I've been all over the map since my last post. So much has happened I'm going to have to post a few in short order to catch everyone up. It seems like time flew by so quickly and I had a BIG secret to keep so I couldn't say much anywhere.
The short of it: Egegik to King Salmon to Anchorage to Portland to HOME. Then Home to Portland to Seattle to Anchorage to King Salmon to Naknek to Egegik.
The long of it: To follow but only Mom knew I was coming home. More posts to follow.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Off the map
7:45am
Ever see a town just disappear? I see it all the time. In the blink of an eye our tiny little town vanishes from sight. Not even Google Earth or the strongest satellite would see us right now. We are off the map. I’d like to know some morning when it’s going to happen so I could watch it from the sky, or at least from the highest point in town. Just watch the town go dark, watch it disappear.
That’s what it feels like right now though, and every morning that the beeping continues. What do I see when I peer out the window? Nothing but darkness surrounds the eyes, yet I know what I’m supposed to be seeing. The street lights the speckle the gravel road, the safety light from the school and the little house lights up and down the coastline. They are gone, if only for now.
The first thought that came to my mind this morning, but not any of the others that this has happened was: “We’re invisible!” No one could see us even if they wanted to. I doubt that my flashlight would even grab someone’s attention if it needed to. Invisibility is cool, Harry Potter showed us that, but ours is temporary at best. When the sun rises and gives us the natural light we’ll lose that cloak of darkness and become part of the modern world again but for now, it’s kind of cool to think about.
All is not lost in the world of power, we have a generator that can be switched on. It’s just loud, it’s raining out and quite frankly, I don’t know how to turn it on yet. I can get ready by flashlight and the head teacher here, she isn’t a “morning person.” Since I’m good getting ready for school in the dark, there’s really not a need for it now that I have the earplugs. The beeping is about 10 minutes away from being over with now. (It goes for about an hour) The Internet only lasted for about 35 minutes this time around. (Sorry about the Skype session Sister, it went out just as you asked!) So now it’s off to get ready for school by flashlight and have a bowl of cereal before heading to a dark classroom to begin my day.
Invisibility, darkness, adaptation, it’s the Alaskan experience!
7:56 am
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Cross Country Meet
A short athletic season in Alaska is something that is regular for each sport they play. When I was asked if I would like to be the Cross Country coach, I thought (inaccurately) that it would be for the entire fall and there might be multiple meets. Ha, I was so wrong! One meet at the end of a month of training.
The season started off with 4 students saying they would participate. That diminished quickly when one of them quickly made a trip to Anchorage for a medical issue. Shortly after that two more were gone for two weeks to Anchorage and then I was down to one student. She put in a great amount of work throughout the season and took the coach's trainings well.
Having a new coach isn't the easiest thing in the world. I'm not the easiest coach to have either. I have high expectations and I admit willingly that when I know that there is more left in the athletes, I'm a little like Jillian and Bob from the Biggest Loser. (Just not THAT intense) Now, I can't run as far as the Cross Country kids can, but there is a bicycle around that I can ride just that far. It's nice be able to carry water for my athlete and a stopwatch along with some other provisions just in case. She took the coaching well and even made me proud when showing me some heart during a few of the trainings when I asked more of her than I ever had. Knowing that the one and only meet was fast approaching and that I would not see her for 4 days before the meet was a bit daunting but we tried to be ready.
When we met back up in Nondalton, AK and began to walk the course I really felt like she was going to do well. We knew what the goal was and that it might be a bit difficult because there were quite a few more hills than we have here at home. She ran through some huge blisters on her heels after a tape job and not only did she reach that goal, she exceeded it! I couldn't have been more proud of her when I found out her time, I think I might have run through the halls to tell her how fast she ran.
What was I doing then besides being at the finish line? Why did I have to wait to find out the time? I was out on the course making sure that runners turned around at the right spot. How was the weather while I was out there? It was great, a bit warm, no breeze and I had all the time in the world to wait for runners. Wait. Wait just one minute. Warm, no breeze weather in rural Alaska means one thing though. Bugs. Not just a few bugs. Swarms of bugs. Mosquitos the size of hummingbirds and flocks of them. You look up in the sky and I swear I could count a "little" flock of 40 of them just above my head. Oh my goodness! The little bugs that accompany them were dotting the sky ever so much more prevalent than the stars and so much more annoying too! There were times between the races that I had nothing to do but wait so I would pull my hoodie over my face as far as I could and my sleeves over my hands and just sit there in the "dark" so I wouldn't get bit or annoyed by the bugs. I had a ton of fun cheering on all of the student-athletes as they came past my station however I think my favorite time might have been when I got to run back down to the school when that last runner came jogging by. Phew, bugs over!
So, the other great parts about going somewhere else is getting to see what the other sites are like. Nondalton is beautiful. Not only do they have some beautiful scenery but we also got to see a cool piece of history in the form of a plane wreck. The lake and the mountains around it were stunning and I can't even imagine how beautiful they must be covered in snow! The plane went down many years ago when the lake was frozen and they just drug it off to the side. It still sits there now and you can visit the wreckage site.
We also had some fun seeing some Native Youth Olympics (NYO) events being demonstrated and I think my mouth dropped open a few times. Yes, I've tried them here at home now and I'm sure I look like a dork doing them. They are fun though! Besides all these things, there were leadership activities, many school meals and a dance to partake in. I'm not sure who danced more though; the teachers/coaches or the students. Fun was had by all though and I'm glad that I've gotten you all updated on at least this portion of my adventure!
The season started off with 4 students saying they would participate. That diminished quickly when one of them quickly made a trip to Anchorage for a medical issue. Shortly after that two more were gone for two weeks to Anchorage and then I was down to one student. She put in a great amount of work throughout the season and took the coach's trainings well.Having a new coach isn't the easiest thing in the world. I'm not the easiest coach to have either. I have high expectations and I admit willingly that when I know that there is more left in the athletes, I'm a little like Jillian and Bob from the Biggest Loser. (Just not THAT intense) Now, I can't run as far as the Cross Country kids can, but there is a bicycle around that I can ride just that far. It's nice be able to carry water for my athlete and a stopwatch along with some other provisions just in case. She took the coaching well and even made me proud when showing me some heart during a few of the trainings when I asked more of her than I ever had. Knowing that the one and only meet was fast approaching and that I would not see her for 4 days before the meet was a bit daunting but we tried to be ready.
What was I doing then besides being at the finish line? Why did I have to wait to find out the time? I was out on the course making sure that runners turned around at the right spot. How was the weather while I was out there? It was great, a bit warm, no breeze and I had all the time in the world to wait for runners. Wait. Wait just one minute. Warm, no breeze weather in rural Alaska means one thing though. Bugs. Not just a few bugs. Swarms of bugs. Mosquitos the size of hummingbirds and flocks of them. You look up in the sky and I swear I could count a "little" flock of 40 of them just above my head. Oh my goodness! The little bugs that accompany them were dotting the sky ever so much more prevalent than the stars and so much more annoying too! There were times between the races that I had nothing to do but wait so I would pull my hoodie over my face as far as I could and my sleeves over my hands and just sit there in the "dark" so I wouldn't get bit or annoyed by the bugs. I had a ton of fun cheering on all of the student-athletes as they came past my station however I think my favorite time might have been when I got to run back down to the school when that last runner came jogging by. Phew, bugs over!
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| Service Project- Filling in Potholes |
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| Beautiful log house |
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| While out walking the course- Trees and Mountains! |
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| Down by the lake |
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| Nice little trail along the lake |
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Creating the web
The integration of technology into a bush education classroom isn't always the easiest thing to do. With so many levels and standards to ensure the kids are able to achieve during their time at school, despair sometimes sets in when there are so many cool things to show them and not enough time in the day.
As a teacher of everything, the first few (I was going to say days but that doesn't even come close!) weeks are completely overwhelming. Trying to learn the standards, understand where all the kids are at and then plan for the year with so many different levels with all the different kids in class could simply break you if you choose to let it. The trick is to find the balance between planning and sanity while learning how to live in a completely new place.
Yes, there is a technology standard in there but honestly it's not one that can't be reached simply by doing a few projects during the school year. I want to go above that though. My kids will be ready for living a technology life and ready for online classes when I get done with them. Knowing how to correctly access information online, what creative commons means and how to respond well to forum posts are crucial in college classes. They will be in my class too!
What did I decide to do then? Create a website for my class of course. Which to use though? I created one for my husband last year to use with his art class. It has it's good parts and it's downfalls. I know how it works and he's had great success with it but I wanted to try something new. It's almost like having two classrooms to try things in. A valuable thing when dealing with different forms of technology because the kids aren't being tossed from one kind to another. My husband's classroom uses wikispaces of which we are both admins on. As he starts to learn how to utilize it more and more, I grow more proud of his integration in his Art class. The kids seem to really like it and the site has worked well for him. It has allowed the both of us to grow as he becomes more comfortable with the technology and I begin to learn some HTML for things he wants to do that are not just text and an uploaded picture file.
I've decided to use Weebly for my classroom. It has an education feature that gives educators greater tools than the average free user. It's a drop and drag creation tool that is customizable. I really like the assignment submission tool because it eliminates the need for so much paperwork in the classroom. It does have a place for student sites that I will begin to use next that will allow for each of them to create sort of a digital portfolio. This is the next step in my learning as I utilize the website to it's fullest potential. Right now I'm focusing on making sure the student's assignments are on the different tabs for each week. Keeping up with this will not only keep me in order but will allow them to keep up with their classes.
For now, I must say goodnight as I have a website to update. If you are so curious to see what my students are up to and what the site looks like right now, please note that it's a work in progress and is only a week old. The link is to the right of the blog and is named Egegik Bears School.
As a teacher of everything, the first few (I was going to say days but that doesn't even come close!) weeks are completely overwhelming. Trying to learn the standards, understand where all the kids are at and then plan for the year with so many different levels with all the different kids in class could simply break you if you choose to let it. The trick is to find the balance between planning and sanity while learning how to live in a completely new place.
Yes, there is a technology standard in there but honestly it's not one that can't be reached simply by doing a few projects during the school year. I want to go above that though. My kids will be ready for living a technology life and ready for online classes when I get done with them. Knowing how to correctly access information online, what creative commons means and how to respond well to forum posts are crucial in college classes. They will be in my class too!
What did I decide to do then? Create a website for my class of course. Which to use though? I created one for my husband last year to use with his art class. It has it's good parts and it's downfalls. I know how it works and he's had great success with it but I wanted to try something new. It's almost like having two classrooms to try things in. A valuable thing when dealing with different forms of technology because the kids aren't being tossed from one kind to another. My husband's classroom uses wikispaces of which we are both admins on. As he starts to learn how to utilize it more and more, I grow more proud of his integration in his Art class. The kids seem to really like it and the site has worked well for him. It has allowed the both of us to grow as he becomes more comfortable with the technology and I begin to learn some HTML for things he wants to do that are not just text and an uploaded picture file.
I've decided to use Weebly for my classroom. It has an education feature that gives educators greater tools than the average free user. It's a drop and drag creation tool that is customizable. I really like the assignment submission tool because it eliminates the need for so much paperwork in the classroom. It does have a place for student sites that I will begin to use next that will allow for each of them to create sort of a digital portfolio. This is the next step in my learning as I utilize the website to it's fullest potential. Right now I'm focusing on making sure the student's assignments are on the different tabs for each week. Keeping up with this will not only keep me in order but will allow them to keep up with their classes.
For now, I must say goodnight as I have a website to update. If you are so curious to see what my students are up to and what the site looks like right now, please note that it's a work in progress and is only a week old. The link is to the right of the blog and is named Egegik Bears School.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Out of the village
A flight out of the village was a treat today. Sitting co-pilot allowed me a great view of the village that I have now explored from the ground. Seeing It from above really helped me get a new perspective on the place I have called home lately. The river seems to go on for miles, it would have been cool to see the whales from above!
I told the pilot before we took off that I was an excitable crier. Every little plane flight before this one I have had tears because it is so exciting for me. Not today. He turned to me as we flew over a large lake and mimicked "no tears?". I said no but I am still happy. His response was a hand motion for "wanna do a barrel roll?". Uh. No thanks! He said no to that too but he was just checking. I hand signed that waving back and forth dipping each wing alternatively would be fun and it was like "Flight of the Navigator". "Compliance!" One wing then the other, back and forth.....so much fun! It was just a couple of swoops and he checked the back seat to see how those people were doing. Not as good as me!
As the flight came to an end we came upon some mountains that we had to fly through and around. A windy day proved that to be a bit of a challenge as it pushed the plane to the side a bit, allowed it to drop a little and then back up it went. It was so much fun, the movements were like the best Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, just in the air. Giggling all the way, I had the pilot in smiles as we headed to the runway. The only time I was a little nervous was then I watched his practiced hands moving feverioushly as we were tossed in the wind as we were trying to touch down.
As you can tell, it all went well. I'm here to tell the tale. A take-off awaits on Friday after this XC meet and I hope to have more stories for you then. I know I will add some pictures later.
Written on my iPad2.
I told the pilot before we took off that I was an excitable crier. Every little plane flight before this one I have had tears because it is so exciting for me. Not today. He turned to me as we flew over a large lake and mimicked "no tears?". I said no but I am still happy. His response was a hand motion for "wanna do a barrel roll?". Uh. No thanks! He said no to that too but he was just checking. I hand signed that waving back and forth dipping each wing alternatively would be fun and it was like "Flight of the Navigator". "Compliance!" One wing then the other, back and forth.....so much fun! It was just a couple of swoops and he checked the back seat to see how those people were doing. Not as good as me!
As the flight came to an end we came upon some mountains that we had to fly through and around. A windy day proved that to be a bit of a challenge as it pushed the plane to the side a bit, allowed it to drop a little and then back up it went. It was so much fun, the movements were like the best Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, just in the air. Giggling all the way, I had the pilot in smiles as we headed to the runway. The only time I was a little nervous was then I watched his practiced hands moving feverioushly as we were tossed in the wind as we were trying to touch down.
As you can tell, it all went well. I'm here to tell the tale. A take-off awaits on Friday after this XC meet and I hope to have more stories for you then. I know I will add some pictures later.
Written on my iPad2.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
It's a Zoo here!
Life here is lonely without my "babies." You know, those four legged ones that we consider our kids. Fortunately for me, there is quite the array of animals to keep me company during my time here. An introduction to those I have met so far:
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| Bo, the pregnant goat. She should kid soon. Expecting twins maybe triplets She's not big enough yet. |
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| Top to bottom: Dreidel, Buck, Syphrya Digging in the tundra after rodents long gone. They rip apart the tundra and then dig deep. All three are girls despite the names. D has a party eye and S has bi-eyes. |
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| One of the student's two black lab X's. They hung out at the school all day sunning themselves. |
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| Nice old gal. Those eyes are so sweet. |
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| Daddy suspect. |
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| Looks like a lighter Ciqu with a few more muscles. |
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| Where's my dinner? |
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| Neighbors sled dog that just had puppies. 5 of them there trying to suckle. Just born |
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| Momma getting ready to eat |
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| 2 Weeks old |
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| Just got done giving me kisses |
Ok, so far that's the animals I've gotten to enjoy & gotten pictures of.
Being a kid
One can say that children grow up and get too old for things but we all know that this can possibly be true. After all, Disney is still fun for adults too right? I see the light in my student's eyes and it warms my heart. They have much to learn and enjoy the play while learning. Each time I see the light bulb moment it's heartwarming. Each time I see the innocent play, it makes you think that all in the world could be right if we all chose to make it a good place to live.
We have been working on genetics, Punnett squares and DNA in Science. Making some DNA keychains in class on Friday the kids learned about phosphate and sugar and that ATGC are always paired in certain ways. They got to make up their own genetic code but had to follow the rules. We then got to twist them to make a double helix. Following directions creates a pretty cool keychain.
Not following the directions makes a genetic mutant DNA strand. *The inside and outside there are supposed to be attached. Someone in class didn't follow directions. They keychain still looked cool in the end but we found out that it just was a genetic defect and they decided it was Super AIDS. This resulted in a discussion and some more education. My ending thought was that they had indeed watched too much South Park.
Have a good one!
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| Just swinging away. Such a nice day we had to be outside for a few. |
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| Bet you can't climb up the pole! |
We have been working on genetics, Punnett squares and DNA in Science. Making some DNA keychains in class on Friday the kids learned about phosphate and sugar and that ATGC are always paired in certain ways. They got to make up their own genetic code but had to follow the rules. We then got to twist them to make a double helix. Following directions creates a pretty cool keychain. 
Have a good one!
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