Pilot Point Carnival '17

In many of the villages in our district, "Carnival" is a big deal. Carnival is a weekend of fun events, hosted by the village. We'd been hearing about Pilot Point's Winter Carnival practically since we stepped off of the airplane back in August. The kids are constantly raving about it and asking us things like, "Are you going to dance with me at the Carnival dance?!" With the students so excited,  I couldn't help getting a bit hyped up about it myself.

Friday afternoon we released from school at lunchtime and then the village officially kicked off the Carnival with a kids cooking competition hosted at the school. This was probably one of my favorite events of the whole Carnival because the kids were so incredibly excited about it. The competition was set-up like the show Chopped. The kids each had a basket of "mystery ingredients" and they were given one hour to create an edible dinner meal. Each kid was assigned an adult to help them chop things, get supplies, open packages, and other safety-type things, but the adults weren't allowed to give any meal/cooking ideas. The winning dish ended up being a great curry that one of our fifth grade boys whipped up.

Other fun events that we participated in on Friday included: a poker run, scavenger hunt, dinner hosted at the school, and a dance. Our village flew in a band from the neighboring village of Kokhanok. The band was missing a drummer, but they were in luck - Cody keeps a great drum kit at our house here! So, Cody joined the band and ended up playing three nights in a row. He had so much fun getting to play with an actual band for a change, as opposed to just jamming at the house solo. The kids also enjoyed seeing Cody play, some of the littlest kiddos even got a drum lesson from him one evening. Meanwhile, I was recruited by the little girls to dance non-stop the entirety of the band's performance.

The second day of Carnival began in the morning with a community breakfast. After breakfast, there were many events planned. The first event of the day was the Air Drop. For the drop, a local pilot flew really low over a designated spot (this year it was Loon Lake behind the school), and he threw candy and prizes out of his airplane window. Everyone in town ran around the lake trying to collect the items. It was a freezing morning for the event, with temps in the single digits and waist-deep snow drifts on the lake, but we still had a blast.

Throughout the rest of Carnival we continued to try and participate in as many events as possible. We played bingo, ate dinner at the big community feast, went to the dance every night, played the raffles and cakewalks, and what seems like a million other little things. By Sunday, we were exhausted. Lucky for everyone else, there was no school on Monday or Tuesday following Winter Carnival. Unlucky for me, I had to travel for basketball early on Monday morning and didn't get to enjoy the necessary recuperation time after all of the excitement. Even with the extreme busyness of the weekend, I couldn't help but feel extremely happy that we got to participate in such a unique community event. I'm already counting down until Winter Carnival 2018!

Your turn...Does your community have any unique events that they celebrate?
Currently listening to...Move to the Mountains - Clock Opera

A Day in the Life of an Alaska Bush Teacher

::6:30am:: My alarm goes off around this time each day.  The second it goes off the dogs assume it's time to play, so I don't get to lounge around for long. After walking and feeding the pups, I make myself a smoothie.  In the past, I've always been a cereal person, but milk is scarce out here so I've made the switch to drinking a Shakeology shake for breakfast.  

::8:00am:: After finishing up my morning routine I head to the school sometime between 7:45-8:00am.  Cody and I make the long trek (approximately 30 steps) from our front door to the school.  It's almost completely dark when we walk to work now because sunrise isn't until after 9:00am.  Students can arrive at school anytime between 8:00-8:30am.  Cody holds open gym for the 30mins before school starts to give the kids a chance to wake up and get in a little physical activity. 

I use the thirty minutes before school to get ready for the day.  I teach four skill levels, which is the equivalent of teaching 1st-6th grade.  I taught a similar age range at my last job, and found great success with writing a highly detailed schedule on my board each day.  I always include centers and every bullet point on the board represents a rotation to a new activity (rotations are in intervals of 15-20 minutes).  It's a lot of work to write out each day, but it's the best way I've found to manage so many grade levels and it really helps with behavior.

::8:45am:: After completing our whole-school morning meeting and our classroom calendar I teach ELA to five students. It's a lot of prep work to make our core content blocks work because, even though it's only five students, I need to know and plan for four grades of work. That means four separate lesson plans per class period.  To compare, in a typical classroom teachers would prep for 1-2 lesson per class period.  I end up needing to prep over twenty lesson plans per day.  

::10:15am:: Whole-school break time in the gym.

::10:30am:: For math I teach four levels again, but my class size swells to nine students. My tiny classroom seems almost bursting at the seams with so many students in it. It's interesting to have such a wide age range for math because my youngest students are working on basic addition and patterning while my oldest are working with fractions and long division.

::12:00pm:: Lunch time! We are ridiculously lucky with our school lunches.  Our school cook is a serious chef. Plus, he's made it his personal challenge to try to cook vegetarian meals this year (score for me!) and I've been getting spoiled.

::12:30pm:: Whole-school SSR time, also referred to as the "Power 1/2 Hour."  For thirty minutes after lunch our school comes together in the library and reads as a big group.  I try to read with them every day, which has been pretty awesome.

::1:00pm:: This is our writing and counseling block. One day a week we have cyber-counseling instead of writing class.  For writing class, I have four levels and seven students. For counseling, I have K-5 instead of levels, which is six students, because that is how the content is administered for the counseling class.

::1:45pm:: Whole-school break time in the gym.

::2:00pm:: It's back to the classroom and time for social studies and/or science.  For the first half of the school year (until Christmas break) we are specifically doing social studies.  Then, after Christmas, we will transition to science. We made the decision to do this because we wanted to keep students together based on levels (I keep the kids in levels 0-4 and Mellisa keeps the kids in levels 5+).  That isn't possible if we switch back and forth because one student might be a level 8 in social studies and a level 4 in science.

Our current focus in social studies is on our community.  We've been working on mapping Pilot Point, so the kids and I have been getting out for lots of little walks and excursions to create our own maps.  I alter the mapping assignment to fit the standards for each level (i.e some just show major landmarks and some are topographical).

::2:30pm:: The last hour of the day is reserved for "specials."  Cody teaches PE from 2:30-3:00, so I use that time as my daily prep. Then, my students come back to me for the last thirty minutes of the day.  Monday and Tuesday I teach art, and Wednesday and Thursday I teach technology. We don't meet for specials on Fridays.

::3:30pm:: School's out and the kids are headed home, most of them riding on four-wheelers. The only day we don't release at this time is on Friday. On Fridays, we dismiss at 2:00pm so that all of the teachers in our district can attend PD (professional development).  Some weeks our PD consists of cyber-meetings with the whole district and some weeks we just meet as a site and work on our own things.

::4:00pm-10:00pm:: I always take a short break from work right at the end of the school day and head out on a long walk with the dogs.  For the most part, I try to make the evenings my "me time" but I'm a teacher, so many days I head back to school after my walk and work until dinner time.

Our evenings are pretty much ruled by the kitchen.  There are no restaurants here, and I get very bored of eating the same thing, so we cook a ton.  After dinner, we read, watch TV (we stocked up on season DVD's), and pursue our hobbies.  We have a lot of downtime, so hobbies are important.  I've been learning to knit, Cody's been buying some of his favorite oldies video games, and together we've been brewing beer.

Our lives are much quieter here in the bush than they were when we lived in civilization. There are very few friends to spend time with, so we spend most of our free time alone.  The weather also plays a big part in our daily routine because it can be pretty temperamental, which keeps us indoors on some days. With that said, we're enjoying our quiet little lives unplugged from the bustling world outside. It's a change, but a nice one.

Your turn...What are some unique things about your daily schedule? 
Currently listening to...Mess is Mine - Vance Joy

Berry Picking on the Tundra

Living in Alaska often feels like one long string of adventures, mishmashed together with common, everyday moments.  It's always been one of my favorite things about life in Alaska. I absolutely love that my normal classroom routine in Juneau involved learning Tlingit language, or that walking the dogs meant carrying bear spray.  It's these little adventures that make living in Alaska such an experience.

One such experience that I had recently was berry picking.  Last Saturday, Melissa (the other teacher) and myself went out picking with a local woman, Sue.  Sue drove us down a bumpy, two-track that led out to the summer fishing camp (all the houses at camp were boarded up for the season). From there, we went on a hunt for berries and tundra plants.  As usual, I was amazed at the beauty and openness of the tundra landscape of my new home.

For my part, I've long been a berry picker, and I grew up in an agricultural hotspot. There's something just so different about berry picking here in the Alaskan Bush though.  It's sharply contrasting to the U-Pick farms in Michigan, or even to the groomed trails with their abundant berries in the mountains outside of Juneau.

Here, in Pilot Point, there are no berry bushes.  The berries grow in thick little clusters, scattered across the tundra.  This means that all berry picking is done in a sitting or squatting position.  Blueberries are much smaller than those in the lower 48 and SE Alaska.  They taste quite similar though and require handpicking and much care.  Comparatively, blackberries and cranberries are quite hardy and can be picked with a "picker."  These pickers are magical, and allowed me to collect a ridiculous amount of blackberries.  I did collect a few cranberries too, but mostly I am saving my picking of those until after the first frost (they are supposed to be much better after that).

The tundra itself makes berry picking in Pilot Point unique too.  If you've never been on the tundra, imagine it as a plush mattress or trampoline. The ground is so squishy that you sink several inches with every step.  It also holds an incredible amount of moisture, which will quickly soak the knees of your pants as you kneel to pick berries.  I learned my lesson about the wetness of the tundra quickly after kneeling to handpick a few blueberries.

After only a couple of hours I had over 1/2 gallon of berries to show for my hard work.  I was hot, sweaty, and feeling incredibly happy and content.  This feeling of happiness was only added to by the sheer vastness of the tundra, the great company of my new friends, and the delicious berries that I took home to pack away for winter.

Your turn...What are some of your favorite everyday adventures? 
Currently listening to...Alaska - Maggie Rogers

Shopping on Beaver Island

Shopping on Beaver Island is unlike shopping in most places in the United States, unless you are factoring the Alaskan Bush into the equation. We have one grocery store on the island, and while I enjoy the things they sell, it is expensive and occasionally quite limited. There have been days where the milk is out, or the bread didn't make it over on the airplane.  That means that we tend to stock up when we head to the mainland.  Cody's parents did a great grocery run for us last time they came up to visit.

Here's what they brought:

3 whole chickens
2 large pork shoulders
1 box of veggie burgers
2 bags of veggie sausage
20lbs rice
5lbs black beans
5lbs kidney beans
5lbs garbanzo beans
5lbs pinto beans
5lbs lentils
3lbs split peas
20 cans of vegetables
5 cans of whole tomatoes
4 cans of buillion
3 boxes of Bisquick
10 boxes of mixed pasta
5 loaves of bread
2 bags of apples
1 bag of oranges
1 butternut squash
1 bag of onions
1 bag of potatoes
2 bottles of BBQ sauce
3 bottles of olive oil
various spices

On the mainland, they were able to score all of these goodies for just over $200.  Here on the island it would have cost us more than double that price.  For example, a (small) bag of rice here on the island can cost $4-$6, while they
were able to buy bags that were twice the size
for less than $3.  We still stick to buying most
of our fresh stuff on the island, things like dairy
and fruit. As much as I prefer supporting local
businesses (and I do love our little store) we
have to look at ways to cut costs in such
 an expensive place.

Your turn...Do you ever buy in bulk?
Currently listening to...Float On - Modest Mouse

Goodbye, 2015

This year was full of ups and downs, surprises and life changes. We adjusted to life on a tiny island, we traveled to Alaska for a surprise wedding (our own), we climbed mountains and kayaked lakes, we adopted a new fur baby, and we lived our lives the best we could. Now, as it all grows to a close, we look back fondly and begin to look ahead to 2016.  So, without further adieu, here are the highlights from 2015.

In January, we struggled to stay warm as the temperatures plummeted into the -20's and remained there for quite some time.  Luckily, new snowshoes brought about a new winter hobby that kept us busy and adventurous.

February remained bitterly cold and Lake Michigan became a solid sheet of ice.  We walked our way towards to the surrounding islands on the lake, which gave us some seriously spectacular views.  The sun seemed to shine every day.

March was the month of blue ice.  Lake Michigan began to form ice caves, which shone a bright blue.  We explored these little caverns and traversed the uneven ground of the frozen lake.  It was a very cool thing to witness.

April was the month of the surprise wedding.  Cody and I spent spring break in Alaska, which we had been missing dearly.  The weeks that followed were spent eating good food with friends, climbing mountains, hiking, and finally...getting married in our XtraTuff boots in the shadow of Mendenhall Glacier.

We finally warmed up in May! This was our first month of marriage, and it brought about a whole new type of adventure.  Our favorite hiking trails were suddenly no longer buried in snow.  Many weekends were spent either cooking out or hiking with our friends.

June was the month that we packed our bags and said goodbye to the island.  We had intentions of moving back to Alaska, but instead we spent the summer hanging out with our families in southern Michigan and Illinois.

 July and August were a whirlwind of visiting family and friends. We loved the summer weather that the Midwest gave to us and we hiked all over the place.  Much of our time was spent on Lake Michigan.  We kayaked, fished, and swam non-stop.

September brought about changes.  Beaver Island School had contacted me and told me that they were in a bind after losing two of the three elementary teachers on the island.  I agreed to come back to the school, so we repacked our bags and moved back to the island.  We also adopted a new puppy from the Little Traverse Bay Humane Society!

 In October we moved into a new house and began to truly settle into life on the island.  It was an adjustment to move back, but it's been an overall successful experience.

November was the month of feeling thankful.  Family visited the island, the dogs were content, my students wrote me sweet notes, and all was right with the world.

Finally, December showed up.  It's been an oddly warm month and we only just started getting snow and winter weather within the last week.  Christmas Break came at a perfect time and I am feeling rejuvenated and ready to start back to work. All is well in our little corner of the world.

Your turn...What were a few of your yearly highlights?
Currently listening to...24 Frames - Jason Isbell