Work, Work, Work

To say that I have been a busy girl this semester is a gross understatement. It seems like everything has just been going non-stop ever since school started up again, and I have hardly had time to think, let alone blog. Our whole school is in a frenzy over the statewide tests that happen in April, and all the preparation that goes along with them. We are in sort of a "do or die" position as far as testing goes this year - we need to improve on our scores as a school in order to be in accordance with NCLB (that's 'No Child Left Behind', for those of you who are blissfully unaware of the world of education bureaucracy). To that end, we have instated a new daily schedule that includes specific "intervention" time for the big three testing subjects: reading, writing, and math. At the beginning of the school year, students were dismissed at 3:15. Now, all students are dismissed at 3:45. We now have 25 minutes of extra math practice each morning, and 25 extra minutes for both reading and writing practice each afternoon. The students are fairly fried by the end of the day, which makes sense, and our last class of the day is 45 minutes of either social studies or science. I teach social studies, and I have been trying to keep it light and not too mentally taxing, while still getting through the standards. It seems like we have been having a lot of laughs in social studies now that it's at the end of the day, and I appreciate that as much as (I hope) the kids do. They have a lot on their shoulders with the new intervention schedule and tests looming over them...as if being a middle schooler isn't stressful enough already!

It's the first of February today and that means only about 4 more weeks until Spring Break. While I doubt early March in Stebbins is anywhere close to being called "spring", "break" is the same no matter where you are. It will be nice to have a few days of rest in preparation for that last hectic push before the SBA tests in early April. We are all downhill after the SBAs though, and school is out May 19th.

So, life in Stebbins goes on. We have had about 6 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours or so, which is very happy news for the cross country skiing team who just started practicing about a week ago. Basketball season is in full swing for high school boys and girls, as well as the Jr. High and elementary co-ed teams. Home games are a big deal, and the whole community comes out in full force to cheer on the Grizzlies and buy goodies from the student store. Basketball is definitely THE sport up here, and it brings in a lot of revenue for our school, which is great.

For those of you who have been watching Flying Wild Alaska on Discovery, you have seen a few quick shots of the Stebbins airport already. Our Friday nights now consist of FWA at 5, then on to the basketball game at 7. For us, that's about as thrilling a start to the weekend as possible! Last night my roommate, who coaches the girls h.s. b-ball team, was pointing out the fact that her life consists of 3 or 4 things: basketball, reading, TV or DVDs, and work. Minus the basketball part, my life isn't much different. It's a simple existence, but we try to make our own fun as much as possible. Our teaching community is pretty tight knit, due to the fact that we not only work together, but we live in close proximity to one another as well. Getting together for dinner, having girls' night, arranging walks on the tundra or trips to St. Michael, tupperware parties and movie nights...these are the things that keep our minds occupied on things other than school, and distract us from the thought of how much beer we're NOT drinking. It truly is a blessing that I actually like the people I work with quite a lot...if that were not the case, I would certainly be in trouble up here!

So, to all my friends and followers in the Lower 48, have a fabulous February! Enjoy those Super Bowl parties this weekend, drink a beer (or many beers) in my honor, and GO PACKERS!!!

XOXOjane

Shout Out!

This is just a heads-up to any and all reality TV fans, or those of you who want a closer look at what the "travel industry" is like up here. Discovery has a new show which just premiered this week called Flying Wild Alaska. It focuses in large part on the family that runs Era Alaska out of Unalakleet. They are the same people and planes I get to see every time I fly up here. I watched the premiere last night and it was so cool and kind of uncanny to be able to say "I've flown in that plane! I know those people!"

Additionally, Discovery filmed parts of our teacher in-service back in October that may be included on the show. I had to sign a release form saying it was ok if they happened to put me on TV, so if you do watch the show, keep your eyes peeled! However highly unlikely it is that you might catch a glimpse of my face on TV, I would highly recommend this show regardless. It gives a great picture of what life is like up here, and our complete dependence on planes to get us places and get us the things we need to survive. It's definitely a slice of life most people in the Lower 48 have no idea even exists.

Check out the show's website and watch some previews,
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/flying-wild-alaska/

and keep your Friday 9 o'clock time slot open for new episodes!

XOXOjane

It's a Bright New Year!

A little more than a year ago, the notion first popped into my head that my future might be in Alaska. On the 4th of January, 2010, I submitted my application to Alaska Teacher Placement, and from there on out, my life began to change. On January 20th I had my first phone interview with BSSD. In the beginning of February, I talked to my future principal for the first time. Back then, he was just a contact from whom I was seeking more information about teaching in the Alaskan bush. I had no notion that just over a month later, he would be calling to offer me a job. I signed my contract with BSSD on the 21st of March.

From there on out, my path was set. Alaska became a reality.

I have been living in the bush for 5 months now, and life here is beginning to feel natural. I am regularly overwhelmed by the beauty of my surroundings, and fascinated by the people who for so many generations have carved out a living here in this beautiful but unforgiving part of the world.

I have seen and done things in the 5 months that I've been here that just one year ago when I submitted my application I couldn't possibly have imagined. I have: filleted salmon, flown in planes that are no bigger than a large SUV or van, watched and participated in Eskimo dancing, witnessed the sun setting at midnight and rising at noon, gone swimming in the Bering Sea, hiked across the tundra...and above all, managed to survive my first semester as a real teacher without suffering any major meltdowns.

Looking back on my decision of last year, I am convinced I made the right choice. Last January 4th I was submitting an application on a hope and a prayer, my bank account empty, my job prospects nil. This January 4th, I welcomed my students back to school on the first day of a new semester. Talk about a turn of events!

Right now, my life and my heart are full. 2011 has only just begun, but already it's a bright new year.

XOXOjane



Some snapshots from Roman's and my walk around the village today. 28 and sunny - a perfect day for a stroll!

The Airport

The south end of Stebbins with Steven's Hill in the background

Your humble correspondent :)

Roman: Stebbins's most famous poodle

Bluff

Frozen Norton Sound with Stuart Island in the background

Three in the afternoon. It's January in Alaska!

I am thankful.

It's the end of the long Thanksgiving weekend, and this year I certainly have a lot for which to be thankful.

First, I am thankful to have a job. At this time last year, I had pretty much already had my fill of subbing, and had come to the realization that I would do anything to avoid another year of being an on-call teacher. Well, wish granted. Here I am in the Alaskan bush, being a real teacher, getting some serious experience in a challenging and unique environment, and putting my college degree to good use (not to mention growing my bank account...ahhh, the joys of steady employment!).

I am thankful for my parents. Mom and Dad, you taught me the value of hard work, and for that I am eternally grateful. You enabled me to become self-sufficent by giving me the gift of a college education. You supported me in my decision to come to Alaska, both emotionally and financially, and you continue to support me with your love and encouragement. A mere 'thank you' cannot begin to express my gratitude!

I am thankful for my family and friends near and far who have made my day with a call, a card, a care package. Knowing that I have your support, even from a distance, means so much. I am thankful for my new friends here in Stebbins, too! It's always a bonus when you actually like the people you work with, and I am blessed to work with some of the coolest people I know :)

I am thankful for Skype. Being able to see and hear my family is a miracle of modern technology, and it has helped keep my homesickness at bay.

I am thankful to have Roman here with me. His prescence forces me to be less self-involved, and though he is very capable of getting on my nerves, he makes me laugh every day. And when I have days where all I can do is laugh just to keep from crying, that's when I am most grateful for the unconditional love of my silly poodle boy.

Finally, I am thankful for my students. Of course, without them, I wouldn't have a job, but it goes beyond that. Each and every one of them, even the ones that drive me berserk (especially those ones), are teaching me to be a better teacher. Every day I ask myself, "What went well? What could I have done better?" and I answer those questions based on how my students responded to my teaching that day. Some days the answers come easily. Other days, not so much. Some days, I get so caught up in MY teaching practice and MY lesson plans and MY expectations, that I forget that it's not about ME, it's about my kids. They are a constant reminder of why I am doing what I'm doing. Kids keep it real, that's for sure. And I'm thankful for that.

XOXOjane

Traveling in the Bush

Most people don't have a concept of what "travel" is like up here...I certainly didn't, not really, until I came here and lived it. Getting from point A to point B in the arctic is never what I would call "easy", but then again I really don't miss sitting in traffic jams!

Here in the village, there are several different modes of transportation. Walking is pretty much always an option, as everything is so close. You can walk from one end of the village to the other in 15 minutes or so. If you want to get where you're going a bit faster, or if you plan on going anywhere outside of the village proper (the dump, the beaches outside of town, hunting/berry picking on the tundra, or even to neighboring St. Michael) you can get there on a honda (that's the general term for 4-wheeler) or once the snow falls, on a snowmachine. Most village residents have one if not both of the aforementioned vehicles. Hondas are good because you can use them in the spring/summer and in the fall/winter when it snows, so many of the teachers have them. When the weather is nice, going somewhere on a honda is no more of a hassle than going somewhere in a car - - all you have to do is hop on and go. When the weather turns colder, however, a honda ride becomes more of an excursion. This time of year, when the snow is falling, the wind is blowing, and temperatures are in the single digits, getting on a honda or on a snowmachine to go anywhere requires the full-on "getup" - snow pants/and or bibs, winter coat(s), boots, scarf, hat, gloves...really, as many layers of those garments as you can pile on while still able to move your limbs. Then, you need goggles to keep your eyes functional, particularly if you are going a longer distance or if you are going faster than say 5 or 10 mph.

There are a few people in the village who have automobiles, and the school has a truck, but I could probably count the number of cars in the village on my fingers. Honda and snowmachine are definietly the vehicles of choice here on our island.

If you want to travel any further than St. Michael (that's as far as our road goes), you will need to go by air. Both Stebbins and St. Michael have airports, St. Michael's being the slightly larger of the two. When I first came to the island back in August, I flew in on a larger plane with the new teachers from both Stebbins and St. Michael, and we landed in St. Michael because their airport could accomodate the larger plane (I think it was about a 20 seater). The largest planes I have flown out of Stebbins in have been Cessna Caravans - about 10 seats (depending on the flight/the amount of people/the amount of cargo). The smallest planes I have flown into Stebbins on are the little 207s, which can seat five but it's a tight squeeze.

 

A Cessna Caravan

 

Before I came up here, the thought of flying everywhere seemed slightly crazy. But now that I'm here, it seems just so normal; almost as normal as just getting in a car or on a bus. Flying in bush planes, even the tiny ones, is surprisingly enjoyable, especially when compared to the big airports and commercial airliners I was used to previously. I actually feel LESS claustrophobic in the little bush planes than I do in a big jet. There are windows everywhere and you can usually see out the front window as well. I actually got to sit co-pilot once, which, on top of the added leg room, was also the ultimate window seat. Bush planes fly low enough that you can actually enjoy the scenery below, which is another bonus. And the scenery doesn't get much better than the view flying over Norton Sound!

 

A cute little 207

This is what you get to look at when you sit co-pilot. 

"Airports" out here in the bush were also a surprise to me. There is no such thing as going through security, for one. No one blinks an eye when you have a knife in your carry-on, because no one bothers to snoop through your stuff in search of bombs. The attitude is pretty relaxed at all the bush airports I have visited. Here in Stebbins, no one is really even around the airport unless a plane shows up. Of course, the relaxed attitude also means that the time a plane is scheduled to take off or land and the time it ACTUALLY takes off or lands are often two entirely different things. Flight times are always give or take an hour or two. Needless to say, there's a lot of "hurry up and wait" that happens whenever it's time to travel anywhere.

Even flying in the bush requires a proper dress code. Especially in the winter, or whenever the temperature begins to drop. It's pretty much expected that you will get on the plane wearing full snow gear. Ostensibly, it's because the planes can get kind of cold once you get up in the air, but you could also get stranded on the runway somewhere for hours on end, or, worst case scenario, your plane could go down, leaving you stranded in the Alaskan tundra. Did I mention I keep a knife in my carry on? ;)

Basically, what I'm getting at here is that travel in the bush is like no other place I've ever been. Like I said, it's hard to imagine it unless you've lived it, but I hope I was able to give you at least a sneak peek. I do not miss my car. I do not miss my commute. I love living 50 feet from my place of employment. I love not having to buy gas and I love not having to scrape the snow and ice off of my windshield. I love not having to worry about maintenance or snow tires or anything else related to vehicle upkeep. When you've got nowhere to go, you don't need any help getting there!

                                  
XOXOjane

How is it already November??

The first week of November is in the books - I just can't believe we are this far in the year already! We have had snow on the ground for more than a week straight and temperatures have been consistently below freezing. Our daylight is rapidly shrinking, and after we fall back this weekend, the days are bound to be even darker.

This past week was kind of an odd one in the middle school because we had a large chunk of our kids gone to the Jr. High cheerleading and wrestling tournament in Unalakleet. It was a good and bad thing, really - - good in the sense that we (the three of us middle school teachers) had a significantly smaller group of kids to tend so we were able to team teach together out in the middle school portables. It was also good in that we had a huge chunk of time to work one-on-one with students and get a lot of work done. I think we had 12 levels passed in three days, which is huge! It was a bad situation only because there was a large chunk of students gone for school travel, so other students just decided to play hooky, apparently. We averaged about 20 kids a day this week, when usually the middle school has about 50.

I must say, it was pretty thrilling for me to sign off on my students' end of level exams in recommendation of moving them to the next level. We are currently in a big push to get all of our students up to their appropriate BSSD levels and on track to graduate on time, so the more levels our students pass, the closer we are to that goal. We have even extended our school day an extra half an hour in the afternoon strictly for that purpose. After our first week of that schedule, I'd say that so far it has been a success. Granted, we were down a significant number of students this week, but still. The work our students accomplished speaks for itself :)

There are two and a half more weeks to go until Thanksgiving break. It will be strange spending this Thanksgiving so far from my family, but as we only have Thanksgiving day and the Friday after off (plus the weekend, of course), that doesn't leave any room to travel. I guess Roman and I will be keeping a modest Thanksgiving together here on the tundra. Maybe we will roast a ptarmigan, or something festive of that nature!

All the best from your correspondent up here in the arctic --

XOXOjane

What a difference a week makes! Bring on Quarter 2!

Ok, I apologize for my super-emo blog from last week. It was not uplifting in the least, and even I am depressed when I re-read it. I will try to keep those types of "vent" blogs to a minimum, but come on, it's my first year teaching - - I feel like I should be cut a little slack!

So, a week later and a week wiser, I am ready for the second quarter of school to begin. Well, I am ready as I'll ever be, I suppose. Do we teachers ever feel 100% prepared? All I can do is try!

We had a fun little quasi-vacation in Unalakleet for teacher in-service this past week. We flew in Monday, played a mean (if not victorious) game of volleyball in the all-district staff tourney, went to workshops all day Tuesday and Wednesday, and flew home Thursday afternoon. In between all of the work, we were able to snag some play time with friends from our own site and around the district.

Friday was a teacher workday back home in Stebbins, and I spent my day preparing myself physically and mentally for the new quarter. I rearranged my classroom which drastically improved the atmosphere and majorly boosted my morale, and I created new seating charts for my classes which helped me to visualize what my classes would look like and get me mentally prepared to greet my students for the new quarter. I finished the day with some mad collaboration time with my middle school compatriots, as we sketched out what our soon-to-be-instated after school intervention time would look like.  All in all, a productive day at the end of a busy week.

Other highlights of my week included:
-My new handmade seal and beaver fur hat purchased in Unalakleet which has totally changed my life re: outdoor apparrel,
-A honda ride to neighboring St. Michael on Friday to test the integrity of said hat; it passed with flying colors. Rarely when outdoors have my ears been so not cold. Miraculous.
-Bonding time with my fellow Stebbins staffmates in Unalakleet = priceless.
-Way too much good food, including: homemade cinnamon rolls (Ben), lemon cake (me) and German Apple Cake (Kaisa).
-A refreshed and motivated attitude re: the second quarter of school. I am feeling much more comfortable with my job and teaching practice, even just a week removed from my minor breakdown at the end of the first quarter. Bring it on!

Modeling my fabulous new hat

Side view. No seals or beavers were harmed in the making of this hat.

....JUST KIDDING

Furniture re-arranging SKILLZ. I got 'em from my MAMA!

Facing the back of the classroom

Roman has become the king of the awkward sleeping position...on this couch, in particular. So funny.

Well, there you have it people...Life in Alaska goes on. I just finished getting my plans for the week wrapped up, and all I have left are copies to be made in the morning. Thank you, as always, for reading!

XOXOjane