A New Grade, A New Life

One month down in a new school year. It is going fast already! There is so much to tell....

First off, my summer was fantastic! It was weird not to work and I definitely missed being around the Band Kids, but I really enjoyed traveling. For the month of July I traveled to Washington D.C., Oregon, and California before heading back to Alaska. It was nice to see my Linfield friends (and professors) and my beloved home. There was so much to do and see and I didn't get around to all of it. In the end, the trip was very worth it and I hope to do more traveling next summer!

I came back to St. Michael in the beginning of August with two guinea pigs. Don't take me to a pet store. By looking at a guinea pig that looked so sad in her cage, I decided that she needed a home and a friend. So, now I have Oppa (Ah-puh). Pippi and Oppa became fast friends and keep each other company. It's fun to watch them run around my room together. Plus, the kids are really excited that I have TWO piggies to play with now. Speaking of kids....

I am not teaching Pre-K this year as I intended. As of 5 days before school started I became the new 8th grade teacher. My school was still looking for a teacher to fill that position and I stepped up and asked if my principal would consider me. People ask me why, so here is a short explanation.

I wanted to have my own classroom with hours that I'm used to. With new administration I also wanted to stay in the big school because I very much like their philosophies and wanted them to guide me as a new teacher. Staying in the big school and being around teachers and students that I have come to know well has been very beneficial to me. My confidence as a teacher has increased. Also, I took a class at the beginning of the summer where I learned Kagan structures. I didn't want to forget the things that I learned and I knew I would be able to implement them in my 8th grade class (I have been and it is wonderful!). Even though I am an elementary teacher at heart, I'm happy that I made this decision. Times have been hard sometimes, but when are they not? I still get to see my elementary students and I still can identify the criers. On the positive, I haven't had nearly as many behavior issues! Everyone has told me that I have a very difficult class this year (and it is difficult), but I think my class last year was more so.

Other new things this year...

I get to be the volleyball coach! I'm really excited; it is Mixed 6 so I will have boys and girls on a team. It's only a week away!

I'm also really excited to say that I have a boyfriend. He is the 7th grade teacher here and he is so wonderful. Every day is something special with him and I like him more and more each day. I've struggled through some health things and he has been there 100%. I'm excited to continue to get to know him more.

Well, friends, I have put off lesson planning long enough. Once I get internet at my house I will write more! Wishing you all well!

The Final Stretch

My friends, it is 4th quarter!! It's hard to believe that April is upon us and I really only have 6 weeks left of school (instructional weeks that is). As difficult as this school year has been, I have grown as a teacher and an individual. Saint Michael has provided me with children that love me and new friends that support me. It's an amazing experience! There have been ups and downs, but I would not trade it for the world.

4th quarter is here and I finally feel like I have a grasp on how I like my class managed. This group of kids took me awhile to figure out what was best for everyone. I'm able to teach more and discipline less. My students are holding each other accountable for things that happen in the classroom. It's truly wonderful. My students have taught me how to break down frustration on the spot without showing it. They have taught me to have a sense of humor and to laugh sometimes when it's silly. Most of all my kids have taught me to appreciate the small successes (and when I say small, I mean small). For example, one of my students took months to finally remember that the word congruent means the same! Let's just say I jumped up and down a little bit. :) One day, my entire class asked for more time to write (30 minutes instead of 20)! This includes my students who typically write a few sentences. This includes my class that complains about writing for 15 minutes! Needless to say, I am still ecstatic. I could go on about my students forever, but I won't totally bore you.

As for my secondary life....


Outside of school I play a lot of games with other teachers to fill spare time. On a typical day I am at school about 12 hours, but I sleep a lot on Saturday (and then off to work). I have basically stopped going to church here and listen only to the Podcasts that I receive from the church in Oregon that I attended. I went walking across the ocean about a month ago with my friend. We got to see all of the little ice craters and experience the sudden fear of "Is the ice cracking...?" It's been a warm winter. I've been able to wear my light jacket and gloves recently. It stays in the teens and sometimes reaches 20 or 30 degrees above zero!! It's practically shorts weather. The snow is melting and everything is getting a little slushy. My guess is that the snow and ice will be pretty much gone by the beginning of May. The warmer weather and lighter days are making all of the students very antsy and have unimaginable amounts of energy. There will still be so many changes within the next 2 months (energy, light, growth, etc.).

Other news....

I got to meet my niece for the first time during Spring Break. It's such a weird feeling to know that I am an aunt. My sister is a mom! I still haven't grasped the whole idea yet, but that baby is so very precious. I am excited to see her grow.

Regarding next year....

I will be teaching in Saint Michael again next year. However, I will not be teaching 4th grade....I will be teaching Pre-k (4 year olds). This is just a switch that the school wanted me to do for the next year. It's not my ideal age, but I know I will learn so much from being in there with the little guys. As of right now, my students don't know that I won't be teaching 4th grade. I am not telling them until the beginning of May. Thank you to all of those people that helped me make my final decision and dried my massive amounts of tears. It was a long process, but I'm glad I'm staying.

Well, my friends, there have been breakthroughs and there have been breakdowns, but in the end, I have 14 kids. They are mine. They are wonderful. I will be sad to see them move on to 5th grade (only because I want them!). Time moves quickly when there isn't time to waste.

Whoosh!

Another quarter is already halfway over! Third quarter has been running in full speed. For the past month I have focused primarily on my Battle of the Books team. I have been the “coach” for the 3^rd/4^th grade team. We have practices from 4-5pm twice a week. Last weekend I had a sleepover at the school with my team and the middle school team (my roommate is the coach for the middle school team). Although it was exhausting to watch the kids for the evening and keep up with their energy, it was fun watching their excitement over books. We were able to read and discuss questions and started to bond as a team. The kids have done a great job reading the books and are really pulling through. At the end of the week we have our first battle. It will be new to me because battles in the village take place as a Video Teleconference. I’m just hoping for the best!

Life is crazy right now. There is so much to learn and teach and it's already February! My students have been going through a phase of…I'm not really sure how to describe it. It's a lot of energy that is focused in the wrong direction. I'm hoping once the weather gets cold it will get better (it's been in the low to mid 30s!). As a girl that grew up in Alaska I understand how refreshing it is to have warmth. All you want to do is play outside! Usually this antsy type of behavior doesn't really appear until mid March or even April (break up season…I mean Spring). Since it is so warm outside right now I think that we are going to have two "Springs". I don't know how well people will follow what I just wrote. It's a little difficult to describe to those that are not familiar with Alaska. Anyway, my students just feel crazy to me. Tomorrow I am going to be taking a break from some class work and having TWO class council meetings. 

I'm beginning to figure out that I am going to have to reteach my expectations. Everything that we did last semester doesn't feel like it's working. I'm pretty frustrated and my brain is fishing for new ideas to help keep my kids focused, respectful, and responsible. As I think about it now I wonder if I smiled too early. In the past some people have told me that I am too strict or uptight, but now I'm learning that I am being way too nice. I don't know. I feel like I am drowning right now. Hopefully tomorrow's talk will make it a little better. 

On a happier note, my oldest sister had her baby yesterday! I am ecstatic! Actually, my students are too. They have been waiting for February for "Baby Month". When I told them that she had the baby they all jumped out of their seats and ran to me to see if she had sent pictures yet. They could hardly wait! I now have a niece. I can't wait to hold her next month when I travel to Fairbanks for Spring Break. 

Another exciting thing happened yesterday! A high school student that I coached in volleyball last semester gave me an Eskimo name. It was a huge honor. I wasn't sure if she was being real or not at first. She walked into my classroom with a cup of water and told me that she wanted to give me an Eskimo name. The water is to drink after you receive the name. It's understood that the water symbolizes respect. I don't yet want to announce what it is….so in my next post! 

There have been so many ups and downs this past month, but I try really hard to do as my students do: Get over it quickly and pretend like it didn't happen yesterday. Those of you that know me well should know that this is a task that I am really really really really bad at. We'll see how long it will take me to accomplish this task. 

I have added pictures below from some of my January adventures and some from earlier in the school year. More later! There are so many things that happen all at once that it's hard to keep up with it all. Best wishes to all of you! 

 We had a storm so we are enjoying the snow.

 My parking lot includes Hondas (aka 4 wheelers).

 The teachers come home from Christmas. It's a good thing we all went to the Post Office together...

 My new Guspuk!

 I was a crayon for Halloween.

 Agutaq…Eskimo Ice Cream

 My school from afar.

 Movie night at the school.

 The outside of my apartment complex. This building was the original St. Michael school.

 My students are wonderful when they are working hard!

The view from my window. 

A New Year, A New Start?

Happy 2014! I can hardly believe that another year has gone by. It’s weird to think that I have almost completed my first year of teaching. The end seems so close yet so far away. I was so glad to make it to Christmas Break. However, I got stuck in Unalakleet for 31 hours on my way to Anchorage!! THEN, I got stuck in Unalakleet another night on my way back from Anchorage! It was really quite frustrating. I felt really bad for Pippi. She was very very very glad to be back in her cage at home. Nevertheless, I was SO happy to get a break. It was nice getting to see my family and some close friends during my break. I was able to get a lot of rest and began to reflect on the first and second quarter. I came away with some new ideas and a refreshed mind. Seeing everyone in St. Michael was really nice. It’s getting to the point where I can truly call this home. The best part about returning was getting to see my kids running at me when I first arrived.

The first week of school was crazy. It almost felt like I was out of shape. My students were out of shape too. All of the rules needed to be relearned and routines needed to be practiced. It was pretty frustrating, but I’m feeling better as we enter into our 3^rd week. It’s really crummy to say, but I feel like all I am doing is scrambling to make sure my kids know enough for the SBAs in April. The pressure feels immense and I can tell that I am easily irritated with my students because I want them to do well, so when they show me less than their best it is really worrisome and disappointing.  As long as I keep everything interesting and lively it should be okay, right?

I’m still teaching music to my students, but this time we are working in more depth on rhythm and musical components (measures, time signature, note names, note values, etc.).  My kids can now read, write, and imitate rhythms! Occasionally, people will make a comment about how music is worthless. This really bugs me, but I try not to let it show. Music is so important to me and I can’t imagine not being able to play my flute or sing. I mean, can you?

Anyway, I’m feeling empowered for this next semester. Although I am nervous for my first “testing” experience, I am excited to see how the school year comes to a close.  

The Final Countdown

Well, 2nd quarter has come to an end. I am exhausted. The past two weeks the kids have been off the walls because of Thanksgiving Break and the coming Christmas Break. My head is spinning. Most days I come home from school and almost immediately fall asleep on the couch. Needless to say, I am ready for a break. I am currently sitting in my classroom waiting for parents to come conference with me. As I sit here I can't help but think about Friday: the day I travel back to Palmer. Friday seems like forever away. I have a lot to do until then...I just don't have the energy to do it. For example, I have to have at least two days of lesson plans and materials out before I leave for break just in case I don't make it back (planes might not be able to fly because of the weather).

I had a couple of interesting cultural experiences. An elder past away so I learned the community rituals. The body stays in the home in a casket for several days until the funeral. During that time, people in the village come to the home and see the family. Then, for the funeral, the whole village shuts down until the funeral is over. The church is packed with people. It's really a cool experience to be apart of village events (even though that one was very sad). Another experience I had was during the Thanksgiving Basketball tournament. The villages thrive in basketball. We went to the city gym and watched all the teams. The crowd gets super into it! It's fun to see who everybody roots for. Even my students have a favorite team and talk about it. 

Anyway, this quarter went fast. I didn't feel like I had enough time to effectively teach anything. My students struggled immensely with division. I honestly cannot figure out how to teach it in any other way. I've gone through my books, I've looked online, I've talked to teacher after teacher. Nothing seems to be working, but I have to keep moving on. Hopefully it'll come with some more time.

I decided to just focus on science this quarter. We learned about the animal life cycle and the human body. I was very impressed by how hard the kids worked and how much information they retained. Last week, the class learned about the brain. I was so excited that my sister was a guest speaker (via Skype). It was much better for them to learn about the brain from an expert rather than me. The kids LOVED her and were so curious about her and her life. It was great to see her again, even if it was through Skype. My students also discovered microscopes and had a blast exploring. I was able to get some great science shots of my students being curious.

Now, the best thing of all....The Christmas Program!! It was a success! We practiced how to walk on stage and our order. The kids practiced watching me and waiting for the commands (records up, ready, 1,2,3,4). My goodness we knocked them dead. I was definitely nervous, but I went in with the attitude that I've done all the teaching that I can do, and now it was up to them. Even the students I was really worried about did well. I am so relieved that it is over. Now, I just have to prepare for music next quarter. My students complain about it and say it's boring, but once they get it that's all they want to do. Music is too important for me to let it go though...so they will just have to get over it!! :)

Well, my friends, I am counting down the days until I hop on the little Bush plane and fly back to the Valley. I have a lot of preparation to do, but I'm ready to just do nothing. 3rd quarter is going to be long. SBAs are in April so 3rd quarter will be a race to get everything done to prepare.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

P.S. I'm trying to get my pictures uploaded!

Christmastime is Coming

Happy Thanksgiving! This quarter is going by so quickly! I feel that 2^nd quarter has been more of a success than first. I have made a lot of small changes that have made me feel more in control and like I am making good progress toward becoming a better teacher.

I have become very attached to my students, which is definitely helping as the year progresses. Currently, we only have two and a half weeks left in the quarter (then Christmas break!!)! My students have been working very very hard at the recorder in order to prepare for the Christmas Program in two weeks. I know that I am getting super nervous. Some people are finding my class very annoying with the recorders, which makes it that much harder for me to feel prepared. I’m hoping that my class will really step it up during the performance. They all know how to play it, but it’s a matter of playing together as opposed to playing at the same time. We’ll see….

It’s getting colder as the winter progresses, but it hasn’t been too bad. I do have to wear my parka and facemask now. When I get a ride on a Honda I usually have to wear my goggles so that my eyes don’t get too watery. It’s all fun though. My body is adjusting to the cold pretty well. After mostly living in Oregon for the past four years I have forgotten how different the darkness is. It has finally reached the point of 10:30 or 11:00am sunrises. I can truly say that I am at school before the sun is up and after the sun is down.

My work hours are long and I am pretty exhausted, but the fact that there are only two and a half weeks left really helps move me along. Pippi is also a big help. She reminds me to play and to love. We often cuddle and she now runs around the apartment floor freely. She can be quite the character! The kids in the village love her and they all want Guinea Pigs (sorry parents).

Although stressful, I really love working here. St. Michael is treating me well. I miss Oregon a lot, but I know that I can make this my home too. It’s different from places I have lived recently, but the uniqueness makes it worthwhile.

Well, my friends, that is all for now. It really hasn’t been too eventful lately, just a lot of work. At this point, I’m praying for a successful end to the quarter and a fantastic Christmas Program.

Happy Holidays!

Breathing Again

My fellow readers, I am sorry for the long delay! Life in St. Michael has proved to be very  busy (despite the fact that there is not much to really do here). The last time I wrote was before school even started. Let me do a quick catch up....now that the first quarter is over.

I went through the longest in service in August. The result: a head cold and brain overload. I was exhausted by the end and getting very anxious about school to start. After in-service I felt so overloaded with information that I didn't even know where to begin. My classroom became student ready and I decided on the activities that we would do for the first three days. My energy remained high as I tried to keep up with the bustle of the classroom. At the end of the week I collapsed in my chair and looked around my classroom. Even though my classroom was a mess, I was exhausted, and at a total loss about what to do with my class I quickly loved my class even more. It's nice having a clean classroom with everything put in its place, but it's even better to have a classroom that is lived in. My classroom is my second home here (maybe first). For my students this really is like another home to them. I have a group of students that are my children: my children. I see them all the time, inside and outside of school. Even when they are angry with me, it doesn't last long. The kids here get over things so quickly. After a long day of lecturing students they still run up to me outside and give me big hugs.

In college, we learned to make a list of positive things about students we were frustrated with in order to remind us of the good things about that child. In St. Michael, all it takes to remember the wonderful things about a kid here is seeing them outside of school. They have so much energy, and they can provide so much love. It's so much fun to see them at my window almost everyday. It is a constant reminder that they still love me even when we had a bad day at school. I have a tough group of kids in my class as a whole (they are testing me), but they are all so sweet, smart, and have so much to offer.

St. Michael is becoming more my home everyday. I get along well with the staff and community members. I am learning some of the cultural norms and find myself feeling more like a member of St, Michael. I started going to a church here (Assembly of God), but it's not my style at all. I miss my church in Palmer and McMinnville very much, but it's something that I am trying hard to get used to. My roommate and I are going to start a weekly bible study to help us feel more comfortable in our beliefs. Besides church, I have made a few good friends that I spend my time with. Most of the time we sit and play cards or watch a movie. I have learned cool new card games and am getting very good at strategizing in them (better watch out!). It's weird to get a paycheck once a month and go home after a day of work and not have homework that I have to get done that night.

Now that first quarter has ended, I actually feel like a real teacher. It has taken me so long to really feel like this is real...First quarter was my trial. As second quarter begins I feel that I can wipe my slate clean and start the quarter with more confidence. I am quite relieved that a new beginning is on Monday.

A new quarter means a fresh start: new grades, new methods of teaching, new confidence, new units. It's all there. I just have to grab it and run. It's time to show me as a teacher. As one of my students told me, "You're the best teacher". Now I have to go out there and prove it: to myself and my students.

I will try to write more! As I said: Second quarter is a fresh start!