Three Weeks and Still Going Strong

A little place I like to call...shool.

Once again, this is incredibly overdue.  I just finished my third week of school, and I'm happy to say that I still want to be a teacher.  Every one of the students has their own unique challenge which they bring to school each day.  That's really the case everywhere.  Although the school is very small and in an incredibly rural area, the atmosphere is quite similar to a city school.  I talked with Josh (my brother, for those who haven't met him) earlier today, and we realized that many of our students behaved in a rather comparable manner.  I am still enjoying the whole experience.  I have seen some definite changes in behavior for the better over the last week.  We still have a long way to go, but I was very encouraged by this week.

Just this evening, we had a pot-luck dinner hosted at the school.  It was a good mix of typical foods along with some native dishes as well.  I can now say that I have tried both seal meat and herring eggs.  They were very interesting.  I can't say that I'll include them as a staple, but I am glad to have experienced it.  In the past year, I have been much more open to and driven towards trying new things.  I guess that's how I ended up teaching in Alaska.  If anyone reading this is bored with where they are, get out and do something.  Try something new!  There is so much out there that you could live several lifetimes and not run out of things to do.  It could even be as simple as trying to spend a day without saying the word "water."  Yes, it's random, but I've found that I have a lot more fun when I let my imagination free.  Honestly, I'm not sure why this came out in this medium, but it's relevant to my life right now, and I hope it is to yours.

I'll add some pictures later.  Right now, I've gotta return some video tapes.  (edit:  picture added!)

First Week of School (so far...)

Alright, it's been a while since I've had any sort of update.  The last couple weeks have gone incredibly quickly.  My school is part of a School Improvement Grant, so last week was spent in Savoonga, another small village in our district that is on St. Lawrence Island.  The teachers and administrators from four different schools were all present, and it actually wasn't too crowded (although I wasn't sleeping at the school, so I'm not sure how it was during the nights).  We had sessions every morning and afternoon to give us extra training on four different features we are implementing at our schools this year.  It was a long, difficult week, but it made all of us more excited to (get out of there and) start teaching the following week.

...and now it is Thursday!  Four school days already in the books.  I have to say, it has been an interesting week.  I'll preface this by saying that my students are good kids.  Let me continue:  they are kids.  We've been working all week on listening and following instructions.  Some moments are good; some are incredibly taxing.  In between the times when we practice our routines, we've started some individual reading time, math practice, and writing practice.  Every night, the students need to complete a "Read and Respond" paper.  Right now, most just want to read a little bit, so they can complete it and turn it in.  One of my goals is to move the students closer to reading because they really enjoy it.  Does this give me an extra excuse to read awesome stories to them?  Yes!  Right now, we are reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  (Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback on good books to read.)  Many of my students have already seen the movie and said that they enjoyed it.  I'm excited to see how the rest of them respond to the story.

On Tuesday, we start our normal school schedule.  We will no longer be focusing almost exclusively on how things will work.  Reading, Math, and Writing will predominate.  We have a very structured curriculum, and much of it is completed on the SMARTboard, so I will need to take some time this week to make sure I know how everything is supposed to work.  I'm sure it will be loads of fun.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

North End of the Beach at Stebbins