Maqiq again...

..and it's been way too long. How relaxing this feeling is on the Sunday night before another week. It is hard to convey just how much I love a good steam. And this was a good one. Hot...burning hot pallets...the floor was almost too hot to sit on. It was definitely too hot to get down on my forearms. Uff da, that was a good steam!

Only problem that I have now is that I want to go to bed instead of finishing off my lesson plans, which is what I should be concentrating on. That, and the gigantic yummy steak that I am about to devour part of. Alas, the master commandeth lesson plans, and I must deliver, or pay the consequences. So, I guess they will get done.

Twill be a strange week, with standardized testing and parent-teacher conferences. Many things to juggle...

Catch-Up

It has been a while since I have been around these parts...the end of the week was busy with travel and more learning. For all the disruptive effect of the second year teacher inservices, they have generally been more useful in some ways than the regular or district-wide models. Mostly it was the end of an era of sorts, affording an opportunity to see some of the people with whom I came in to the district, perhaps for the final time. I have talked to a few of them, and they mostly seem ready to leave. This is a difficult life in many ways for a young, single person, and many have stories of wearing down under disrespect and isolation. It is hard for me to effectively assess the reality of their claims about disrespect, but the isolation part is easy to understand for young folks just out of college.

I suspect that for the old fossils like me, the knowledge that things are very bad indeed back in the lower 48 is enough to temper our thoughts of departure. And we do have a generous financial package of pay and benefits. But many of us are out here with loved ones that can share our struggles and provide a more immediate layer of support. It is easier for us to stay, I suspect, than it is for a single person in his or her 20's. They, however, are the future for this district. It would be nice if we could find a way to keep them here. If I had the perfect answer, I would offer it. I just feel sad to know that many of the faces that I saw the first time a year ago in August will not be showing up next August when the district gathers again in Bethel.

Much Betta...

As in that is much more like it...I had a little chat (well, several) with m'kiddies today, and explained in detail exactly what I expected from them and even spent a little time with the why of it as well. It seemed to work pretty well. It might be for an hour, or for a day, but I am glad that I took the step, and it seemed to help me form a tighter bond in some ways.

The mentors are here, and that takes up more of my evening, but it is nice to have company as a change of pace, and I got my evening exercise in anyway, albeit at 9:00. Tomorrow will be another day with company, although I am not sure to what extent they will be with my counterpart in the 5/6 classroom.

This was one of those rewarding days that you hear about in the popular imagination, but not in the "Oh My God" breakthrough way. It was enough to relieve me of my currently building annoyance with AKT2 and its ways. Silly, silly...if only they knew how they are loved in the hinterlands...but the work is the important thing, as I am beginning to see more clearly all the time. If it just wasn't such a damn grind sometimes. Of course, that may be part of what makes it worth it....

Ugh...

On to Wednesday. T'uai...

Concentration...

...may not be at a premium today...

Tuesday...

I slept from 9pm to 6:25 am, and still woke up tired...hmmm...we will see how this one goes. I need a blank CD and some adding machine paper, and I need to remember to go and look for both this morning.The idea of a sick day is appealing, but I am not sick, just sorta and mostly tired. I need to save those sick days for the real thing. We will play quizlet this morning, and I hope that that works to keep 'em happy for a little while.

The search begins in an hour...

A Quick Monday Update...

The day: not bad overall. Flaky like Monday, but workable.

Progress: we finished the first week of our challenge, and made our target weight loss goals. We are tied as far as I know on points.

Laundry: done.

Dishes: nearly done.

Colds: apparently coming on. (Crap).

Bed: coming soon, if we want to try and sleep this stuff off.