It's the End of the World As We Know It

I finished my first year of teaching May 18th.  I succeeded in surviving living in the longest and harshest winter this region of Alaska has seen in a long time.

End of the School Year Excitement

• ABC Days: The last two weeks of school were celebrated in style in my classroom.  I took an idea from TPT (Teachers Pay Teachers) of making each day have specific themes.  For example we had ice cream day, bubble day, and even luau day.  Everything we did in class had something to do with the themes of the day.  For the most part the kids loved the novelty of the days.  Each day they’d ask me what the next day would be as they walked out the door. 

• Field Day: My school celebrated the last week of school with an afternoon of fun and crazy games.  Freethrow contests, balloon relay races, and egg tosses were just a few of the events.  The kids had never done this before.  This shocked me because where I’m from that’s the one day of the year most kids are looking forward to.  Our afternoon ended with the teachers all grabbing an egg and “tossing” it into the group.  It’s always great when the kids can have fun.  The teachers had a bit of fun working the event too.
  
  

• Graduation:  Thursday night was graduation for our school.  We had 3 students graduate, one who graduated in the 4 years he was a high school student.  As surprising as it sounds it was quite moving.  I cried when they walked in during processional, and during the presentation of parents.  In our village it’s customary for the students to take a moment and recognize their parents in the process of getting them to this point of their life.  They walk out into the crowd with bouquets of flowers.  Parents give hugs that last lifetimes and cause a grown woman of 23 to begin crying.  It just reminded me of how far these kids have come since I first met them in August. 

• Last Day of School:  The last day of school was a relatively calm and quiet one.  We made it a very fun and easy day of movies, cleaning the classroom, and spending the rest of the classroom economy money.  Had lunch with my kids and then sent them out into summer.  It was unreal to know that my first year of teaching is over.  I spent the rest of the day and following weekend packing up and cleaning my house and classroom.

 

Reflection Questions

1.     What was it like?

Crazy, fun, intense, hard, eye opening, terrifying.  There are so many ways to describe my experiences up here, ones I can’t even put into words.  I must say it was quite the adventure.

2.     Best Memory?

The random moments I would catch myself thinking, “YOU ARE LIVING AND TEACHING IN ALASKA!!!”   More specific memories?  When my students would make connections between what I’d been teaching to the world around them.  Example, I had a student come to me before class started and was SOO excited that her favorite movie Happy Feet 2  used the word food chain.  We’d been studying animal relstionships for quite some time and for her to make that text to world connection BLEW MY MIND!

3.     Hardest Challenge?

Behavior.  Isolation.  Frustration.  Anxiety.  Distance.

I won't dance don't ask me... I won't dance Monsieur

It's been and will continue to be a quite eventful  month...
Testing

As my picture clearly indicates... standardized testing takes a lot of of the kiddos here.  I don't blame this buddy for being knocked out after finishing one of the tests.  This is year one for my kids to take these tests and is also year one of all English instruction.  As a teacher I am not permitted to help them read the answer choices or explain directions/questions on the test.  Quite frustrating even for me.  On the bright side we did do some fun things like making posters about how to take a big test and they got treats every morning before the test and we did a craftivity in the afternoon.  Here's hoping I've learned how to better prepare students for these tests for my kids next year.

Basketball 

Tournaments

 The village hosts kids basketball tournaments as a means of entertainment and recreation for the community.  My principal thought this was a great way to increase student attendance and involvement.  It was quite fun to see my kids work towards the chance to play with kids from other classes.  The teams that one got certificates and school recognition.  I just enjoyed taking some cool shots of the action and discovering my phone had these photo options. :)

Weather and Behavior Changes
It is starting to warm up here.. the closer we get to Summer Vacation the more the mercury rises.  With the heat wave also comes the extended daylight hours.  The more hours there are for light the more hours there are for playing.  The more playing the kids do, the less sleep they get... do you get where I'm going with this?  It's been great having the warm up come, especially since I LOVE the heat of summer.  And it's been great to see the kids playing on whatever they can find, be it unused lumber and an upturned barrel they've turned into a see-saw.  But it's causing some disruptions in my classroom that really are hard to ignore. But school is winding down and fun stuff is on its way to Miss Wilson's classroom.

Cultural Week

This week we've spent doing something completely different than our normal routine.  In fact I spent 80% of my day with K-2 students instead of my normal 3/4 grade class. I  enjoyed the change for the most part.  The students were grouped K-2 and 3-12 in mixed groups and spent the whole day going from room learning new cultural skills, hobbies, and lessons.  The older kids practiced survival skills, sled building, quaspaq making, and beading.  The K-2 kids did soap carving, sewing, mask making, etc.  I had my group listen to an Elder tell about how life was different when he was a child, explain the process of making otter, mink, and other small aquatic mammals.  He talked about the true meaning of subsistence living and how important it is to show respect and love for other people.  I loved hearing another adult teach these values.  When the Elder wasn't present or ran out of things to say my kids made wood boats from popsicle sticks and I read Alaskan folk tale stories.  On Thursday my morning groups helped make akutaq to present to the village at the potlach. 

Prom

Mr. Barsy and Miss Wilson Pose for Their First Prom Chaperoning Experience.
It was that time of year for Atmau. recently. Prom!!!! Dresses were short, dancing was held in the gym, and the kids were... kids. :)  Our staff spent 4 hours getting  the gym ready for the dance, which include decorating and food prep on Friday.  The next day was spent doing girls hair, make-up, and pep talks.  Only out here would you find an elementary teacher braiding hair, putting on make-up, and dancing with the high school girls.

 Countdown til the End of the Year
As I write this my last day as a first year Alaskan bush teacher will be 12 days from now.

Barefoot, Blue Jeans, Snow?

For those of you who really know me... you know I hate shoes.  Given the choice between walking in shoes, flip flops (technically not shoes if you ask me), and bare feet  I will always pick the barefoot option.  I think it has something to do with how I grew up walking everywhere without my shoes, on a rock tarred road, gravel driveway, and grass.  That bare foot walking has had to take a back seat this year since I've been living in rural Alaska.  During the summer months the ground was tundra and boardwalk which didn't bother me, but the blizzards and ice don't make friends with bare toes regularly.

Except for today.  Today is One Day Without Shoes.  Check out the mission explained better here. ONE DAY










So, I decorated my feet this morning and walked from my house to the school without shoes.  Much to many people's dismay the walk wasn't bad until I had to walk up and down the metal grate stairs for the school.  A fellow teacher took pictures and will help me take some more at the end of the day.  Hope those of you reading this become intrigued and find out more about the cause.  Because "One Day Kids Won't Have To Go Without Shoes" until then I'm going One Day Without Shoes.

Between test tantrums and teacher exhaustion

In the midst of testing a glimmer of hope comes from my students.  No, not from their mathematical, writing, or reading prowess but from the bottom of their hearts.  My kids, despite how frustrating these tests are for them, have all been showing up to school on time and ready to test.  And a tiny miracle may have happened between a child and I today.  A student that struggles with academics as well as behavior came in today early and brought me a brand new bar of soap from his house.  I know that's a big deal because his family doesn't have all the money in the world so I thanked him and told him I have some soap at home.  He told me to keep it for the classroom, since I said that we were running low yesterday.  Kindness and generosity from a child that doesn't know much of that at home.  It made me smile from ear to ear and warmed my heart.

Hey I Heard You Were A Wild One... Show Me How You Do. I Wanna Shut Down the Club With You

All of that is made from animal hide/fur

Handwoven basket

I was able to go snowmachine in to Bethel for Camaii.  Camaii (pronounced JUH-MY) is a great gathering of different villages for a celebration of the Yupik culture.  The district I work for spends a bit of money to send out the First Year Teachers to be part of the neat experience.  Seeing the first years one last time was great.  Some will be coming back next year for yet another adventure in the Alaskan Bush, but others will unfortunately not.  The latter makes me quite sad, but I know that those people not coming back will have great luck and experience wherever they end up teaching, and I'm glad I was able to be part of their experience here.

Handwoven Basket

Whale or Seal Gut Coat

Traditional Yupik Dancing

My friend Patrick making fun of my seal skin owl.

This is the woman who made my seal skin owl.

At Camaii, There was so much to look at, buy, try, and see that I don't think I could accurately account for everything. I can tell you that I saw beautiful quaspaqs (pronounced kuspuks), hand-weaved baskets, dance fans, and headdresses.  I purchased some dolls, an owl made of seal fur, and earrings to remember the trip by.  

Hold On... He'll Break Open the Skies to Save Those Who Cry Out His Name....

Is it summer yet?  No.  Nope!  Not at all. 

Next week is SBA Testing Week.  It is also the week I plan on doing Easter activities.  Will my kiddos make it through the week alive?  Sure.  Will I?  That's debatable. 
So here's to hoping things will go well.

Recently the class as a whole has started to struggle with behavior again. :(   Fist fights, arguing, and stealing are popping back up.  So much I was actually dragged down the hallway by two students trying to pull them apart from one another.  That to me is the most frustrating thing that can happen.  I feel like I just spent most of the year getting them to the point they can work independently and cooperatively when working together.  Guess it's time for me to go back to the drawing board with behavior management  and class set up. 

On the a more positive note, tickets have been bought for my trip home.  I think I might start posting a list of things that I will want to do over the summer. The top of that list is wearing shorts and flip flops.  I have missed Indiana weather.  Especially the smell of the rain, the feel of the wind blowing in from my car window, and the sunshine hitting my face. 

Another awesome thing is I am getting ready for a week vacation in San Diego with my best friend and then a week on a mission trip with another friend in Mexico.  I am so stoked for June it's ridiculous!  Tickets have been bought.  Plans are underway.

And last but not least, I am almost done with my first year of teaching.  CRAZY RIGHT??!  I can hardly believe it!

One Day When The Sky Is Falling, I'll Be Standing Right Next to You

 

My mister was here only 2 weeks ago. 

He flew 4000 miles to stay with me for 6 days.

I literally was dancing around when I saw his plane land.  

I ran and jumped into his arms when he came into the airport.  

I couldn't believe he was really part of my world out here.  

I felt like laughing, crying, squealing, and dancing.

We snowmachined him around the big town of Bethel and all the way back to Atmautluak.

We spent a glorious week of pancake mornings, stir-fry dinners, and movie nights.  

He got to meet the village.

He got to see my class.

He read with some of my struggling readers.

He now really understands what I'm going through.