Sunday, September 27, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
It snowed
This morning OFL brought me outside to point out the snow that had fallen overnight on the hills surrounding The Village. No kidding. These are the same hills that S, E and I hiked up to on Saturday when we stretched out in the sun and watched the ocean. Now there's snow up there. It is possible that the adventure is just now beginning.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
A day in the life, S's version
My day is the same as B's in lots of ways, but here's where our paths diverge:
From 8:45-10:45 I'm in my classroom, teaching reading and writing to 8 students, ages 8 to almost 13. They're all in phases 7 and 8 for these subjects, which are third grade phases. They are frustrating at times, just like all kids, but (like all kids) generally delightful. I really enjoy them. We sing every day, and they teach me Yup'ik words which I usually mangle, and they work really hard. But the language barrier is a real challenge, and I'm learning a lot about teaching kids who are English language learners, and also just about being patient. The most frustrating thing is when I do a mini-lesson (for example, maybe I do a little lesson on how to write an outline), and I show an example, and then I ask them to try it out, and maybe I hand out a graphic organizer or a worksheet or books or sticky notes or whatever, and they just stare at me blankly. Absolutely no idea what to do. Now if one kid does this, it's usually because he wasn't listening. But if all 8 kids do it, it's on me. We go back to the beginning, start again.
From 10:45 to 11:45 I go down the hall to another teacher's room for math, and she brings her class to mine. We made this switch at my request, because my math kids are bigger (11-14), working at 5th and 6th grade levels, and can't really fit into the chairs and desks in my room. Math has its ups and downs. The most difficult thing has been that even though the kids are all in the same phase, they were all over the place within that phase. Some needed to pass tests on polygons, some on decimals, some on fractions, some on probability, some on circumference. So teaching that math class is always a juggling act, and the hardest thing is when some kids are done or need help, but I'm working with a different student on something totally unrelated. I've put together a big bin of math activities that they can do when they're done or when they're waiting for me, but this has only helped a little. Still, they are making progress, and it's a good challenge for me to work with kids who are too old to be motivated by my pleasure or displeasure, like young kids are. Keeps me on my toes.
After math I eat lunch, and for the rest of the day I pull kids, usually in ones or twos, to work on math or reading skills. This has been a totally new thing for me, and in general I like it. We get some really intensive work done, and there's usually no behavior issues. But I do miss having my own class.
I also try to leave by 4:30 or 5 - lately it's been more like 5 or 5:30. But the evenings are still long - darkness falls around 9-ish. It's easy to stay up too late talking and drinking tea with E and B. But it's a nice way to end the days.
Back to Athol this weekend for a training with B, E, and another teacher. Not really looking forward to it, though it might be exciting to see cars and grocery stores again.
From 8:45-10:45 I'm in my classroom, teaching reading and writing to 8 students, ages 8 to almost 13. They're all in phases 7 and 8 for these subjects, which are third grade phases. They are frustrating at times, just like all kids, but (like all kids) generally delightful. I really enjoy them. We sing every day, and they teach me Yup'ik words which I usually mangle, and they work really hard. But the language barrier is a real challenge, and I'm learning a lot about teaching kids who are English language learners, and also just about being patient. The most frustrating thing is when I do a mini-lesson (for example, maybe I do a little lesson on how to write an outline), and I show an example, and then I ask them to try it out, and maybe I hand out a graphic organizer or a worksheet or books or sticky notes or whatever, and they just stare at me blankly. Absolutely no idea what to do. Now if one kid does this, it's usually because he wasn't listening. But if all 8 kids do it, it's on me. We go back to the beginning, start again.
From 10:45 to 11:45 I go down the hall to another teacher's room for math, and she brings her class to mine. We made this switch at my request, because my math kids are bigger (11-14), working at 5th and 6th grade levels, and can't really fit into the chairs and desks in my room. Math has its ups and downs. The most difficult thing has been that even though the kids are all in the same phase, they were all over the place within that phase. Some needed to pass tests on polygons, some on decimals, some on fractions, some on probability, some on circumference. So teaching that math class is always a juggling act, and the hardest thing is when some kids are done or need help, but I'm working with a different student on something totally unrelated. I've put together a big bin of math activities that they can do when they're done or when they're waiting for me, but this has only helped a little. Still, they are making progress, and it's a good challenge for me to work with kids who are too old to be motivated by my pleasure or displeasure, like young kids are. Keeps me on my toes.
After math I eat lunch, and for the rest of the day I pull kids, usually in ones or twos, to work on math or reading skills. This has been a totally new thing for me, and in general I like it. We get some really intensive work done, and there's usually no behavior issues. But I do miss having my own class.
I also try to leave by 4:30 or 5 - lately it's been more like 5 or 5:30. But the evenings are still long - darkness falls around 9-ish. It's easy to stay up too late talking and drinking tea with E and B. But it's a nice way to end the days.
Back to Athol this weekend for a training with B, E, and another teacher. Not really looking forward to it, though it might be exciting to see cars and grocery stores again.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Day in the Life
Monday to Thursday-
7:10: Back to the apartment for shower, clothes, smoothie & coffee.
7:55: Head up to school. Walk 200 feet or so, climb 45 stairs, walk another 100 feet.
8:00: Arrive at school.
8:30: Contract day officially begins.
8:45: Help out in E's first period high school math.
9:45: Help out in 2nd period writing in the transition class. (These are students who were in the Yup'ik only grades previously and are now transitioning to English education.)
10:45: Help out in H's 3-4 grade math class.
11:25: Teach my high school writing class. Up until this period I am in other people's classes helping special education students - and anyone else who needs it. During this period I'm the regular ed. writing teacher for eight high school students. This is the first time since I left NYC that I've done that. It's great.
12:20: Lunch.
1:00: Pull out services for either a 13 year student for reading service or a five year old for speech.
1:30: Speech pull out for a five year old student with severe articulation issues.
2:00: Pull out two 9 year olds (who don't know the alphabet yet) or high school students for reading services.
2:30: DEAR = Drop Everything And Read. The whole school (in theory) spends twenty minutes reading.
2:50: Paperwork (writing IEPs, grading papers, preparing materials, etc) or meet with staff about special education students.
3:40: Student dismissed. Two or three times a week I have after school meetings. Otherwise, I spend this time preparing for the next day.
4:30: The end of the contact day. I try to go home not too long after this. I'm usually out by 5.
5:30: Saxophone practice for an hour.
6:30 - 8:30: Make & eat dinner. Usually students hang outside our window asking to come in, pressing their faces against the window and yelling.
8:30: The day usually ends by hanging out with E & S drinking tea.
10:00: In bed with the hope of getting 8 hours of sleep.
Friday -
7:00: Wake up. We skip the "fitness club" on most Fridays.
The rest of the day is the same as others until...
12:30: Twice a month we have "reading buddies" (older and younger students pair up and read to each other), once a month we have "field day" in the gym and the 4th Friday of the month we have "elders" (groups of elders come to the school to speak to the students about the Yup'ik way of of life).
2:00: Dismissal.
4:00: End of contract day.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Trash on the Beach
We took a long walk heading south on the beach. Here are some pictures I took along the way.
UPDATE: I added a few more photos from that I took the next day.
UPDATE: I added a few more photos from that I took the next day.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Stresses
UPDATE: I don't think I mentioned it when I first wrote this post, but I got so annoyed about the whole situation that I actually emailed the state commissioner of education, who got back to me within the hour, promising to look into my situation. Two days later I got a call from some high-up muckety-muck in the state Dept of Ed, and was told that if I sent my application in again, they would issue me a two-year certificate. Woo hoo!
Warning: this is a boring post that is mostly me venting my frustration about red tape, with even more boring background info. Feel free to skip it.
When I was in high school, I talked to several of my favorite teachers about wanting to become a teacher. A few of them gave me similar advice: don’t go to college for education. The programs are a joke, you won’t enjoy it – study the topic you’re interested in, and get certified afterward.
I took their advice and got a degree in English Literature. I don’t regret earning that degree, because I loved getting it. I took classes in poetry, science fiction, Latino literature, Chaucer, short stories, post-modern fiction and lots of other fun stuff, and I loved almost all of my lit classes. But, “getting certified afterward” turned out to be a big headache.
In New York City, at the time I started teaching, there was a shortage of certified teachers. In the years leading up to my graduation from college, the city had a policy whereby a non-certified teacher could be hired if she had expertise in a certain area, and if she began to work on her certification once she started teaching. Throughout college I planned to use this route to certification. However, the New York City Teaching Fellows program took effect, as did a new mayoral administration, and this path to certification was closed. So, I worked for a year as a research assistant at City College, and applied to the NYC Teaching Fellows.
I was accepted as a Fellow and began teaching and taking classes toward my Master’s in Education. But my first year of teaching was a nightmare, and by March I was determined to get into a better school. I applied and was hired at a charter school, which was great except that it meant I could no longer be a Teaching Fellow – my new school was not considered “high needs”, rendering me ineligible. Not wanting to have to pay back the subsidies the city had provided toward my Master’s, I quietly left the Fellows program. However, by that time I had earned enough education credits to apply for NYS certification independently. My credits combined with my year of experience got me an initial teaching license.
When I moved to Oregon, I was able to use their reciprocity agreement to obtain a transitional license, and have since been taking the classes and exams I need to move up to the next step of licensure there. By December I’ll be done with my Master’s degree.
But, now I’m in Alaska. And Alaska has all kinds of ridiculous forms and requirements for state certification. So, even though I have 6 years of experience, a nearly-completed Master’s degree, and certification in two other states, I’ve been found ineligible for certification here.
And guess what I have to do to get certified here – this is the real joke – enroll in an initial teacher preparation program. The same exact program that people with absolutely no educational experience whatsoever would have to apply for, if they wanted to become teachers.
On top of this lovely little debacle, I’m also trying to figure out how to fulfill those requirements I mentioned earlier for my next Oregon license. There’s this civil rights knowledge requirement that, until this month, I would’ve been able to complete through an online class. Suddenly the requirement has changed and I now have to take a test in person. There’s some chance I could take it in Anchorage – at a cost of several hundred dollars to get there and back – if not, I’m not sure what I’ll do there.
And then there’s the matter of the district office not giving me or B full credit for our years of experience. No big deal, just a little clerical error, but it means neither one of us got the full paycheck we should’ve gotten this month.
I’m also trying to apply for graduation from my current Master’s program – so far that’s been straightforward enough but I’ll stop holding my breath on that one when I actually have the degree in hand.
And, finally, one of our four renters has informed us she’s moving out.
And to think I thought life would be simpler, less stressful, up here.
Warning: this is a boring post that is mostly me venting my frustration about red tape, with even more boring background info. Feel free to skip it.
When I was in high school, I talked to several of my favorite teachers about wanting to become a teacher. A few of them gave me similar advice: don’t go to college for education. The programs are a joke, you won’t enjoy it – study the topic you’re interested in, and get certified afterward.
I took their advice and got a degree in English Literature. I don’t regret earning that degree, because I loved getting it. I took classes in poetry, science fiction, Latino literature, Chaucer, short stories, post-modern fiction and lots of other fun stuff, and I loved almost all of my lit classes. But, “getting certified afterward” turned out to be a big headache.
In New York City, at the time I started teaching, there was a shortage of certified teachers. In the years leading up to my graduation from college, the city had a policy whereby a non-certified teacher could be hired if she had expertise in a certain area, and if she began to work on her certification once she started teaching. Throughout college I planned to use this route to certification. However, the New York City Teaching Fellows program took effect, as did a new mayoral administration, and this path to certification was closed. So, I worked for a year as a research assistant at City College, and applied to the NYC Teaching Fellows.
I was accepted as a Fellow and began teaching and taking classes toward my Master’s in Education. But my first year of teaching was a nightmare, and by March I was determined to get into a better school. I applied and was hired at a charter school, which was great except that it meant I could no longer be a Teaching Fellow – my new school was not considered “high needs”, rendering me ineligible. Not wanting to have to pay back the subsidies the city had provided toward my Master’s, I quietly left the Fellows program. However, by that time I had earned enough education credits to apply for NYS certification independently. My credits combined with my year of experience got me an initial teaching license.
When I moved to Oregon, I was able to use their reciprocity agreement to obtain a transitional license, and have since been taking the classes and exams I need to move up to the next step of licensure there. By December I’ll be done with my Master’s degree.
But, now I’m in Alaska. And Alaska has all kinds of ridiculous forms and requirements for state certification. So, even though I have 6 years of experience, a nearly-completed Master’s degree, and certification in two other states, I’ve been found ineligible for certification here.
And guess what I have to do to get certified here – this is the real joke – enroll in an initial teacher preparation program. The same exact program that people with absolutely no educational experience whatsoever would have to apply for, if they wanted to become teachers.
On top of this lovely little debacle, I’m also trying to figure out how to fulfill those requirements I mentioned earlier for my next Oregon license. There’s this civil rights knowledge requirement that, until this month, I would’ve been able to complete through an online class. Suddenly the requirement has changed and I now have to take a test in person. There’s some chance I could take it in Anchorage – at a cost of several hundred dollars to get there and back – if not, I’m not sure what I’ll do there.
And then there’s the matter of the district office not giving me or B full credit for our years of experience. No big deal, just a little clerical error, but it means neither one of us got the full paycheck we should’ve gotten this month.
I’m also trying to apply for graduation from my current Master’s program – so far that’s been straightforward enough but I’ll stop holding my breath on that one when I actually have the degree in hand.
And, finally, one of our four renters has informed us she’s moving out.
And to think I thought life would be simpler, less stressful, up here.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
More photos
Here are some photos of our hike to The Bay. We sent out a larger album to our email list. I think that some people on the list aren't getting emails because their spam filters are blocking them due to the large number of recipients. If you're not getting our emails and you want to be, please leave me a comment here.
I wasn't able to upload the videos of the dancing, our internet connection is just too slow right now. Sometime soon I hope.
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