and blueberry pie. The fry bread was pretty darn good, too. My bride didn't have to cook, and my dish duties are sharply curtailed tonight.

I have to do a little reading tonight, because we are apparently going to have some kind of diet contest starting next week. This is some challenge thing, so it will give us something to do during the long winter months. I guess I am going to be up for it, although one more set of rules by which I must live is not my idea of fun.

I keep feeling as if I am trying to catch a cold, but I just can't seem to get there. I don't really care, as I would rather not catch it at all, but I just have that kind of marginal, sucky feeling without the crappier symptoms of a full-blown cold. Irritating.

Oh, well, there are worse things in the world, and it was a not-too-bad Monday in the world of Mondays. Tomorrow is another day, and the weeks between now and the holidays are slipping away. Our quarter is over, and we are on to the second half of the semester!

More pix from AASG...the kids were excited and we were battling fatigue...it was worth it to watch them in action.

Aggravated...

I can't seem to get my video posts loaded that show our kids dancing at the closing ceremonies of AASG. I will keep trying, but this is very frustrating, because they did a nice job, and I would like to share it. I suspect that Facebook is going to be the way to go with this one. I will try again later.

AASG!

Much fun was had by all, even during our abbreviated visit to the fall AASG convention, the first held in Bethel in 19 years. It was crazy and hectic, and a little bit intimidating for our kids, but they pulled themselves through with distinction. I was especially proud of their activity responding to a proposal that would have reduced or eliminated small school voice in elections to the executive board. They were very busy in rounding up support in opposition to the proposal from the other small schools at the convention. The proposal was defeated twice. Small schools have a voice in picking their leadership that is undiminished. In fact, the first association president from this area was elected on Saturday. As we drove to the airport on the way home, the same kids who were not so sure about going on Friday were regretful that the experience was not going to last longer.

One Of These Days, We Are Gonna Get Some Rest...

We got to sleep in our own little hovel last night, and it was good. As I suggested, we were both in bed well before 9:00 pm. Yes, we needed it. I appear to be fighting off a cold or something of that nature. I woke up yesterday morning feeling that way, and attributed it to sleeping on a dusty, nasty classroom floor all night. Maybe, maybe not. I then spent much of the day hanging around sneezing, coughing people in one venue or another. Talk about challenging the odds...I slept for about nine hours last night, and my bride went longer. Now, we have been fortified with pancakes, and can think about facing our usual Saturday task on Sunday. Not much of a weekend break this week or next...I will spend next Saturday in inservices in Bethel, which means more Sunday prep time. Grades are due next Monday, and I anticipate a flood of homework from kids between now and Tuesday. Pictures from AASG are on my computer, and I will load some as I have the chance today.

Back Home....

We just got back from AASG, and I made it to the executive board meeting as well. It was a busy, long weekend, and I am going to bed at 8:30 at night...stories and video to post in the morning....

Stuck Inside of PKA, With the Bethel Blues Again...

We were going to go over to Bethel for AASG today, but that never happened. I am not exactly sure, but I get the impression that some planes were flying. Whatever the case might have been, we weren't flying, and that was the case from 1'o'clock until the end of the day. It is drizzly and misty, when it isn't rainy, and the ceilings are certainly too low for the little planes. So I get to spend the night in my cozy little hovel and sleep with my wife and my puppy dog in the bed, snoring contentedly instead of shivering on a classroom floor somewhere in Bethel. On the other hand, if we cannot get out, I am going to be stuck in an all-day webinar here. An all-day webinar, for crissakes! The worst of Power Point, and no redeeming features whatsoever. Doing one of these things for an hour is one thing. I did a class that way last spring, and it took three hours a night, once a week. Let me tell you, those were very long classes. I can't imagine whatinhell we will be doing for 7 1/2 hours.

Unfortunately, the presentation cannot be avoided, so I will either see all of it here, some of it here and some of it there, or I will have to sit through some hybridized presentation that the boss dreams up. Yay. Another training session in Everyday Math.

In other interesting news, there is an executive board meeting for the LKNEA (evil teachers' union) to which I belong. I am, in fact, a new member of the executive board, and I guess that I will pencil that meeting into the weekend of fun. 9 1/2 weeks to go til Xmas. I think, for some reason, that the time is going to be moving very quickly between now and then.

Ten Weeks From Today...

...we will get on a plane and head back east to celebrate the holidays with our friends and family. For some reason, it seems as if it cannot come soon enough today. I really cannot explain it to myself, so I doubt that I can explain it here with any facility. Today is actually the last full day that I will be teaching this week, as we will leave for the AASG convention tomorrow afternoon. But that trip is involved, and I have to come up with some sub plans tonight, and then there is the all-day inservice on Friday. It just seems like more than I really feel like carrying in my head for some reason. But I cannot make any real sense out of it...

It's Odd To See Who Reads This...

I am occasionally reminded that my audience is larger than I imagine. This blog was started mostly for friends and family back in Michigan. However, I find that comments turn up from all over the place, not often, but often enough to be intriguing. It ought to keep me from shooting off my big mouth too much. Usually, I suppose that it does. I try to keep most of my harshest thoughts quiet for the most part.

It was a pretty good day. Tuesday is the day that I do not work in the after-school program, so I kind of make it a point to get home early. I might even get a nap in. I did today. Nice.

Tomorrow, we will dine with Mr. and Mrs. Jung. Pie has been promised. I love pie. I can't wait-it is funny how much you start to look forward to the littlest things out here...

Odd...

One of my kids did a journal post about how crappy his day was going. It was, too, for him. Later on, I noticed a kind of theme of that sort on a blog I was looking at. Maybe it was a crappy day, just kind of in a general way...mine was ok, but it was nothing sensational. Maybe some days are just that way in the scheme of things.

On The Way To Tuesday

This one is almost in the record books. Not as bad in some ways as more recent Mondays, but still recognizable in its Monday-ish-ness...too many sleepy ones, too many wound-up ones in the afternoon. I tried the new interactive science stuff on the smart board and it did not work. Time for improvisation. It wasn't a debacle. It wasn't good, either. I will give it another try tomorrow.

Laundry and dishes are done, so I am inclined to curl up with a good book (or Kindle). I am tired, and do not think that I will last all that long. Some sleep is likely a good idea.

By the end of this week, we will be halfway through the month of October...things are moving along quickly.

Weirder Than Hell...

Maybe not these days...one of my teacher friends just told me about her "instructional leader," a term that is apparently popular in ed circles these days. Makes me look for Kim Jong-Il...nothing like the infantile worship of those who occupy some sort of mamagement title. Anyway, this cretin is apparently demanding 3-5 hours a night outside of contract time plus eight hours on Saturday and Sunday. Sounds like someone should be paying overtime...on the uncompensated work time front, we spent nine hours in the school last night. Finally got home a little after 11pm. Midnight supper, after the dishes got done. We finally got our sort of day of rest today.

The weather was great today (for early October), so we went strolling along the airport with the dogs. Sunny and just a bit nippy, but warm enough that my cool new wool sweater was warm enough for the walk.

It's time for another week. We are coming into the season of the PFD, which means that there are going to be some people out here partying too hard, and some kids coming to school in no state to function. Not the most fun time of our year.

We will be going off to Bethel for the AASG meeting on Thursday. AASG is the association for student governments in Alaska, and they are coming here. I get to hang around and chaperone, and wander over to the District Office for an inservice on Friday. For me, it mostly represents a change of scenery, plus the chance to sleep on the floor for a couple of nights. Maybe I will go to AC for a real thrill. The funny thing is that I will be back in Bethel a week from Friday for yet another inservice. When it rains...

The morning awaits with laundry and new advenures...

Man, Are We Lazy Today...

And I am loving it...it may be partially because I realize that I have to reset all of my passwords after my recent re-imaging, and I don't feel like doing the work. I have to plan for four days and include one day of lesson plans. I am going to Bethel this weekend and next. This weekend, it will be for AASG, the student government organization for the state of Alaska, which will be meeting in Bethel. I will be a humble chaperone. Next weekend, I will be a humble second-year teacher going for (you guessed it) yet another inservice. The second in two weeks, to be quite specific. Lotsa travel for me coming up.

However, it is after 2pm, and I need to get some work done if ever I am going to get it done and still have some kind of weekend between me and Monday...

Fun In PKA

Thursday night was lively and eventful. We thought we were going to get a little nap after our after school program sessions. Were we ever wrong. A shipment of veggies and groceries for the concessions stands got here about 15 minutes earlier than we had expected, and pretty well shot the nap idea square in the head. Word was that we would need a 4-wheeler and a trailer to get it unloaded from the river bank. I ran over to the school and got the keys, while my bride organized the student loading crew.

The 4-wheeler seemed to be just fine, except for the fact that it had been a while and I couldn't for the life of me remember the procedure for starting it. The trailer, on the other hand, definitely left something to be desired. I recalled as I headed out to the shop where it was stored that the trailer had had a flat tire. By the time of my arrival, I learned the current situation. One side was resting on a block, wheeless. It was clearly not going to be of very much help in our project.

My next thought, although not a happy one, was that I would have to get the wagon that we use at the school for hauling trash. I didn't want to haul groceries in that wagon, but couldn't see any real alternative to that. After throwing a few bags out, I saw my buddy Joe, who had brought the stores down by boat, heading toward home on his own 4-wheeler. This was puzzling indeed. After a few puzzled thoughts, I hopped on the machine that I was using, and headed toward the river bank to see what was going on. No one around! No boat full of supplies! No group of expectant students looking for me to show up! What is going on here???? Where am I supposed to be??? I headed down the river bank into the old part of the village, looking for some signs of life. Nothing.

Confused beyond reason, I turned back toward the school. I looked away from the river, and saw a group of kids unloading a trailer at the storage facility. I had just been running around in what amounted to a circle looking for all of this. Jeez...

A quick trip to the storage building indeed confirmed that a group of happy students were tossing packs of pizza into freezers. So as not to feel entirely useless, I decided to deliver veggie boxes to teacher housing. One of the elementary kids had kind of attached himself to me, and I took him along for the ride. We had a great time tooling around, with him holding onto the boxes, and helping me to carry them to the houses.

Next, we entered the school, and hung around with Gabe, one of the crack computer guys, while he fiddled around with the aluminum brick that is my MacBook pro. We told funny stories about his dad, who is kind of a legendary guy in these parts, and watched him chase his little boy around my wife's classroom. The best part of that was when the little fella apparently felt the call of nature, and headed toward the gym with his pants around his ankles. There is no way in hell that I would have the energy to chase that little dynamo around all day at my age...

Next, we decided to head down to deliver a baby blanket to another of our staff. This turned into an hour-plus extravaganza of location, conversation and baby-dandlinification. I finally had to beg to get home so that we could get something for dinner before 9:30. Having said that, it was a lot of fun. See-we don't need restaurants or movies, or bars to keep ourselves entertained out here in PKA-we have 4-wheelers and veggie boxes....

Busy, Busy...

A couple of good days...will update later as time presents itelf, but it is 4 am, for god's sake...we are fine, and busy as hell...

5:30...

Up again with the same headache and churning in my guts as nearly every morning...a lot of staff people are turning up sick lately...are we all catching anxiety??

How Do I Love Thee?

My kidlets did six good hours out of seven today. I told them that at the end of the day, which they did not handle as well. But six good hours is...six good hours, and they need to know it. I don't know what to do with them and science. They are having a hard time with the unit, and it is an awful lot like starting them in the middle. The curriculum is set up differently, but the books didn't get ordered properly, and we started with cells. I may start them in a different direction, but they will have to come back here eventually. It's got me scratching my head.

I love my job, but some of the trappings leave something to be desired. I never have been a good one for hierarchies, and this time is no different. Self-employment has its unique pressures and deprivations, but it also provides independence, and that is nothing to sneeze at. Having said that, let me assure my blessed readers that I would change nothing about my life, regardless of the things that I may bitch about.

Tomorrow is Wednesday, and that is the hump over which I fly every week. It will be good to get over it this time.

Over Again, or...Only 11 Mondays Until Xmas Break...

Yet another casualty-free Monday. A couple of the darlings were especially darling, and they disappeared for the rest of the day. That was followed shortly thereafter by a missive from on high questioning what changes would be required by the number of referrals coming out of my classroom. I don't remember making a whole lot of referrals, because I don't find them to be all that useful myself. I guess that I could be enlightened, but I have made a point of trying to avoid them entirely as much as possible. My partner might have made them. I don't know. I will have to have this proven to me. I am also not in much a mood for the obligatory self flagellation session that says that crappy kid behavior is a priori evidence that I am to blame. Sometimes a jerk is a jerk. No rush to mea culpa for me.

On a lighter note, I was able to have some fun with our new smart board today. It worked for a while, until I tried to use it with the fifth grade EDM kids. I would have thought it a natural, but they seemed totally distracted. I found out later that the situation in their other classroom got a little out of hand today, and this apparently came walking down the hall in my direction. Such is fate. Perhaps tomorrow will be better. It had damn well better be, because I had had enough of kids and bureaucrats and vacuum cleaners in the middle of the after-school program by the end of the day. So my lovely bride put up with my shitty mood (sorry darling!) and cooked some yummy steak and eggs anyway, and we got the dishes done and the laundry folded and put away.

We got over here kind of late, but it is one of those evenings where ya don't want to go to bed because ya want a few peaceful hours not lost to sleep. When ya go to sleep, the next thing is the next day's work, and that will come soon enough. Weird, I know. But sometimes I just need time away from the blue building that sits a couple of hundred feet away from my chair. It takes enough of it as it is...

Sunday Night...

Where did the weekend go? Back at it tomorrow, after a sunny day, a little work, a little walk, and a little church. I am relaxed at last, and there was pleasant company to be had the whole time.

We finished watching There Will Be Blood, which my bride had never seen before-she thought it was pretty weird, and it is intense for sure. Another of my students got to play with our smart board today, and he seemed pretty geeked by the whole thing. I think that we will have fun with it in the months to come.

We have a couple of water samples to look at in the microscope, and a few other things to do tomorrow. It shall start the week off in style.

Steamy Goodness...

Finally got to get back for maqiq tonight. Joe said it had been a month since he had used his. we burned a pair of rubber boots as well...it just felt good to be back there-I missed it. Now I am relaxing at home, after enjoying a piece of Sara's lemon meringue pie. Yummy. We had dinner over there after hosting them here on Friday night. Joe called just before dessert, and asked us down. Our new kid, Sean, came along as well, and acquitted himself well.

Yesterday we had some more fun inservices. Enough already, only there is another in two weeks, and another in three weeks. I am inserviced to the hilt. Better left unsaid.

Got my new smart board in my classroom yesterday, and got it up and running today. Pretty neat. I need to do some focusing, but other than that, I can't complain, and some of the kids who were in for wrestling were able to get on and play some cool math games on the Everyday Math website. I think it will be fun to use this piece of technology. My apple computer is kind of tempermental since the new image was installed. It won't let me update, and it won't install and run iTunes properly. One of the tech guys took a run at it the other day, to no avail. I have heard a suggestion that it is again a matter of the image that the district chose to run, but I certainly have no way to confirm that personally.

Time for bed-I need to pick out reading books and do AKT2 stuff in the morning. It was a nice day...think I will turn in for the night with my honey...

The End Of A Good Week...

Eat, drink, and be merry, for today we inservice...Yes, it is that time again...and it will be again and again...I guess that is the life to which I have consigned myself.

No complaints today. We are training in positive behavior management in the classroom, which should be the next step in my progression. As the weeks have gone by, I notice that my classes and I are moving more in concert. The tune may not always be perfect, but it is getting better. My mentor is out here, and was gracious enough to comment on the change that she has seen. We could discuss the reasons for the change, but I believe that the biggest one is that the kids and I are seeing and understanding each other more. We seem to read each other more easily. Even the last period science class has improved.

Now, I want to start making the next step, to a more proactive management approach that emphasizes positive input instead of just reaction. We are already beginning to do that, and I believe it is part of the reason for the fact that things are going better in the classroom. Today's inservice will focus in more depth on that process. Structure plus intuition-that seems to be the pathwway to success.

It has been nice to see Betty, my mentor, even though it means that she has been the seventh observer in my classroom in the past two weeks. That part is getting old, although she always is good for participation and communication when she is in there. I suppose that there is no avoiding it in the long run.

But today I think that I am going to avoid bitching any more about the complicated parts, and just enjoy the afterglow of a good week...