Smiling but we're close to tears...

 
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Flying Home

Words can’t describe how it felt on my trip back home to Indiana.  It started at 5PM on December 22.  There was fog moving into Bethel and our village so the bush planes were not willing to fly out.  Eli and I, being the anxious first year teachers we are, sought out another way to get to our flight to Anchorage.   We found a villager who was willing to drive us on the ice road from Atmauluak to Bethel.

            When I say “ice road” I truly mean we were driving on a road made completely of ice.  The river beside our village leads to Bethel and its water freezes as much as 2 ft every winter.  That means it’s pretty safe to travel.  And thus our adventure began.  We rode for about an hour and half until we made it to Bethel and began the first leg of the journey.  1 red eye with babies crying, 2 more midmorning flights, 15 cans of diet coke, and a breakfast burrito later I was almost home.  After a day of traveling I made it safely into Indiana.

            Words can’t explain the feelings I had when the plane began to descend in Indiana.  I saw trees, not just the shrubs I was used to in Atmau.  I saw roads, more than just in a circle around Bethel.  I saw building after building and NO snow!  It was official I was home!  Getting off the plane I was barely containing how excited I was to see Nate and Shelly.  My other halves.

             Coming down the long hall leading to the end of the terminal and beginning of the airport was the longest and strangest walk of my life.  I felt the kind of nerves that a person gets on their first date.  You know, butterflies in the stomach, sweaty palms, racing mind…  When I got to the end of the terminal all of that melted away.  You know in movies when the main character and their love interest see each other for the first time?  The world just kind of slows down. The edges get all blurry and music starts playing.  That’s what happened.  The first time Nate and I locked eyes I began a sprint to get to his arms.  

Shelly, who got up late, ended up meeting up with us at PF Changs.  Mmmm, my favorite restaurant.  Seeing her was a just like it always has been.  Except this time we were running into each other’s arms and I was wiping tears from her face.  I was home. And not a moment too soon.

Dinner, mojitos, chocolate cake, and pictures were taken.  I even got to see the Circle of Lights… one of the biggest things I miss about not being in Indiana.  Shelly was gracious enough to take some great shots.

Stay tuned for more blog updates.

There's nothing we can't reach....

The past month has been a blur of constant motion in my classroom and social life.  More so class... but still.  I apologize for the lack of posting.  But here are some updates.

My kids have done another round of MAPs testing.  Which should give more insight on the growth they've made in the past quarter.  With all the hardwork we put into writing and math I hope to see some of my strugglers make some major improvement... especially with the tutoring and homework I give them. 

Behavior in the classroom has had a great change.  It's great to see the maturity of my kids as a whole.  Yes, I still have some pistols that challenge me daily.  Yes, I do struggle with keeping some kids in line sometimes.  BUT, the class as a whole has come together.  They have began thinking of themselves almost like a family unit.  They take responsibility for each others actions, and talk with one another about problems.  Maybe all the social skills training I did at the beginning of the year has finally paid off?

I've got to make this statement:  "I am lucky to have the opportunity to come out and teach in this amazing and sometimes challenging enviroment."  Where else would I be able to walk to my job everyday?  Where else would I have the opportunity to bring in animal parts to study anatomy?  Where else would I feel like I'm making such a difference because I see the kids EVERYWHERE? 

But.... I'm going home in 4 days and will be walking into my best friend's and boyfriend's arms in 5 days.  To say that I've been looking forward to this is kind of an understatement.  Thanks everyone for  the support and love I've been getting.

And For A While, I Will Take This Day By Day...

Wrestling

 This post is about business.  Wrestling business.  I’m not sure if I’ve addressed this in past blog posts, but I took on the roll of female chaperone.  I’d like to call myself the “Wrestling Mom”… During this past wrestling season I had many little jobs such as counting snacks, fixing booboos, wrestling with the girls on the mat, and sometimes running the workouts.  For the most part I’ve really enjoyed the “job”.  I loved seeing how the kids were growing up and maturing, not only in their wrestling but also personally.  

Teaching

Being the perfectionist that I am, I have been trying to handle my own views of how things are going with the feedback I get from my principal, mentor, and colleagues.  Sometimes I get hard on myself and feel like I’m not doing enough, or not doing it the right way… but I’m starting to give myself more credit. Within the weeks leading up to my Thanksgiving break, twice my principal observed me.  The first one was informal and was more for her to practice observing with her principal mentor.  The second one was my formal observation for my job, which was even more nerve-wracking.  But, after a meeting and looking at the feedback, I am being a kick butt teacher.  “YOU ARE DOING EVERYTHING YOU CAN.”  And “I LOVE YOUR IDEAS.”  These are the statements I’m holding on to the most. 

For the rest of my time until Thanksgiving I was holding on... taking everything DAY by DAY

There is a song beneath the song... they will learn and discern it's true meaning.

I find myself sitting at the school on a Sunday morning.  It's a usual thing to see Miss Wilson at the school after hours and during the weekend.  Reasons behind this?  1.  I am a new teacher and constantly need to complete/prepare/clean/organize/etc.  for the next day.  2.  It's the only place with internet access.  Which makes it necessary for keeping relationships back home going, as well as allowing for retail therapy.  In approximately 25 minutes I will begin the regular race to be ready for the week which I will attempt to complete before church service at 7pm.

Recently I've had people asking via social networking sites how my life has been and also what I miss from back home... so I will take a moment to answer such questions.
1.  What are you up to?:
I am teaching, tutoring, volunteer, and experiencing living on my own.  That pretty much sums up how things have been going.  I teach from 8:45 AM until 3:45 PM and then begin tutoring students that want to stay after school in my classroom.  That usually ends around 4:45PM and I run home to change into work out clothing so I can help  the wrestling coach work with his girl wrestlers.  Some time after that and/or on the weekends I go on mini adventures.  These include house visits, walks at midnight to see the Northern Lights, boat rides to other villages, and church services.  These things are kind of the everyday "mundane" things that I do... but sometimes I find myself saying in  my head... "HOLY COW... YOU REALLY ARE LIVING IN ALASKA!"
2.  What's the weather like?:
It reminds me of Indiana weather.  Not that it is warm and humid, by any means.  What I mean is the weather has a mind of its own.  It'll be frosty one morning, snowing the next, and raining another.  It has snowed 2 times since I've been here but usually there's a slight drizzle and a bone chilling wind that accompanies it.
3.  What do you miss back home?:
There's a list I'm making of things I want to do when I go home, so I'll just include those.   I miss driving to be honest.  It sounds weird but I miss the feel of the wind blowing around my hair and the smell of fall wafting into the car.  I miss being able to have a conversation with friends back home over a meal or cup of coffee.  The best I can do here is Skype which is an amazing technological tool for keeping relationships going... but still it's one thing to hear someone's voice and see them on a screen than to actually be able to reach across and touch that person's hand.  Finally I miss church.  Sounds silly, but I miss going to a church that I can easily understand and is applicable to the things I'm going through right now.  I also miss the friends and family I created.  I really look forward to going to a church service or two while I'm home.  :)
Those are the major things that I miss.
4.  Anything great going on?:
My kids are learning a lot and finally producing work.  We will be sending penpal letters this week to our friends in Indiana.  Last week we finished up a geometry unit by having a picture scavenger hunt.  I'll have to post pictures of the event.  I have been offered several puppies to help combat the "new teacher blues".  I have an awesome group of new teacher friends who I skype/text/call/ plot with regularly.  I'm looking forward to my trip to Anchorage for Thanksgiving with my aunt and friends from out here.

I should be grading....

Here's a new post.  Life here is an adventure.  In a few words... I am constantly busy.  Hence the delay in posting.  I'm actually writing 2 quizzes for my class so I'll make this entry short and just write by topic.

Visiting the dump...
As a means of stretching our legs and blowing off work for a little while 2 other teachers and I rode a boat to the village dump.  It's about a mile upriver from here and it is quite the experience.  We were greeted by the smell of trash.  What else would you expect?  We did a bit of scavenging to see if there might be something that was once someone's rubbish and could be our treasure.  No such luck.  Although we did get some neat pictures standing on an old scale and playing a video game guitar.  After a bit of picture taking and tundra squishing we made our way back.    Here are some pictures taken on our adventure.

Interesting lessons
I feel like I should include times where I feel like I'm doing the right stuff at my job.  Sometimes in this field it's hard to see the progress/successes because "you're elbow deep in the trenches".  Recently I've seen major growth in student behavior and engagement.  It's been great to see that change because now we are able to do fun lessons like while learning about rocks and the earth's make up we created "sedimentary sandwiches" and "metamorphic chocolate chip rocks".  Some other lessons have been building polygons with straws and even drawing geographic features on an Alaskan map.  Cool stuff right?

Coaching/Tutoring
In a past post I told you all about a cross country practice that helped me feel accomplished.  I should have posted about the meet we had.  It was a great experience and totally worth all the sore muscles and tired bodies.  I got a chance to meet other students and new teachers.  I even received an offhand compliment from another coach.  Evidently the students are rubbing off on me.  Be aware that I might give you an eyebrow raise or use village lingo when talking on Skype or over the phone.  Now that that season is over it's time for wrestling to begin.  I'm not really a coach for the team, but more of a volunteer.  It's fun to see the kids work dilligently at their workouts and practices.  I'll be chaperoning and helping keep the girls going during the season.  Outside of sports, my principal has approached me about doing tutoring for my students.  I think it's a great idea and totally necessary for a majority of students.  To put it simply, I am very busy right now... and it will probably only get busier.

New Teacher Support
Last but not least, I'm super lucky to have the support system I do.  I have an awesome significant other, rocking best friends, and mentors cheering me on.  It means a ton to have everyone back home giving support, advice, and packages (HINT HINT!!!).  Aside from Indiana love, I've got my own group of friends developing right here in Alaska.  First there is Gia, my gal pal up here.  We bonded over internet grocery shopping during our first inservice.  Most recently we have come to share sushi and diet cokes at our favorite restaurant in Bethel.  I also have 5 guys that pretty much make my inservices and experience up here worthwhile.  Here's a break down of who the guys are.  Matt is the unpredictable one.   I say that with complete honesty.  For example, you never know when he'll randomly yell out "WILDCARD".  Ken is the teddy bear.  He is one of the sweetest and generous guys I've met.  I love listening to his impressions of our our favorite district staff member.  Eli... he's pretty much my brother up here.  We have become roommates that don't actually live together.  We share meals and new teacher woes.  Ben is the mastermind of all the planning for the group.  If there's something going on he's usually behind it.  I also love that he's the other elementary teacher of the group... which makes complaining about curriculum that much easier.  Finally there is Pat.  Pat is the Patriot's fan.  (I KNOW I KNOW... I shouldn't even talk to him. ;))  Aside from that flaw, he's the quiet and sarcastic one.  He's always got a comeback... usually centered around Indiana.

Take My Hand & We'll Make It I Swear... Ohhh Living On a Prayer.

They say that your first year of teaching is often your most challenging.  I will definitely vouch for this statement.  I am so tired when I go home at night.  The weekends are a mix of playing, picking, and planning.  The week days are spent mainly teaching, planning, grading, and just plain old classroom managing.  I'm holding up pretty well though.  I'm really lucky to have all the support I have from my staff, family, friends, and significant other.

In more uplifting news... I am now a co-coach for the cross country team with the other new teacher.  Those of you who knew me before moving to Alaska might remember that I am NOT the most active person.  But the kids here REALLY wanted a team.  We actually have about 20 students ranging from 5th grade to seniors!  Now I must say the kids here really surprised me with how enthusiastic they were with running.  We started with warm ups and stretching then had the whole group start with an easy tempo run.  The bigger kids took off and stayed at the head of the pack.  I, on the other hand, was happy to be the cheerleader at the end group.  That was quite the experience.

The kids in the back were the 5th graders that joined cross country just because they were eligible.  About 1/10th of the way through the run I had my first kid want to give up.  As I said before, I'm not an avid runner so I understood how the kids were feeling but for some reason I was not going to let them see me give up.  So I spent the rest of the time yelling, "YOU CAN DO IT!" or "WE'RE GOING TO MAKE IT TO THE END, EVEN IF WE HAVE TO HOLD HANDS THE REST OF THE WAY."   By the end I had one student that didn't want to keep running with me or the other 5th graders.  So I let him fall behind and got the rest to the last checkpoint.  As the group sprinted to the school (our starting and finish line), I turned around and saw my last runner still struggling.  Somewhere deep inside me there was a surge of energy that killed the exhaustion and pain my body was feeling, and I  backtracked to the kid with a genuine smile on my face.

When I got there the kid must have felt the same surge of energy because he began smiling and ran as fast as he could to the final checkpoint.  We sprinted together the rest of the run and collapsed at the top of the school steps completely exhausted and soaked from the rain.  After catching his breath the student said to me, "Big kids like me don't run.  I can't believe that I made it all the way."  I was proud to have made it to the end with the team, but what the last runner said to me made everything worth it. 

Pictures of the classroom.... before the first day