It's Monday Anyway...

It was not canceled on account of illness, so I guess that we will just carry on. We shall see which children show up in which condition...bird hunting has begun in earnest, and the weather is getting better, which tends to mean that kids will be out and up later, which translates into reduced attendance, tardiness, and sleepy heads on desks. I will not begin testing until tomorrow for exactly this reason. I have two serving in-school suspensions, so I need to prepare something for them to do. If they choose to show up, they can do what is there.

Prom is scheduled for Friday night, and graduation will follow in a week after that. Almost done, and that is all that I can say today for now...

Sniff...

Cold is still here, and seems to be settling in...we braved the wild river yesterday so that we could stock up on groceries before breakup...it wasn't all that wild. As my spouse (the cold-bearer) astutely pointed out, the most water that we had to cross was on land, in the form of giant mud puddles.

Today is lesson-planning day, although both of us seem to be more focused on social media for the moment. Not to worry...it will all get done. I am also planning to try to find a way to get some more sleep before the day is done. I need to plan time for the last round of testing as well...ah, testing.

Enough of my silly musings for the moment, it is off to work, dammit...

The End of The Week...

Friday afternoon...only 2 1/2 hours standing between me and the weekend...glorious. I seem to have contracted a cold that someone nameless has brought back from Bethel...fortunately, it seems to be pretty much an underachiever for the moment. I have mostly a scratchy, uncomfortable throat. Other symptoms have remained non-existent.

It's time for some sort of afternoon silliness, but I have no idea what the nature of that silliness will be. Last week was a work in the classroom day, but I took a half a personal day so that I could work in Bethel instead. Odd thing to do with one's time off, don't you think?

What I would really like about now is a nap. No crisis...it can wait for a couple of hours...time to get some rest and gear up for next week's grind. More testing on the horizon...

A Few More Bodies This Morning...

It is not quite as spacious in here as it was yesterday. One of the kids is cleaning out a desk. I suspect that represents an effort to prepare for year end, which is three weeks away. There are more kids, and they seem a bit more awake than Wednesday. I found them to be pretty good company on the whole yesterday, although they were very silly by the end of the day. Several of the boys were wrestling in the hallway like puppies, and the girls weren't that far behind. Hell, I was feeling pretty silly by the time that I went home, although that probably had more to do with entering after-school attendance, a catch-up task that was pretty mind-numbing.

I have been planning to move down to the current 5/6 grade room at year's end, because I will likely have the largest single group of kids next year under the proposed alignment as I understand it. However, I am beginning to have second thoughts. That room has a much lower ceiling, and I am not sure whether it would introduce a level of claustrophobia that I am very much trying to avoid. I think that I will try to figure out some re-alignment of the current space, which affords me much storage, and determine whether we can stick 2-4 more desks into that space. Besides, I like my smart board a lot, and want to keep it...

Vacancy...

There are lots of kids gone today. It has been this way for the past several days. Five of the students left on Monday for a dance gathering in Nightmute. Many of the other ones are not here. Many of the ones that have showed up this morning are my hard-core goofs. It many of them have only been showing up for the morning sessions lately. It looks to be an interesting day.

We saw the proverbial first robin of spring last evening. We were out walking the new boardwalk, because it has just plain gotten too nice to get exercise inside anymore. We missed the bald eagle, however, because it was on the other side of town. There were, of course, photos on Facebook. Bird news continues to dominate the daily headlines, as many of the migratory species continue to return from their winter domiciles. Geese and ducks seem to be of the most interest, as they become a dietary staple very soon, and it seems that almost every classroom will have at least one child for whom the call of the goose becomes a standard form of expression. They are pretty good, too...

The junior high elves have departed to visit an elder's house for their Yup'ik class, so peace will reign for the next thirty minutes or so in this space. The interesting part of the day will commence when they return...

In Further Bird News...

We were out with the dogs again this morning when I heard the unmistakable honk of migrating geese. I just stood and watched, but my wife was busy counting. Twenty. That strikes me as more than just some stragglers. Joe said this morning that he had seen some yesterday. Spring cannot be denied.

After yesterday, there are three more Mondays left in the school year. Our thoughts turn increasingly to plans for the senior trip back to Michigan. It will be time to travel soon...

I Hear Birds Singing...

For much of the winter, the only bird sounds that we hear are the very large ravens that live here year-round. I think that they are certainly interesting critters, and the nature of their chatter sounds almost human at times, but the lack of variety gets a little old.

As I was walking the dogs this morning, I could hear the unmistakable sound of songbirds. The trees (tall bushes?) are beginning to sport buds. There are puddles of melting snow everywhere. The river ice is beginning to show some signs of deterioration. NOAA has started up its river breakup website again. All signs that spring, and with it, the approaching end of the school year, are bearing down upon us. A month from today, I will be waking up in my bed in our home in Michigan for the first time during summer vacation.

I have grown to love it out here. We both think of the village as home, and we even have grown to enjoy the very odd lifestyle (by back home standards) that our job and posting entails. But it is good, every four months or so, to get back to Michigan and reconnect with friends and family. Our kids get homesick when they are gone for a day or two in Bethel. We are nearly 4,000 miles from our other loved ones. We need the recharge, and then we come back fresh for the next year's challenges.

Kind of Slow Today...

Not too bad-a pretty relaxing weekend overall. Eric Jung and I managed to get my wife's parents to Bethel without incident, thanks to a quick cold snap, and they got off to Anchorage. I stuck around to watch the show that our kids were involved in, and got pressed into service as a janitor and chauffeur...when I drive one of the district Suburbans, it always seems to be #4, and this time was no exception. I amused myself by trying to (safely) shorten the distance between me and my beloved, who was driving the other van. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. I had taken half of a personal day, and ran into my boss at the district office while I was shuttling kids. It was fun to be working on my afternoon off. Really! The kids were polite and thankful for the ride, and I got lunch bought for me, and a free pass into the show that evening.

The show itself was wonderful, even though I was getting tired and sleepy in the dark auditorium. The kids and their artist advisers and teachers had done a great job setting up a showcase for the stories that they had to tell. Afterward, we took the kids to a local restaurant for burgers and pizza. Yum. I got back on my snowmachine with a full tummy and got back home at about 10:45. It was still light out when I got the dogs outside to do their necessary business.

My darling came back last night with the kids, and we had a joyful reunion. It has been a great couple of weeks. We very much enjoyed having my wife's parents here, and they seem to have enjoyed the introduction to our friends, our village, and our way of life.

My lesson plans are finished, and I have taken a spin on the spinner. Time to kick back and read a little tonight before I rest up for another week of school...

Quick Week...

Wow, it's Thursday already! Something about two days spent on other stuff, even if some of it is boring, I suppose. The sun is rising earlier and earlier, and staying up later and later. Many sleepy faces this morning. Some heads down on the desks. Mostly the ones who regularly brag about how late they stayed up the night before. Four more weeks, and a few have been checked out for a while. The fortunate thing is that they are the exception to the rule.

We will stagger through reading the theatrical adaptation of the Diary of Anne Frank for the next few weeks. I am hopeful that the process of putting the movie together last week will help them to understand the requirements of telling a story to an audience. Maybe. This is a strange and trance-like time of year. It seems as if many of us are walking around in a haze. I managed to sleep through my 6:45 am alarm this morning, and got up nearly half an hour late. It is fortunate that the alarm is set early. My in-laws tumbled out of bed, bleary-eyed, at about 7:50. Well, one of them did...

Of course, they were busy taking school photographs for most of the day yesterday, and my mother-in-law was kind enough to clean the refrigerator and house. It has been a blast having visitors here, and helpful ones are really an added benefit.

I made an unscheduled chauffeur run to Bethel last evening, and the river is still holding. It is, however, wet in some significant spots. I think that it will hold long enough to allow for one more trip up tomorrow afternoon. We are starting to get warnings about breakup, and there is a lot of snow and ice that will have to come into the river and make its way to the sea. The real question will be whether it makes it down cleanly, or whether there are flooding conditions that need to be dealt with. More on this as it develops...

Back to the Grind...

Bright, shiny faces in place this morning..at least it seems that way. We will see how they respond as the day wears on, but we all seem to have gotten some rest from our extended hiatus. I suspect that we may have needed a little break.

Now, it is on to the end. We only have a short week this week, and three full ones to follow. The last week will be over on Thursday for the kids. The last couple of those days are not exactly full of academic rigor (the term that I may hate above all others). Some of these kids have been with me for three years, and they will be leaving at the end of the year for high school. I am going to feel a little wistful when they do.

The good news is that I am excited about the prospects for next year's group. I think that it will be a good one to work with, and I hope that I will be a year older and wiser myself. At least, I can hope that will be the case.

My beloved is out in Bethel with a group of students preparing for a performance piece that will be exhibited this Friday and Saturday. I may try to catch it, depending on weather conditions Those will also dictate the means by which I get my in-laws out to Bethel, so that they can catch their return flight to Anchorage and ultimately back to the Midwest. I took my wife to Bethel yesterday, and the river was in pretty good shape, except for a few wet spots. The snow was kind of greasy, but the trip was do-able. The question will be how long this will continue to be the case. I am hopeful that things will be ok through Friday afternoon. After that, all bets can be off...

The in-laws are taking school pictures this morning. Tomorrow, we will have an awards ceremony and prize drawing for the kids that worked hard during the recent SBA testing. The week, such as it is, is a little broken up already.

On to the fray...

At School on A Day Off...

It is the evening of the day...I am sitting in a meeting over a closed circuit TV network discussing the status of contract negotiations with the school district. Tedious, but necessary. There are a few members here to watch, but most of the membership is absent. It makes it difficult to present a strong front to management when people aren't involved in the process. This time, the district is asking for concessions on leave and no pay increases, and increased rent on mandatory village teacher housing. I suspect that this might stimulate the membership to a little more heat under the collar. I also suspect that the issue will not be resolved before we leave at the end of May. I wonder how soon it will be resolved upon our return.

Tomorrow marks a return to the daily grind of school, with only a few weeks left to go. It will be interesting to see how the kiddies respond over the next four weeks to our gentle ministrations. The light stays later, and the kids stay up later. That makes them more and more sleepy in the morning. It then takes a while to get them jump-started, and some never do make it. Academic intensity may suffer in the near-term future...

However, we are encouraged to keep going strong until the end of the year...that may prove to be swimming up stream. I know that it is desirable, and it is necessary, but it will also be a formidable challenge. The struggle begins tomorrow...

Inservice Redux...

The last go-around for this school year...less than three hours left to go...lots of stuff about data and tests and stuff...I imagine that this will be of some use at some point, but I also suspect that the point will come sometime next year.

The Easter carnival rages outside, with my in-laws assisting seniors to raise more funds for their upcoming trip (5 weeks from today!).

Yesterday was beautiful, and it was so warm that we kept the windows open for most of the day and night. Spring is showing strong signs of arrival. I hope that the river holds for long enough in order to get the parents up to Bethel on snowmachine.

A day off for tomorrow...

Movies!

I thought that I would take a moment to rehash the story of our junior high movie project. It began with a warm-up exercise that the kids did in preparation for reading excerpts from the story "Flowers For Algernon." For those unfamiliar with the story, it is a science fiction piece from the 1960's involving an adult man who is mentally retarded, in the parlance of the time. He agrees to undergo an experimental surgery in the hopes of becoming smart like other people. The result of the surgery is that he becomes a genius with an I.Q. in excess of 200, but only for a very brief period of time. In the meantime, he finds that the changes that come as a result of the surgery are a mixed blessing. By the end of the story, he is quickly reverting to his pre-surgery state, with a dim awareness of the fact that he once was "smart."

The warm-up asked kids to imagine that they could have a radically life-changing surgery, what it might be, and whether they thought that it could have any consequences other than positive ones. In response, one boy wrote a story about a boy (kind of like him) who wanted to have an operation that would make him tall. He was tired of being pushed around by bigger kids. He decides to work to raise the money, as it is very expensive...to see what happens to our hero, you can watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQlxkf6z8Zk&feature=youtu.be
There is also a link from my Facebook page, for friends.

Making the movie was possible due to the gracious help of many people, and it is hard to know where to start first. Our principal was kind enough to request a return visit from Jack Dalton and Stephen Blanchett, who enjoyed the story enough to be interested in making it into a video. My fellow staff members here were kind enough to share the fellas, especially Jack, who worked feverishly to edit and score the piece. My wife was generous in her help. Most of all, none of this could have happened without the hard work and imagination of my 7th and 8th grade students, all of whom made important contributions, both in front of and behind the cameras. They blocked the story into scenes, prepared locations, did second unit shooting, and also served as director and cinematographer. They did a wonderful job, and they were applauded for their efforts by the student body yesterday, when the film got its premiere.

I believe that all had a good time, and it served as the penultimate event for our cultural week. The finale involved Yup'ik dancing on the part of the entire school, including many of the staff members (yes, both my wife and I were dancing), and even my mother-in-law. I thought that the week went very well and was the most pleasant of the cultural weeks that I have spent here.

Now it is Saturday afternoon, and the ladies have apparently frosted the Pascha bread and taken it to the church. Soon it will be time to get the important pre-vigil nap, so that we can make it past midnight. Tomorrow will mark not one but two Easter feasts. My lesson plans are done (yesterday), and I can enjoy a leisurely weekend. We have no school with kids until Wednesday due to the holiday and the final in-service, and then it will be four weeks to go until summer vacation is upon us again...ah, summer...I can almost feel it some days....

Almost the Weekend...

The kiddies are at lunch, and they will likely be filing in shortly to collect on their promised computer free time, a Friday fixture of sorts. We are running a little late, as the schedule of events wasn't precisely like clockwork. Who cares. There seemed to be much enjoyment, and that was the good part.

Now we are bereft of children until Wednesday of next week. Some of mine will be gone all that week as well, off to the art grant festivities in Bethel until Saturday. Unfortunately for me, they are taking my wife with them. Oh, well...

It is Easter weekend, which means that we had better damn well find some time for napping tomorrow. The vigil begins at 11:30, and there is no telling how long that it will last. Sunday is feast day. Monday is in-service day (the last!), and Tuesday marks our Easter holiday. Four weeks after that, we are done for this school year.

My movie stars are beginning to file in...

Last Day of Cultural Week...

Our movie will debut this morning. We have gotten a sneak preview already, and approval seems to be universal. We actually watched it twice, and now Jack Dalton is showing the editing process and some of the tricks that can be done with iMovie and stop-motion animation. Fun and movie magic. There is usually a digital story-telling camp in Bethel during the summer, and I hope to recommend a couple of students for participation in it. Our director and camera person were outstanding, and the cast and crew did wonderful work using imagination and dedication to the task. Great stuff...

Oh, and By the Way...

Our in-laws both got to learn about the magic of maqiq last night. Ron and I got invited to Joe's, and when we got back to the house at ten o'clock, there was a note from the girls and dinner in a pan (it was yummy, natch). We sat and chatted, and they showed up eventually, looking pink and sleepy. I think that everyone slept very well last night...

They have also been around the school all day, observing and helping with stuff. Ron played the part of the doctor in our movie. They are also going to be taking school pictures next Wednesday. They seem to be enjoying themselves heartily.

In other notes, let me reiterate a hearty Happy Birthday to my dad and sister, who shared a birthday this week, and got greetings from some of our students.

Late Update...

Editing is going on...it may take a while...the animation has been completed...we have to give all thanks to Jack Dalton, who has helped us with this project all the way through, and believed in the story that we decided to tell...I feel as if I am writing the acceptance speech or something. It was really a fun process, and I can't wait to see the final product. I will have more to say on the subject in the next day or so...

It's A Wrap!

Principal shooting has finished...now on to post-production...editing and animation to come...can we finish today??? Stay tuned for further details....

Hooray For Hollywood!

For today, at least. Shooting is beginning on our movie...more as it develops...

Day the Last (as far as I know...)

I believe that this is the last of cultural days...I am not sure how far kids will get with their projects today, and I am not sure whether they will finish or not, but I am told that this is the end of cultural week. They will need to get done today.

We will still have a cultural agenda of sorts in the morning. Our junior high movie has been storyboarded, and is ready to begin shooting tomorrow. We aren't clear about whether there will be one or two units doing the shooting, but I guess that will be figured out. The deadline is approaching...

My wife's parents arrived last night in Bethel. It is symbolic of the small-town atmosphere here that we saw no fewer than four different people that we knew walking into the Era Airlines terminal to greet the folks. We even managed to introduce some of them...

We had gone into town early to pick up our machine from the shop and a few groceries as well. Because we did not wish to try to get to the airport by snowmachine, we dropped them at our favorite restaurant and caught a cab to the terminal. As fate would have it, the same cab driver was still waiting outside (fate or planning?) when we came out with the visitors. After a quick ride back to the restaurant, we were ready to saddle up for a ride down the rather slushy river.

We disembarked two damp and jet-lagged parents at the house, and hauled their bags up the stairs. They have been wandering around the school this morning, and I am not quite sure where they have gotten off to now, although I do hear drumming in the gym, so it is possible that they can be found there.

Off to corral students for the rest of the day until 4 pm...more later on the adventures of the invaders...

Day Two...

Second day of cultural week, and most everything seems to be on schedule. The sno-go is ready in Bethel, and there are supposed to be two lanes cleared on the truck road from here to there. My wife's parents are apparently in Anchorage as of this writing, and the soup is ready to go on the stove.

Kids have been pretty good for cultural week, and I thought that they were pretty good last week for testing. It has been a pleasant couple of weeks so far. Next week will just be short. But it should be pleasant, as we are starting to see that the end of the year is coming. I sense some excitement from some of my fellow staff members as they anticipate interesting new challenges in the next school year. Things just feel positive, and I am happy about that.

Life here is good. Spring approaches, and I have a full and fulfilling life. My family is well, as far as I know, and summer vacation is not far away. I will get to spend some time with my friend and companion on the travels through life. I have a great wife, and that makes me a lucky man...

Beading Room in the Afternoon...

It is getting a little warm and sleepy in here...I have been roaming elsewhere through much of the day. Kids are working on carving and knitting and dancing and a bunch of other stuff. The sun is hitting the back window in here, and there are a lot of bodies as well. Sewing machines are cycling in the background. It is the first day of cultural week, and it seems as if things are going ok. There have been no major disasters that I am aware of at this point.

One of my darlings from my first year is still trying to goad me two years later. Some people like to work harder at it than others. That is kind of her nature, though, so there is no reason to expect a whole lot differently.

Over in the kitchen, several of my current crop of kids are wrestling with the mysteries of fry bread. There is apparently to be a taste-off to compare two different methods of preparation. Unfortunately, I am on a diet, and this is not one of my days off. No fry bread for me. I like fry bread, so this is not one of those hollow examples of mourning.

Word has it that the fishing kids have gotten a mess of pike. I suspect that it will be arriving on these shores soon.

Today, we did activities for the whole day. Tomorrow and Wednesday, we will do them for a half day only. On Thursday, we will have a regular day of school. More adventures as the week progresses. I came here roughly four years for the first time, during a cultural week event. Now, I am finishing my third year here, and am looking forward to a fourth. Funny how time slips away...

Guests!

We are getting invaded this week, but by friendly forces. Our visitors from last year, Jack Dalton and Stephen Blanchett, are arriving in the morning to hang out with us for cultural week. Just to make it a little more festive, my in-laws are getting here on Tuesday. Fun, fun, fun! I hope that the river will hold up, but it has gotten really warm in the last two days, and I expect that there is a possibility for sloppy driving on the river. There is a lot of snow out there, and if it starts to melt, as it already has, there is going to be a lot of water on the ice.

But we don't mind, because we are looking forward to our first guests since we moved here, and it's going to be fun, fun, fun!!!

One More Plan to Go...

I have been back from a meeting in Bethel, which gave me the excuse to go for a ride...it is a very pleasant day for that sort of thing, and I was glad for the opportunity. Now it is 4:30 and I have only one more class to plan for to be prepared for next week. Of course, this is an easy week to plan for, as we are taking up several of the afternoons with cultural week activities. Still, it is always nice to have planning out of the way so that I can have time for reading or play.

It is warm here, so warm that I rode wearing insulated coveralls over long underwear and was perfectly comfortable. I enjoy this time of year, and the river is so solidly frozen that I have seen no overflow this winter in a long time. I suspect that the ice will be slow in breaking up. My understanding is that there have been years in which the teachers were able to ride snowmachines out of the village as they left at the end of May. We will see how that goes this year.

Now, for reading, and then I can call it a day...lesson plans, that is...

Six Weeks

Six weeks and we are done. Kids are done the day before. On the days before that, there will likely be a number of distractions. We are sitting in a meeting planning cultural week, which begins on Monday. It is all flying away very quickly...so there, I made my entry for today.

Snow and Drifts

More of it last night, and it falls outside the window as the students slog through their math tests...it has been an interesting couple of days. Very quiet mornings and afternoons, as kids test or work on catching up on their classes. I am thinking about showing a crummy Japanese monster movie later today to celebrate the near-end to all of this madness. Several grades will be tested on science knowledge tomorrow, but I am not sure exactly how all of that will be set up.

The ramp that leads to the new teacher housing buildings is made of wood, instead of the steel mesh that is used on the school's ramp. It tends to collect snow, and its orientation relative to the prevailing winds guarantees interesting snow drifts. Much of the snow this winter has come during the overnight hours, which makes for an interesting stroll down the ramp in the morning with two dogs on leashes. The drifts can vary in size and shape. They have often reminded me of miniature versions of the Khumbu ice falls on Mt. Everest. Maybe the fact that I wear shoes with ice spikes in them influences those thoughts...

We have all manner of guests coming to visit next week...it will be cultural week, and my in-laws are coming to visit. We are also going to be hosting Jack Dalton and Stephen Blanchett, two peformers who visited here last year, and will be working with kids to prepare and present digital stories. I am having the 7/8 kids work on them in the afternoon.

The week after that is a short week, with a district-wide inservice one day, and the Easter holiday the next (Russian Orthodox, in case you were thinking that I am off on the dates). We will resume "regular" operations on the week of April 23, at which point, we will have less than a month to go in the school year.

(Interesting interlude...we had a bleeder [nose], and that and snack break put us into an extended delay mode-the kids have been great, but I think that they are getting tired of three days of testing. Hell, my bar exam didn't last three days...)

Looks as if we need to start putting together the final organizational list for cultural days. I am not really sure what to do, or where I would be most useful-I am kind of accustomed to being pointed in a direction. I guess that we will figure that out as we get closer.

This afternoon after school seems like a good time for some relaxation time, which would probably be nice before what could be a busy weekend and week ahead descends upon us...

Competition Brings Us Back to the School...

Eric (the guy part of the neighbors) and I are both here after 9:30 at night. Grading? Frantically planning rigorous (big education word) academic lessons? Nope. Working out.

We are involved in a diet and exercise competition game that started the other day. In many ways, the main struggle is between Eric and my wife, because someone is going to have to pay someone else $100.00 in front of the students. Yes, ego is rearing its ugly head. The game is set up so as to provide equal chances of triumph to men and women. So the two of them are yapping at each other about who is going to be the ultimate victor.

I think that the safest position for me is on the outside of this particular pissing match. It will be fun to watch, though...

The Festivities Continue...

It is the second day of SBA (see yesterday) testing. One (or two, depending) days left. One of my 7th graders admitted to stalling so that it would be longer before the 8th graders returned. Hilarious...the 7th grade group seems to be generally quieter and more focused. I suspect that the 8th graders annoy them or something...

Oh, by the way, Amber...I don't hate my kids. Mondays are another matter.

We went to run errands last night. That is a much more complex process here than it is back in Michigan. Four hours to pick up some paperwork from the vet's office, drop off the sno-go for some work, grocery shop, and fill the neighbors' machine with gas (down to $6+ from the 7.80 a couple of weeks ago). Of course, the process of departure is much more involved than starting the car and opening the garage with a remote. First, we must prepare ourselves for the ride. That involves insulated overalls and thermal socks at least, and maybe long underwear as well. Of course, you definitely want a neck gaiter, and there is the fur hat and the goggles.

Once that is accomplished, the snow machine must be prepared. I take it off the jack that keeps the treads from freezing to the ground. Then I remove the locked cable that discourages unauthorized borrowing. The start process is usually fairly straightforward, as we have an electric start. Of course, the choke is manual. I found the biggest adjustment there to be cutting back on the choke sooner rather than later. Occasionally, the pull start will have to come into play, and that works differently than is the case with a lawn mower or snowblower. Instead of one big pull, this process involves a number of fast pulls until the engine catches.

Once the machine is started and warmed up, the sleds must be hitched. Often this winter, that means disinterring them from a large bank of snow.

All that to go to shopping for food, or out to dinner, or to run any errand to Bethel once the river has frozen. And this is a good thing. Because it is when we have to go through all of these gyrations that we are able to lift the veil of isolation a little and get out and travel freely (sort of) in the world. But it is a little more intricate here than it is in most of the Lower 48...

SBA...

Standards Based Assessments...yet another educationese-based acronym. I am still unsure as to why a profession based on the promotion of clarity and understanding spends so much time and energy proliferating such a plethora of obfuscatory prose...the acronyms are the silliest part, in my experience. I have devised one of my own...JAFA. It stands for Just Another F---ing Acronym. Yes, I do feel very bad about that.

We will be in the midst of the state-mandated tests for the next three days. Everything is sort of stood on its head during these tests. There is a science test for the eighth graders on Friday, to boot. All of our regular classes are off for the morning, at least. I am still not entirely sure what happens in the afternoons. I have some ideas about what to do, but I am not sure with whom I will be doing them.

This is a busy week that will lead into two more busy and disrupted weeks for the kids. It will be three weeks in all before we get back to a "regular" academic schedule. By that time, we will be dealing with the effects of the vast amounts of sunlight that we have here by the end of April. As it is, it is not totally dark when we go to sleep at 10:30 pm. We are gaining daylight at the rate of nearly six minutes each day.

But the really tough thing right now is that I need to pee like a racehorse, and there is no one to step in to proctor the test. Damn.

It's Not Just a Blog, It's an Obligation...

Or maybe an oblogation...we are doing a diet and fitness game with the neighbors, and part of it is that you get points for doing a good habit. This is apparently it. Not leaving the dishes unwashed at night is the bad habit that I am avoiding. We get to eat lots of veggies (gas) and drink lots of water (pee a lot). But there is money and pride on the line, and apparently a payoff at the end of the school year in front of the student body. Thank heavens that the stakes aren't too high.

It was a Monday much like other Mondays, which meant that there was a fair amount of silliness, which I expect to increase as the year wanes. Testing begins tomorrow (the big state tests), so the routine around here will be strange and strained. However, we have only five more Mondays with the little tots, and we are busily arranging the details of the senior trip to Michigan.

We have to get to Bethel tomorrow to pick up documentation so that our pups can fly, and I think that we will drop the sno-go off for a tune-up. That is the busy life of a bush teacher up to the minute...more to follow in the morning.

Back Again and Again...

I wasn't really gone, just silent. Not much to say, except that the time has been going by quickly, and we are closing on the home stretch of the school year. I filed our taxes electronically for the first time today, and that was kind of fun. Never thought I could say that. Not and be telling the truth...

The weekend has been pleasant and unfocused. We have been hanging around together and chilling. Some random housekeeping chores have gotten done, but nothing heroic. I could stand to do dishes.

That, and this, are my two upcoming resolutions. We are playing in a diet and exercise contest with one of the other teachers here, and we each have to give up a bad habit and cultivate a new good one. I guess that this is my good habit, and that neglecting to do the dishes every night is my bad one.

As is true at the end of every school year, it is time to look ahead at changes that are on the horizon. A few are coming here, but some of them are still in the working stage. I will be moving my classroom, as I will have one of the bigger classes in the school next year, and need the room for desks and kids. It will be interesting to go to new digs, although I will miss my smart board set up. Selfish, aren't I??

The clock is meandering toward 6 o'clock, and I suppose that lesson plans are a necessity at this point. The set-up will be strange, as we have state testing this week, and the schedules have not been finalized as yet. I am not entirely sure what I am going to be doing this week, so it is a little hard to tell what I need to prepare for. I guess that I will slap something together this evening for Monday and the afternoon sessions as necessary. Maybe a movie, too...it is kind of hard to anticipate what it will all look like.

The sun is staying around very late these days-sunset will be after 9:30 tonight...spring is definitely on its way. Lots of ice in the river, and lots of snow will make for an interesting break-up event this year.

Time to get ready for the week to come, and all of its wonders...