5 + 1 = 6

November 25^th

I am extremely fortunate to get along so swimmingly with the other teacher, here, in Pedro Bay. Being at only a two teacher site, a personality conflict is something that could have potentially ruined my Alaskan experience. Jessie and her family have been a large part of my adjustment to teaching and living in the bush.

We had the opportunity to cultivate our relationship at new-teacher in-service. We roomed together, and stayed up late talking. We quickly learned that we came to Alaska under similar circumstances. Jessie is also from Pennsylvania, and both our families were very upset when we announced that we were moving to “The Middle of Nowhere, Alaska.” We are both first year teachers. Additionally, we have many of the same interests.  We both enjoy the outdoors, and have the same taste in books and movies; furthermore, we have the same sense of humor.

Our bond was strengthened when we learned how to fly fish together. We were quite the spectacle. Our guide spent the whole time laughing at us. We caught on fast, and were soon reeling in all sorts of fish. Our guide told us it was refreshing to not be guiding a bunch of rich snobs, and that teachings people like us how to fly fish was why he got into Guiding in the first place. He thanked us for being such awesome students. (He could not believe how fast we caught on, and that we caught anything let alone multiple fish.)

We were both determined to do everything ourselves, but screamed like girls every time a fish would move. (This encompasses everything from fish jumping out of the water to fish squirming in our hands when we would try to pull the hook out. Our guide literally spent the whole afternoon/evening laughing at us.) Okay, this could be a whole story in itself, you get the picture, and I will stop rambling….

Jessie is 32, and has three children between the ages of 8 and 11. Her undergraduate degree is in Anthropology/Archaeology, and is [thankfully] not your cliché Elementary Education Major. (Anyone who has sat through Education classes will know the personality I am talking about. For those of you that do not, they are all very nice girls, but extremely dinghy and it can be difficult to get them to follow your thought process.)

She went back for her Masters in Education, and got her Teacher’s Certificate in Elementary Education because of all the time she was already spending in the schools [with her own kids]. Her husband, John, is ten years her senior, and her best friend’s older brother. Cute, huh? John was a Marine, so I feel very safe having him around.

I am grateful for the Geffkens. I have very much become a part of their family. I realize that proximity is probably a large contributor to this, but it is still so awesome of them. We live 200ft from the school in teacher housing, which is basically a duplex. It is now common practice to leave the doors open to each of our respective apartments. There is a front foyer connecting the two apartments, and we like to yell at each other from the comfort of our own individual couches. We only close the door at bed time.

Early on, John and Jessica teased me, “There are already five of us- what is one more?” Initially, I was hesitant on sharing meals, and watching movies with them; I hate to be an imposition, but I quickly got over it. Now, I even am sure to have a “Geffken friendly movie” (something the kids can watch) with each of my Netflix queue deliveries.

It is so fun to share the movies of my childhood with their kids. Most of them, they have never heard of let alone have seen. And in return, they share the movies of their childhood with me.  The kids consistently think my movies are “weird.” Jess always enjoys them, though. But, she also believes in using your imagination, and loves anything with an element of magic, and if there are faeries involved- even better.

Having the support system of a family in my life has been such a huge part of my acclamation to bush life. I think I would have had a meltdown long ago if it were not for the Geffken’s presence in my life. I <3 Jessie, and her awesome family. Thank you, for making my Alaskan Experience all the more amazing.

Evil Miss Loose

I am starting to feel burnt out. This job is exhausting, and I have no real escape. I am not depressed- just ready for a break. I am glad I am a hopeless optimistic because I made a student cry, today. It made me feel like an evil teacher. Ugh, let me start from the beginning….

Monday, I had a student leave school because the other students were calling her a loser behind my back. The mother came in, and removed the student from the hostile environment. I had no idea what was going on. The parent pulled me aside to let me know what was going on, and she informed me that she did not want me to address the problem directly. So, I addressed it my way.

The next day, for our journal activity, we reviewed adjectives, and then the students wrote positive adjectives, which would describe the student, for each letter of a student’s name, for each student. They looked something like this.

Amazing
Mesmerizing
Awesome
Nautical
Demanding
Adventurous

We even busted out the Thesaurus, and used it as a reference tool, for students who were having trouble. (Using reference tools is one of the kid’s standards.) Overall, it went very well. The kids were super excited about it, and wanted to share what they wrote with each other; however, I had one reluctant writer completely shut down on me. He is one of those Math inclined students that HATES Reading and Writing, and trying to get him to write anything is like pulling teeth. He informed me that the activity was too hard. But in reality, I know he just found it frustrating that the others finished before him, and he is used to being the one who finishes first. And furthermore, this is an activity that would benefit this particular student because his writing lacks adjectives and colorful language. His writing is super bland and boring.

He left my classroom, and went to cry in the corner about how awful the writing assignment was. I felt awful.

At lunch time, a community member came in to eat with us. (This is something that is common being such a small site/community. We like the support.) This particular community member is also the community member that pulled his student from my classroom because home schooling is the best option for their child. Well, instead of taking the last seat available, which was across from me, this community member opted to sit alone on the bleachers. Real mature.

I am looking forward to not having my high school students Wednesday through Friday. They will be in Kokhanok Village, for the regional Volleyball tournament. It will be a nice break, and an awesome opportunity to get some work done.

The Standards Based System

I haven’t blogged lately, for a variety of reasons, but the #1 being that I have been super busy. I have recently taken on two more students in Math. I did this because I can. As it turns out, I am better at teaching Math than one could ever have imagined, and it takes some of the load off of Jessie (the elementary school teacher). One student is in level 5, and the other is in level 6. The horrible part is: I have had zero training in the curriculum materials I am supposed to use, so there has been a huge learning curve, and a lot of trial and error.

The Lake and Peninsula School District uses the Standards Based System. I am responsible for planning, teaching, assessing, and based on assessment results; re-teach those students who do not master the content. A Standards Based Curriculum classroom is very different from traditional classrooms. Each student works, at his/her own pace, to meet each standard. For example, in Reading, I have an eighth-grader working in level 5, and a sixth-grader working in level 8. There are specific standards for each content area: Reading, Writing, Math, Science, and Social Studies. The students also have to pass standards in the “soft subjects.” Those subjects are: Technology, Cultural Awareness, and Employability. The level required for graduation varies by subject. It is all very exhausting. At times, it may be overwhelming, but I am a fast learner, and am doing very well with the situation. (My state mentor told me all this in my formal review, and added that I have already figured out some things that bush teachers never figure out.)



My classroom is run basically little red school house style. I employ a repertoire of methods, use a huge variety of materials, and divide the class into groups for appropriate learning activities. Unfortunately, in Math this is impossible, so I teach four different levels. These days, I teach anywhere from two to seven students at a time [depending on the subject]. There are now only nine students in the entire Dena’ina School. We have had three leave since the beginning of the school year. One student left because her baby is perpetually sick, and it was better for her to live in Anchorage where there are doctors on call. Another student left for life in the Lower 48. And last, but certainly not least, I had a student whose parents decided “homeschooling is the best option for their child.”

On a more positive note, there is a ton of money in this district because the kids are predominantly Alaskan Native (We get money from the state, and from the Village Corporation), so I have a plethora of awesome teaching resources available for use.

The Standards Based System is really an ideal teaching and learning situation, I feel. I am definitely learning oodles professionally and personally. I will definitely come out of this school year being a much stronger and brighter person. Everything about my Alaskan Odyssey consistently amazing, and I am happy.