We are at the school awaiting word on when the kids from Fairbanks will be taking off to come here. The flight is scheduled for 4 pm, and kids from our school that are going to give them a tour should be arriving here soon.
I just watched a piece from EPSN sportscenter about the time that KISS came to little Cadillac, Michigan in 1975. Pretty darn funny, and a few familiar faces to boot, including one of my former clients. Kinda makes me nostalgic for Cadillac, where I should be in about 13 weeks from now. There are some educational opportunities here in Bethel that I could take advantage of, but I am starting to feel a serious desire to get home for the summer, and I don't know that I want to cut it shorter. Guess I will figure it out eventually.
Just one more set of lessons to plan for the week, and that will be done for today. Visitors, Spirit Week, and Friday off!!! How much fun will that be???
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Home Safely
Good news-the weather warmed up enough for all of the teams to travel back home to Napaskiak. There was a bachelorette party for Sara, one of our teachers, last night in Bethel. I was a little uneasy with the travel aspect there, but all went well. It is back down to -18 right now, with a windchill of -42. Impressive. It is mostly a matter of dressing properly, in my experience.
There are five high school kids coming to visit from Ben Eielson High in Fairbanks today. They will be here for the week as a part of an urban-rural exchange program that the GF has participated in for the past several years. This is also the week leading up to the district basketball tournament in Bethel. We will be having Spirit Week, which means that things should be hectic and exciting. It is a short week, as we have Friday off. No inservices or anything else, just off.
I am going to try my hand at a junior high social studies lesson for the week, which shold be interesting. My thought is that we will do an archaeology experiment with garbage from various classrooms so that the kids can understand how we analyze ancient sites that leave no written record. I hope that they will find it interesting.
The day should be busy, and I have already managed to overflow the coffee pot. A bad omen??
There are five high school kids coming to visit from Ben Eielson High in Fairbanks today. They will be here for the week as a part of an urban-rural exchange program that the GF has participated in for the past several years. This is also the week leading up to the district basketball tournament in Bethel. We will be having Spirit Week, which means that things should be hectic and exciting. It is a short week, as we have Friday off. No inservices or anything else, just off.
I am going to try my hand at a junior high social studies lesson for the week, which shold be interesting. My thought is that we will do an archaeology experiment with garbage from various classrooms so that the kids can understand how we analyze ancient sites that leave no written record. I hope that they will find it interesting.
The day should be busy, and I have already managed to overflow the coffee pot. A bad omen??
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Wowee...
It is absolutely beautiful outside today: cloudless skies, bright sunshine, a picture-perfect summer's day. If it were summer. However, it remains well below zero, and the wind has picked up quite a bit from this morning. Venturing outside calls for a number of layers, a facemask, a warm hat, and goggles. Being so equipped, I found it to be a pretty comfortable walk to the post office and back a short time ago. The dogs are very brisk and businesslike about their bathroom breaks, and it is just generally much nicer to watch from inside than it is to watch it from outside.
We finished another long PD session today. For some reason, I believe that this will be the last such session here this year. We will still have Friday afternoon sessions, but no Friday-Saturday combinations if I have it correctly. As a first-year teacher in the district, I still have an obligation for one more Saturday, that to be at the end of March, up in Bethel. It will correspond with the annual Camai dance festival, and could prove to be pretty interesting.
Both the boys' high school team and the junior high basketball team are stranded for the moment at the sites to which they have traveled. The district forbids student travel if the windchill temperature is below -35. Seems sensible to me. The current conditions may persist through Monday afternoon. Windchill is one of those terms that gets kind of abused in the lower 48, in my opinion. However, when you get into the -35 range, skin can freeze in a minute, and chances of developing hypothermia increase markedly. It just gets truly dangerous.
Our PD sessions were actually personally inspiring. Yesterday morning, the junior high kids were all excited about getting off for their b-ball tournament. Despite that, they managed to control their excitement enough so that we could get some things done in the classroom. Some of the kids were actually pretty productive. It was a good morning oveall. In the afternoon, we had a very good presentation on positive behavior management. I had to do a lot of thinking about the way in which I approach some of the classroom situations. It was a good opportunity for self-evaluations.
I know that a lot of teachers swear that they will never teach junior high, but I actually find it to be a fascinating challenge. It's not easy, and some days it just sucks, but the kids are worth the strain, and the mental stretch is invigorating. It is a cool job with some intense ups and downs. Never boring.
We finished another long PD session today. For some reason, I believe that this will be the last such session here this year. We will still have Friday afternoon sessions, but no Friday-Saturday combinations if I have it correctly. As a first-year teacher in the district, I still have an obligation for one more Saturday, that to be at the end of March, up in Bethel. It will correspond with the annual Camai dance festival, and could prove to be pretty interesting.
Both the boys' high school team and the junior high basketball team are stranded for the moment at the sites to which they have traveled. The district forbids student travel if the windchill temperature is below -35. Seems sensible to me. The current conditions may persist through Monday afternoon. Windchill is one of those terms that gets kind of abused in the lower 48, in my opinion. However, when you get into the -35 range, skin can freeze in a minute, and chances of developing hypothermia increase markedly. It just gets truly dangerous.
Our PD sessions were actually personally inspiring. Yesterday morning, the junior high kids were all excited about getting off for their b-ball tournament. Despite that, they managed to control their excitement enough so that we could get some things done in the classroom. Some of the kids were actually pretty productive. It was a good morning oveall. In the afternoon, we had a very good presentation on positive behavior management. I had to do a lot of thinking about the way in which I approach some of the classroom situations. It was a good opportunity for self-evaluations.
I know that a lot of teachers swear that they will never teach junior high, but I actually find it to be a fascinating challenge. It's not easy, and some days it just sucks, but the kids are worth the strain, and the mental stretch is invigorating. It is a cool job with some intense ups and downs. Never boring.
Yikes!
We are having another PD marathon this weekend, so blogging may be a little more sparse than usual. In the meantime: it is currently -26. There is a windchill advisory until Monday at 4 p.m. Windchills of -35 to -45 are expected. The current windchill is -47.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
By The Way...
My students finished yet another round of testing today. They have been remarkably cooperative through all of this. I wouldn't be...
Dear Anonymous:
I have recently received a complaint. I do not know to whom I should respond. The poster has styled him or herself "anonymous." I put my name on what I write. I am told that I am "constantly" referring to "feral brats" and "snotty students." "Constant" is defined as "continual, unceasing, persistent." I have looked at all of my posts since I got here. I have not found one reference to a "feral brat." I have referenced behaviors, not children. I do not believe that behavior tells me who the kid is...
On the other hand, I have been kicked at, swung at, called a "fag," a "fucking fag," and a few other choice appellations. My fiance was called a "whore" by a student today. I do consider such behavior to be snotty. I don't believe that it typifies the behavior of students in this school. It is behavior that happens. I have had a number of parents apologize to me for their children's behavior. I have had parents talk to me who are clearly embarrassed by the behavior of the 7th and 8th grades as a whole. It is a tough group in this school.
That said, I do like most of my students. Even the ones who irritate me. That happens, and my job requires me to be a professional. But the fact of the matter is, I care about these kids. I want them to do well, and I want to contribute to that. I am sorry that you cannot see that in your reading, Anonymous. I would invite you to discuss the matter further. But please quote me accurately if you are going to do so. And please try to see the balance in what gets written here.
On the other hand, I have been kicked at, swung at, called a "fag," a "fucking fag," and a few other choice appellations. My fiance was called a "whore" by a student today. I do consider such behavior to be snotty. I don't believe that it typifies the behavior of students in this school. It is behavior that happens. I have had a number of parents apologize to me for their children's behavior. I have had parents talk to me who are clearly embarrassed by the behavior of the 7th and 8th grades as a whole. It is a tough group in this school.
That said, I do like most of my students. Even the ones who irritate me. That happens, and my job requires me to be a professional. But the fact of the matter is, I care about these kids. I want them to do well, and I want to contribute to that. I am sorry that you cannot see that in your reading, Anonymous. I would invite you to discuss the matter further. But please quote me accurately if you are going to do so. And please try to see the balance in what gets written here.
A Busy Birthday
Where to start? Testing, I suppose...yes, more testing. We get some sort of funding for arts and literacy projects, which apparently comes with testing strings of its own. I have already administered a reading section of one standardized test, and another multi-part test was given when I was in Anchorage. These dollars apparently feel that those are inadequate (and don't forget the SBA's), and demand another test that is more to their liking.
So, there we were. I volunteered to give the test, because I was gone for the last. I needed to get the 8th grade done, because their test booklets must be shared with the 9th grade (?). I got the morning done, and picked up the two stragglers in the afternoon. Now I have to see if the 6th grade teacher finished hers so that I can test the 7th grade today. Interesting split. Oh, yes, and the materials got here this week and must all be done by the end of this short week. Gotta love it.
The word that it was my birthday got out sometime during 1st hour, and resulted in the kids singing "Happy Birthday" to me in Yup'ik. Or, at least I believe that is what it was. It did have the familiar tune. It could have been "Die, You Evil Schmuck" for all that I am able to tell, for my Yup'ik vocabulary is extremely limited. (The kids don't seem to know much Yiddish, however...) It was nice, anyway.
We got some kids to pass some indicators (what I need to work on) in math, and they were ok in health. On the other hand, when I came back from testing in the afternoon, they were crazy and busy fighting with each other. I don't know when I have seen such a group prone to sniping at each other. Enough already. They did it again during science class. Time for a reteach, I think.
I had planned to leave at contracted quitting time (4:15) because it was my birthday, and because I am not committed to the afterschool program on Wednesdays, but one girl wanted to stay after unannounced, so stay I did. We got part of a test completed before she quit in frustration. Math thing. We will keep at it.
Then it was off to church, where we had been invited by Father Vasily and one of the teachers. We got there late, because the service did not start at the usual evening time. Not to worry. After the service, Father happened to mention that it was my birthday. This resulted in many congratulations from members of the congregation, some of whom I did not know. Very nice. We had been talking about Bethel and pizza for dinner, but we were invited to a memorial feast by a couple of relatives of the deceased, as they passed in a pickup truck. We tend to believe that community invitations are more important than pizza in Bethel, which is there every night. So off we went in search of a place, the location of which was not entirely clear. Fortunately, Napaskiak is a small place, and we found the house in question.
We got there in time for the blessing and prayers, which included another mention of my birthday, and more wishes from very nice people. The moose soup was delicious, and we returned home for some cleanup and cake with some friends and co-workers. School and village gossip was had by all, and the evening ended late. It is nearly 8:00 a.m. as I write this, and it is time to get it into gear again for another day.
I had a nice birthday, and I want to thank all the people that made it that way with their greetings and gracious invitations and hospitality.
So, there we were. I volunteered to give the test, because I was gone for the last. I needed to get the 8th grade done, because their test booklets must be shared with the 9th grade (?). I got the morning done, and picked up the two stragglers in the afternoon. Now I have to see if the 6th grade teacher finished hers so that I can test the 7th grade today. Interesting split. Oh, yes, and the materials got here this week and must all be done by the end of this short week. Gotta love it.
The word that it was my birthday got out sometime during 1st hour, and resulted in the kids singing "Happy Birthday" to me in Yup'ik. Or, at least I believe that is what it was. It did have the familiar tune. It could have been "Die, You Evil Schmuck" for all that I am able to tell, for my Yup'ik vocabulary is extremely limited. (The kids don't seem to know much Yiddish, however...) It was nice, anyway.
We got some kids to pass some indicators (what I need to work on) in math, and they were ok in health. On the other hand, when I came back from testing in the afternoon, they were crazy and busy fighting with each other. I don't know when I have seen such a group prone to sniping at each other. Enough already. They did it again during science class. Time for a reteach, I think.
I had planned to leave at contracted quitting time (4:15) because it was my birthday, and because I am not committed to the afterschool program on Wednesdays, but one girl wanted to stay after unannounced, so stay I did. We got part of a test completed before she quit in frustration. Math thing. We will keep at it.
Then it was off to church, where we had been invited by Father Vasily and one of the teachers. We got there late, because the service did not start at the usual evening time. Not to worry. After the service, Father happened to mention that it was my birthday. This resulted in many congratulations from members of the congregation, some of whom I did not know. Very nice. We had been talking about Bethel and pizza for dinner, but we were invited to a memorial feast by a couple of relatives of the deceased, as they passed in a pickup truck. We tend to believe that community invitations are more important than pizza in Bethel, which is there every night. So off we went in search of a place, the location of which was not entirely clear. Fortunately, Napaskiak is a small place, and we found the house in question.
We got there in time for the blessing and prayers, which included another mention of my birthday, and more wishes from very nice people. The moose soup was delicious, and we returned home for some cleanup and cake with some friends and co-workers. School and village gossip was had by all, and the evening ended late. It is nearly 8:00 a.m. as I write this, and it is time to get it into gear again for another day.
I had a nice birthday, and I want to thank all the people that made it that way with their greetings and gracious invitations and hospitality.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)