I've been blessed with some of my own teaching moments lately. I wrote about a lesson learned not too long ago. Here's the most recent serendipitous one:
I've been coaching a girl in Academic Decathlon. Of the two who signed up for it, she was the only one who remained eligible to compete this year. She also happens to be involved with basketball, Natural Helpers, Student Council, and was chosen for the People to People program and will be going to Australia this year. She also went to Seward with me at the beginning of the year. Clearly, she's the lazy type.
She told me tonight that she chose to go play basketball in another village this week over competing in the Academic Decathlon district meet tomorrow (Wed) and Thursday. I couldn't blame her; the meet was supposed to take place Monday/Tuesday but was pushed late due to the weather. Her choice didn't surprise me, and by now I am used to the daily changes in plans and postponements; she, however, felt bad for 'bailing' on me. I found myself telling her to have fun and that "it gets tough to do it all, doesn't it?"
For about the second time in as many weeks, my own words gave me pause. As of right now, I'm the designated hostess for our weekly basketball tournaments, Aca Deca coach, starting after-school tutoring for the seniors soon, trying to put together a science fair, and lastly, I just began one of the last of two classes to complete my Masters degree, which has me tethered to my computer more often than I'd like. Oh, and I'm supposed to teach somewhere in there too.
It occurred to me that maybe I should take my own advice. Lately I've been a bit anxious about getting it all done and done well. Maybe I should say no to something? Probably. The truth is, I get more done with more on my plate as opposed to less, and I enjoy my time more. The only problem is that burnout is likely to take place.
The reality is that something will probably fall through even if burnout doesn't happen - I anticipate that either the science fair or event-hosting will suffer. I may just have to recruit someone else to host one of our many events. Surely that's something that doesn't require my oversight, and it wouldn't break my heart to hand over that duty. And, truth be told, I don't really do much to host other than set it all up and welcome the teams. I usually just keep moving really fast so I look busy, and people then tend to figure things out on their own. So sneaky I am!
In a month when I am pulling my hair out and running on 4 hours of sleep and ridiculous amounts of coffee, I'll look back on this post and either laugh or cry. Probably a combination of both. Here's hoping I can balance it all, and remember that it really is tough to do it all.
If nothing else, such a busy schedule means that it'll be time for manaqing (ice fishing) in the sun soon! And that is something that I cannot wait to add to the list!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
"There's a Shooter Downtown"
"There's a shooter downtown. The village is on lockdown."
Those words rang in my ears this past Saturday afternoon. I was being lazy, reading and watching silly TV shows. Joe, a veteran teacher, was calling to check in and tell me to stay put. He asked about my roommate, Leah. Only 15 minutes earlier, she'd said she was planning on going to the school to get some lesson planning done. I bolted from my room to check on her. Thankfully, she was just getting ready to go. I filled her in. She plopped on the couch and we talked for a good hour about our present situation.
I have to confess I never thought I'd deal with this sort of thing. Granted, this situation wasn't in school or during school hours. I wasn't captive in my classroom with kids under my care. Since the events at Newtown, CT, however, my teacher brain has been occupied with how I would act in such a situation.
Ironically, at this last Wednesday's staff meeting, three days before this incident, we discussed how our site, as well as the closest upriver and downriver sites, would likely be participating in a sort of gun training this coming March. Another thought entered my head: Teacher training now includes gun training.
How did we get to this?
I've seen the debates online: Do we arm teachers? Principals? Both? Install metal detectors at every school entrance in the nation? I don't know. I'd like to think we don't have to live in such an alarmist state, but given the number of shootings lately, I just don't know what to think.
I debated about writing on this topic. I came to the conclusion that there needs to be some sort of conversation about the disturbing number of shootings, or even that shootings are happening at all. Without a conversation, no improvement will be made. It seems nearly daily there's another headline. Is that because we're hyper-aware of it now? Is it because the media reports every event in the wake of the Newtown tragedy? Does that reporting spur more events? I don't know.
I don't know how to fix this trend or reverse it. No one does. And that's the infuriating part. We pride ourselves on being problem-solvers, or at least asking the right questions to be able to reach solutions, but there seems to be no solution to this particular problem. The greater questions include: how do we get help to those who so badly need coping skills? Why does it take such an act of desperation for some of these people to be identified? Do all of these desperate acts point to a greater societal pressure to bury our problems inside instead of admit and deal with them? And perhaps the most vital and overarching question: What will it take to protect our children and youth?
Obviously I'm not a source of answers. These are just the things that go through my brain. What I do know is that putting more guns into a building meant for students just doesn't quite sit right with me. It may also bring a false sense of security, as someone who intends harm to others probably won't be deterred by the knowledge that firearms could be present in schools.
To round out the story, the troopers were called immediately, and the shooter was detained, likely by some village men first who then handed him over to the troopers. The community has a pretty good idea of who it was, but there has been no official announcement and there probably won't be one. I don't believe he had a malicious intent; it's likely that he was drinking too much, became angry, and just started shooting, but all we have at this point are rumors. I'm sure the full story will unfold in the next few days.
I'm pretty lucky to have some kind neighbors in Josh and Howie; they came over and told us everything they knew, that they had their guns ready, and to call if we heard anything or even if we just wanted an escort to the school. It's comforting that they consider us to be part of their families.
The next question for me is this: with all this talk of tighter gun control, do I buy one now? My gut instinct says yes. I am in rural Alaska, after all. I'm probably the naive one for not owning one already; however, I'm not a hunter and do not venture outside the village on my own, so it didn't really occur to me until now.
The village is back to normal already. Siblings of the shooter came to school, smiling like usual. Their strength baffles me.
Howie brought me a fish to dissect in class (his daughter is one of my students) and told me to consider his nets as my own and to help myself. I just heard on the VHF (radio) that there is bingo tonight. We go on. No one was hurt - this time. This is certainly not the first time someone has started shooting in town, and it won't be the last.
Nope, sadly, it won't be the last.
Those words rang in my ears this past Saturday afternoon. I was being lazy, reading and watching silly TV shows. Joe, a veteran teacher, was calling to check in and tell me to stay put. He asked about my roommate, Leah. Only 15 minutes earlier, she'd said she was planning on going to the school to get some lesson planning done. I bolted from my room to check on her. Thankfully, she was just getting ready to go. I filled her in. She plopped on the couch and we talked for a good hour about our present situation.
I have to confess I never thought I'd deal with this sort of thing. Granted, this situation wasn't in school or during school hours. I wasn't captive in my classroom with kids under my care. Since the events at Newtown, CT, however, my teacher brain has been occupied with how I would act in such a situation.
Ironically, at this last Wednesday's staff meeting, three days before this incident, we discussed how our site, as well as the closest upriver and downriver sites, would likely be participating in a sort of gun training this coming March. Another thought entered my head: Teacher training now includes gun training.
How did we get to this?
I've seen the debates online: Do we arm teachers? Principals? Both? Install metal detectors at every school entrance in the nation? I don't know. I'd like to think we don't have to live in such an alarmist state, but given the number of shootings lately, I just don't know what to think.
I debated about writing on this topic. I came to the conclusion that there needs to be some sort of conversation about the disturbing number of shootings, or even that shootings are happening at all. Without a conversation, no improvement will be made. It seems nearly daily there's another headline. Is that because we're hyper-aware of it now? Is it because the media reports every event in the wake of the Newtown tragedy? Does that reporting spur more events? I don't know.
I don't know how to fix this trend or reverse it. No one does. And that's the infuriating part. We pride ourselves on being problem-solvers, or at least asking the right questions to be able to reach solutions, but there seems to be no solution to this particular problem. The greater questions include: how do we get help to those who so badly need coping skills? Why does it take such an act of desperation for some of these people to be identified? Do all of these desperate acts point to a greater societal pressure to bury our problems inside instead of admit and deal with them? And perhaps the most vital and overarching question: What will it take to protect our children and youth?
Obviously I'm not a source of answers. These are just the things that go through my brain. What I do know is that putting more guns into a building meant for students just doesn't quite sit right with me. It may also bring a false sense of security, as someone who intends harm to others probably won't be deterred by the knowledge that firearms could be present in schools.
To round out the story, the troopers were called immediately, and the shooter was detained, likely by some village men first who then handed him over to the troopers. The community has a pretty good idea of who it was, but there has been no official announcement and there probably won't be one. I don't believe he had a malicious intent; it's likely that he was drinking too much, became angry, and just started shooting, but all we have at this point are rumors. I'm sure the full story will unfold in the next few days.
I'm pretty lucky to have some kind neighbors in Josh and Howie; they came over and told us everything they knew, that they had their guns ready, and to call if we heard anything or even if we just wanted an escort to the school. It's comforting that they consider us to be part of their families.
The next question for me is this: with all this talk of tighter gun control, do I buy one now? My gut instinct says yes. I am in rural Alaska, after all. I'm probably the naive one for not owning one already; however, I'm not a hunter and do not venture outside the village on my own, so it didn't really occur to me until now.
The village is back to normal already. Siblings of the shooter came to school, smiling like usual. Their strength baffles me.
Howie brought me a fish to dissect in class (his daughter is one of my students) and told me to consider his nets as my own and to help myself. I just heard on the VHF (radio) that there is bingo tonight. We go on. No one was hurt - this time. This is certainly not the first time someone has started shooting in town, and it won't be the last.
Nope, sadly, it won't be the last.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Lessons Learned
I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. First, I woke up only 15 minutes before I was supposed to be at work. Then, I dropped things on my toes while I was getting ready. It was just one of those days, which is odd, because I actually got a great night's sleep for once.
Irritated, I stomped over to the school, feeling the beginnings of raging anger for my job and current place of employment. I kept thinking rapid-fire thoughts, such as "Why am I here? The kids aren't learning anything. Why am I teacher? All I'm doing is wasting my breath. I could be in a sunnier place. I just want to punch the clock and go home and not think about my job. What the hell was I thinking, becoming a teacher? I'm too lazy to do this. UGH." Once inside, I just listened to music, already prepared for the day, and tried to figure out how not to let my attitude affect my students.
Didn't work. Quite frankly, I am totally inept at hiding my emotions, and teachers do not have the luxury of being inept at this skill.
As first period began, certain students started testing my patience; several kids wandered in late, chatting, demanding bathroom passes, having misplaced theirs and their assignments, refusing to cooperate, etc. I only asked a few times for students to follow directions. You may be wondering "how many times does she usually ask?" Answer: I can usually request calmly about five times before I get stern; attention disorders demand that I ask several times. This morning, however, I'd just had it. I even warned them that my patience was thin and told them not to push it.
At this point, one student said, "whoa, sounds like SOMEBODY got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," as he glared at me.
Very unprofessionally, I said, "Yes, I did. So watch your behavior."
To which the lovely kid responded, "Well why didn't you stay home then, take a sick day?!"
I swallowed the urge to say that I would have loved to have stayed home, and just said, "well, adults don't get to stay home if they're grouchy." Even as I said it, I thought, "wow, Susan, how very 'adult' of you." Despicable, really.
He then says, "just go beat up your pillow. That's what I wanna do when I'm grouchy." Ugh. The kid was right.
Luckily, we were able to move on with things. We are talking about genetics and that always generates fun discussions, so the class actually progressed quite smoothly from there. Kids who generally don't like to participate were all ears and had many questions. At the end of class, kids were using their manners! If I could do a back flip, I would have. At this point, I made a note to reflect on the day.
The next period, however, I had a student demand that she work elsewhere - the quiet room, the library, the hallway, anywhere but the classroom. Today, she told me that Christmas break and Slavic (Russian Orthodox Christmas) had messed with her sleeping schedule and now she was just tired and cranky. She deals with some anger issues after losing her mom last year, so I try to help her out on her bad days a bit. I had to acknowledge that she had a point regarding the sleeping schedule because I'm often a victim of the lack of sunlight and a disrupted schedule. Once she left the classroom, a few other students started making remarks about how this particular student is always grouchy and "just shouldn't come to school...she leaves every day and won't even do work! Maaan, she needs to figure out how to not be grouchy."
That last comment stuck with me. I can do better, and the kids deserve that. I was disappointed that I let my attitude affect the students, but at the same time, how many times should I have to ask kids to follow directions? Directions like "open to page 598" or "turn around and save the chat for later" or "please keep your feet off the desks and on the ground" or "don't pick your nose please"? For some reason January is just rough in the classroom. After a month of fun and games and celebrations, getting back into the routine of a functional classroom can be quite the challenge. If there are any secrets out there on accomplishing such a feat, I would love to be privy to them. Aside from being strict and, ahem, even a bit grouchy, I'm not so sure how to ease back into a routine, or even if easing into it is the right way to go about it.
The rest of today was a pretty good one, even though attendance is spotty this time of year. I have one student who is super pumped about fossils and wants to be an archeo- or paleontologist; in her words, she "wants to go places and dig things up and find out where people and animals were." God bless her, because I just don't get giddy about fossils. However, when that 7th grade girl walks in all bubbly and wanting to go hunt for fossils, I can't help but get excited right along with her.
All grouchy things aside, what I've found is that the days that I most dread going to work are usually some of the best teaching days with the best teaching moments, sometimes for myself. The trick is to remember this fact when all I want to do is stay under the covers in the morning and hide. Hopefully the events of today will snowball into the rest of this week and the rest of January. We have parent-teacher conferences this week, so it means more disrupted school day schedules as well as teacher schedules, so the trying times aren't over just yet. However, we did get a lot of snow, so the kids aren't as restless, and it means I can start skiing again soon. Woo-hoo!
In these dark days of winter, I hope you all can look on the bright side and remember that warmer days are indeed on their way, literally and figuratively. And if you can't, just eat some chocolate and beat up your pillow :)
I wish you all a happy January!
Irritated, I stomped over to the school, feeling the beginnings of raging anger for my job and current place of employment. I kept thinking rapid-fire thoughts, such as "Why am I here? The kids aren't learning anything. Why am I teacher? All I'm doing is wasting my breath. I could be in a sunnier place. I just want to punch the clock and go home and not think about my job. What the hell was I thinking, becoming a teacher? I'm too lazy to do this. UGH." Once inside, I just listened to music, already prepared for the day, and tried to figure out how not to let my attitude affect my students.
Didn't work. Quite frankly, I am totally inept at hiding my emotions, and teachers do not have the luxury of being inept at this skill.
As first period began, certain students started testing my patience; several kids wandered in late, chatting, demanding bathroom passes, having misplaced theirs and their assignments, refusing to cooperate, etc. I only asked a few times for students to follow directions. You may be wondering "how many times does she usually ask?" Answer: I can usually request calmly about five times before I get stern; attention disorders demand that I ask several times. This morning, however, I'd just had it. I even warned them that my patience was thin and told them not to push it.
At this point, one student said, "whoa, sounds like SOMEBODY got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," as he glared at me.
Very unprofessionally, I said, "Yes, I did. So watch your behavior."
To which the lovely kid responded, "Well why didn't you stay home then, take a sick day?!"
I swallowed the urge to say that I would have loved to have stayed home, and just said, "well, adults don't get to stay home if they're grouchy." Even as I said it, I thought, "wow, Susan, how very 'adult' of you." Despicable, really.
He then says, "just go beat up your pillow. That's what I wanna do when I'm grouchy." Ugh. The kid was right.
Luckily, we were able to move on with things. We are talking about genetics and that always generates fun discussions, so the class actually progressed quite smoothly from there. Kids who generally don't like to participate were all ears and had many questions. At the end of class, kids were using their manners! If I could do a back flip, I would have. At this point, I made a note to reflect on the day.
The next period, however, I had a student demand that she work elsewhere - the quiet room, the library, the hallway, anywhere but the classroom. Today, she told me that Christmas break and Slavic (Russian Orthodox Christmas) had messed with her sleeping schedule and now she was just tired and cranky. She deals with some anger issues after losing her mom last year, so I try to help her out on her bad days a bit. I had to acknowledge that she had a point regarding the sleeping schedule because I'm often a victim of the lack of sunlight and a disrupted schedule. Once she left the classroom, a few other students started making remarks about how this particular student is always grouchy and "just shouldn't come to school...she leaves every day and won't even do work! Maaan, she needs to figure out how to not be grouchy."
That last comment stuck with me. I can do better, and the kids deserve that. I was disappointed that I let my attitude affect the students, but at the same time, how many times should I have to ask kids to follow directions? Directions like "open to page 598" or "turn around and save the chat for later" or "please keep your feet off the desks and on the ground" or "don't pick your nose please"? For some reason January is just rough in the classroom. After a month of fun and games and celebrations, getting back into the routine of a functional classroom can be quite the challenge. If there are any secrets out there on accomplishing such a feat, I would love to be privy to them. Aside from being strict and, ahem, even a bit grouchy, I'm not so sure how to ease back into a routine, or even if easing into it is the right way to go about it.
The rest of today was a pretty good one, even though attendance is spotty this time of year. I have one student who is super pumped about fossils and wants to be an archeo- or paleontologist; in her words, she "wants to go places and dig things up and find out where people and animals were." God bless her, because I just don't get giddy about fossils. However, when that 7th grade girl walks in all bubbly and wanting to go hunt for fossils, I can't help but get excited right along with her.
All grouchy things aside, what I've found is that the days that I most dread going to work are usually some of the best teaching days with the best teaching moments, sometimes for myself. The trick is to remember this fact when all I want to do is stay under the covers in the morning and hide. Hopefully the events of today will snowball into the rest of this week and the rest of January. We have parent-teacher conferences this week, so it means more disrupted school day schedules as well as teacher schedules, so the trying times aren't over just yet. However, we did get a lot of snow, so the kids aren't as restless, and it means I can start skiing again soon. Woo-hoo!
In these dark days of winter, I hope you all can look on the bright side and remember that warmer days are indeed on their way, literally and figuratively. And if you can't, just eat some chocolate and beat up your pillow :)
I wish you all a happy January!
Monday, January 7, 2013
Happy 2013!
Well hello! Here I sit at SEATAC airport, nearly midnight. The bars were closed an hour ago, a sad reality that has sabotaged my truly refined evening plans. However, with a nine-hour layover that will now pretty much be a sober experience, I figured that I could finally get around to writing some semblance of a post if for no other reason than to get back into the swing of things.
This being the new year, I've started thinking about resolutions, but decided that I'm not going to resolve to write more. My resolutions never seem to come to full fruition, leaving me feeling inadequate at accomplishing all the things. However, I still want to attempt to improve myself, so I will at least try to be better about posting more frequently, how's that? Nothing like some lukewarm commitment to inspire production.
This being the new year, I've started thinking about resolutions, but decided that I'm not going to resolve to write more. My resolutions never seem to come to full fruition, leaving me feeling inadequate at accomplishing all the things. However, I still want to attempt to improve myself, so I will at least try to be better about posting more frequently, how's that? Nothing like some lukewarm commitment to inspire production.
Where to begin? Well, December pretty much flew by and was much more enjoyable than last year. At least, I think it was. I do not quite recall much of December or January last year, and I can't decide whether that is because it was too painful, uneventful, or dark and therefore I was too sleepy to truly take note of what was going on around me. I choose to believe some combination of the latter two possibilities.
My two environmental science students that went to Seward with me completed their final projects mid-December and both received an A. They were pumped, as was I! It was a great experience for all of us; my only regret is that due to scheduling issues and the nature of how meetings are conducted in this district, I ended up missing their final presentation via conference call. While giving a strained 10-minute spiel through VTC in order to get certified as a Constructing Meaning presenter (that was supposed to take place 30 minutes earlier), I received a text from one of the girls saying that they needed me. I pretty much said "I have to go and I'm done now" to the people on VTC and quite literally sprinted down the hall to the principal's office where the girls had been listening to the other groups around the state. Just as I opened the door, Ms. Hunger Games said, "and that completes our project." I looked at them as they muted our side of the conversation, and they both looked up and said, "We're done. Sorry!"
I was so ticked off at myself for missing the culmination of our 3 months' work together, though I had very little control over the situation. I literally collapsed on the floor, hands smacking my forehead, while the girls both shook their heads and laughed at me. We listened to the rest of the conference and that was that.
To this day I have no clue as to whether or not I am CM certified. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get another chance to do that if my livid 5 minutes didn't suffice.
This year, getting out of the village went as smoothly as it could have, as we had beautiful weather. I got to Anchorage on December 21st and took some time to go south to Girdwood to ski at Alyeska Resort. (Google it, book a trip, and thank me later.) Many people asked if I was scared about flying on Doomsday; nope, not so much. Besides, I celebrated surviving the Mayan prophecy by going to a hippie bar at the resort, taking in fantastic live music and catching up with a friend. I even got to stay at the cutest little cabin in the woods, complete with a bath house and outhouse! The next day, I skied and couldn't believe how few people were there on such a gorgeous weekend day. I nearly had the mountain to myself. After that, I headed back up to Anchorage, had dinner with another friend, and somehow almost managed to miss my flight because I was chatting with someone at Chili's. That darn wine, I tell ya...I can be quite the chatterbox at times, much to my detriment.
 |
| My cabin in the woods. |
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| The bath house with the outhouse to the right between two trees. |
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| The ski lift at Alyeska. |
 |
| And another. |
Christmas break went by too quickly and I celebrated it in my usual style: I caught some sort of bug and was laid up for a solid three days while I attempted not to hack up a lung. Friends remarked that Alaska should have made me tougher; I replied that Alaska was no match for my niece and nephew, little germ balls that they are. Adorably sweet and hilarious, of course, not that I'm biased, but germ-filled nonetheless.
We will hit the ground running in 2013 and not really stop until February is over; our school hosts some sort of basketball tournament or Academic Decathlon event every single weekend. This first weekend, January 10th-12th, we host no fewer than 6 other basketball teams, boys and girls, and I'm running that. All teams will stay in the school, and we will also try to provide some sort of evening entertainment for the kids who are not playing. YIKES. Good thing we have a good set of faculty who tend to be generous with their time.
I'm thinking about taking a class this semester; we'll see if that pans out. Hmm, maybe I should figure out when the semester begins? Wish me luck!
Happy New Year!
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