Same District, New Job

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. Well, if I'm being honest, this whole year has been a whirlwind when I take into consideration the craziness that has been this pregnancy and general life/teaching in the bush. It's been a wonderful year, but a busy one. Weighing heavily on Cody and I's minds this year was what we were going to do next year. We really love Pilot Point and have enjoyed living and working here. There are quite a few things working against us staying here for next year though. For starters, we have no childcare. Cody would have to stay home with baby, which he and I were interested in doing, but he wouldn't have any other young families/parent groups to socialize with here because our village is just so small. Also, the lack of healthcare and inaccessibility of it has been heavy on me. It costs $1,100/person to travel to the hospital in Anchorage and unfortunately our school's insurance doesn't cover health services in our village.

With these two issues weighing on us, we eventually came to the decision that we needed a change for next year. I began speaking with my district administrators about moving to one of our northern villages for next year. Our northern villages have much better, cheaper access to Anchorage and there is a clinic in one of the villages staffed by a PA that our insurance will cover. So, I proceeded through the second half of this year thinking I'd probably be calling one of these villages home soon.

Then, I found out that our district's Registrar was retiring and that they were combining his position with the position of Teacher Mentor. The district advertised that they wanted a current LPSD teacher to take the role because they wanted it to be someone who was already familiar with how we do things. I applied on a bit of a whim and told myself that the job was a total shot in the dark, especially since I heard that many others were applying too. I interviewed and tried to remain optimistic, but I had strong hunch that it wouldn't work out.

Well, I was wrong! The district offered me the position of Registrar/Teacher Mentor for next year. The position will actually be located in Palmer, Alaska, which will be a HUGE change since Cody and I haven't lived in a road system location in over six years. I will be traveling some and will still get to spend time in our villages helping new teachers adjust to life in the bush. Most of my time will be spent working remotely from our new district office in Palmer though. It'll be a huge adjustment and very different than being in the classroom, but I am super excited for this next chapter.

With all of this new knowledge, we've been adjusting to what our new lives will entail next year and starting to panic a little bit about moving with a newborn. The next couple of months are sure to be crazy. In less than a month we move to Anchorage to have the baby, then sometime before May 15th we will be moving back to Pilot Point to start the packing process, sometime in late May I am going to spend a couple of weeks training with our current Registrar, and then in June we will be relocating to Palmer. While it will be crazy, I am really optimistic and hope this will be our last move for quite some time. This will be our fourth city we've lived in over the last 7 years and I'm hoping it's the one we get to stay in and raise our child. Fingers crossed for a smooth transition!

Your turn...Have you ever made a big job switch?
Currently listening to...Good People - Jack Johnson

We're Back!

Cody, the dogs, and I landed in Pilot Point in mid-August. We spent the days before flying back to the village in Anchorage buying enough groceries to last us a couple of months, going to doctor's appointments, and enjoying our last days in civilization. Anchorage is always hectic though, so when we finally took off it was so nice to fly low over the tundra and see the little village from above. After our busy summer and week in Anchorage, I was excited to get back to the slower pace of life in the village. I was also incredibly touched by our decorated truck waiting for us at the airport. The people in Pilot Point truly are the best.

The slower pace didn't last for long though, which is why it's been so long since I've posted. The school year seemed to begin at a breakneck speed this year. We had a handful of new students join our school this year and a new teacher too. Our school year schedule is also much different this year because our district petitioned the state to do a test run with a "Subsistence Calendar." The Subsistence Calendar is something we are trying, which involves operating a shortened school year from the beginning of September to the beginning of May.  The district is choosing to run it this way because many of our students are out participating in subsistence activities with their families from June - August and attendance tends to be poor. Also, by running a shortened school year we were able to save our budget and avoid cutting essential services and positions. You can read more about it here and here.

Somehow, in the midst of all of the insanity of the beginning of the school year, we've also been trying to make time for our own subsistence activities. We've been fishing, collecting plants, picking berries, and Cody has been taking advantage of the bird migrations and has been hunting geese and ducks. Our at-home time seems to be minimal, but that will shift a bit as the weather changes. It's already fall here on the Alaska peninsula and the winter weather is undoubtedly not far away. We had our first snowstorm in mid-October last year.

As the weather changes, I suspect some of the insanity that the first weeks of school have brought will die down too. I usually love the slow pace of fall and winter, so I can't wait to get into that part of the year. The time of laying on the couch and reading good books while drinking cocoa, or watching movies while eating freshly popped popcorn. I'm definitely looking forward to those days in the very near future.

Your turn...Is fall starting to settle in where you live? 
Currently listening to...Ends of the Earth - Lord Huron 

The End of Another School Year

School officially ended on Wednesday, and just like that I've wrapped up my fifth year of teaching, my first year of teaching in Pilot Point, and my first year as a Head Teacher. It's been a wild ride, but I'm so happy with how successful this year was.

We celebrated the end of the year in a variety of ways. The first celebration was on the Friday before school ended and we hosted a preschool graduation (we had no graduating high school kids this year), an awards ceremony, and a potluck. At this potluck, we had a video tribute to our school year, which was beautifully created by our high school teacher Melissa. I think everyone really loved the video, so I thought it would be fun to share it here too.

On Wednesday, the last day of school, we hosted a cookout on the beach for all of the students. It was such a fun, special way to end the year. The weather was perfect - sunny and in the upper 50's. We cooked hotdogs, played football and frisbee, and climbed some of the big hills surrounding the sandy beach. I loved getting to celebrate the final days of our school year together in such a neat way. It will definitely be a memory that I carry with me.

Our first official day of summer vacation brought about ultimate relaxation for Cody and I. We had planned ahead of time to stay in the village for awhile, which has turned out to be a great decision because we've been doing some really fun stuff. Melissa and Ben, the other teacher and her husband, left on Thursday afternoon, so we sadly had to say goodbye to them as soon as school got out. Unfortunately, they won't be returning next year. They definitely helped shape our year out here though, and I wish them all the best in their next adventures.

As the final days of our first year of adventures in Pilot Point draws to a close, I can't help but think about how thankful I am for this experience. This has probably been my best year of teaching, so far, and I know that Cody feels that he has really found a job that he loves too. In fact, Cody enjoys it so much that he is starting a teacher certification program in August, which he gets to attend for free thanks to two wonderful tuition reimbursement programs (one funded through our school district and one funded through our village). This experience has opened many doors for both of us, and I am happy that we will be retuning again next year.

Your turn...What are your summer plans? 
Currently listening to...Electric Feel - MGMT

Wanted: Teachers in Bush Alaska!

Pilot Point Needs a Teacher!

This past year has been a wild adventure, and Pilot Point has been the central setting to that adventure. Our time here has been largely shaped by the people, and more specifically the other teacher and her husband. Unfortunately though, Melissa and Ben will not be staying in Pilot Point next year. This means that the secondary position at our school is open. I, of course, am anxious to see who will fill the role. Pilot Point is a wonderful little community, and I want the very best for our kids. It's hard to recruit good teachers for the bush, and it's harder still to recruit for such a small site. However, even though we are small, there are a lot of good things about teaching in Pilot Point.

Lake and Peninsula School District is one of the best rural districts in the state. LPSD is the third district I've taught for in my career, and it's the best by a mile. The benefits package is great. The administration is supportive, consistent, and easy to work with. There is very little turnover, which is a HUGE deal for a bush district. Plus, we use a standards-based system of grading, which in my opinion trumps traditional grading in every way. 

The class sizes are small. If everything goes according to plan, Pilot Point should have fourteen students (K-12) next year. The secondary position would most likely involve teaching 7-8 students. Imagine how many cool activities you could do with a class that small! Not to mention, the relationships you'd form with your students would be non-comparable to those you'd form in a big school. 

With only two teachers, we are really free to design the school to be what we want it to be. Honestly, Pilot Point's size gives us a lot of freedom that even many of the other sites in our district don't have. Our principal is on site about 3-5 days per month, but the rest of the time we run the show (and our principal is great too, which helps). Curriculum, class set-ups, schedule, and everything else is completely up to us. This year we've had a blast getting to make the school into exactly what we want. At any other school you definitely wouldn't have this level of freedom. 

The kids are super amazing. Our kids are awesome! Seriously, our biggest behavioral issue is kids throwing the basketballs too hard in the gym. The relationships that we've been able to form throughout the year have really made a difference in the school climate, and now there really aren't any big problems. That being said, they're kids and they will push your buttons, but they are SO GOOD. 

The community is nice, safe, and supportive. I never feel unsafe walking around in Pilot Point. In fact, half the time I'm out walking people stop me to say hello or to ask me if I need a ride. Cody and I get invited to do stuff fairly frequently, whether it's dinner at someone's house or ice fishing on the weekend. It's quiet and very non-rowdy. We also have a VPSO, which definitely adds to the feeling of safety in the community. 

You'd get to work with ME! That's right - you get to work with me, and Cody, and I'll even let you play with our dogs. That right there - total selling point (ok, maybe not...still throwing it out there though!). 

Pilot Point is an awesome little village, and we need a teacher who is going to be the right fit for our school. A single person, a couple, or even a small family (our students would LOVE more kids to play with) would be great! If you or anyone you know would be interested in teaching in our little community, please feel free to contact me! 

Your turn...What are some of the "pros" to working at your job?

Currently listening to...Empire - Trampled by Turtles 

Five Things I Want Incoming Bush Teachers to Know

This weekend is the Alaska Teacher Placement (ATP) Job Fair. At the job fair, much of the recruiting for the upcoming school year is done. Teachers fly from all over to convene in Anchorage. In the coming weeks, other fairs will be held in Portland, Minneapolis, and Austin. In the past I've posted links and stories about topics I think are important for incoming teachers. Here you can find my post about "How to Find a Teaching Job in Alaska." Here you can find my post about "A Day in the Life of an Alaskan Bush Teacher." There are so many things that I think are important for new teachers, especially first year teachers, to know before they take the leap and head out on this great adventure.

With all of these things in mind, I thought I would share my top five tidbits that I think incoming bush teachers need to know. There are definitely more than just five important things to know, but these specific things have been on my mind lately and I wanted to share.

//Five Things I Want Incoming Bush Teachers to Know//

1. Teaching in the bush is unlike teaching anywhere else. There are a lot of unique things about living in rural Alaska, and teaching seems to further amplify all of them. For starters, your relationships with your students, especially in small sites, is extremely different than anywhere else. In urban areas, it would be seen as very inappropriate to have students at your house. In our community though, a chorus of, "can I visit??" follows us constantly. There are also many cultural norms, like raising your eyebrows to indicate that you agree, that you have to get used to. Because of all of these new things, it is incredibly important to be an adaptable person and to remember that you do not always know what is the best or the most culturally-relevant for your students. 
2. Involving yourself in the community is important. Many rural communities are used to teachers being very insular, or even leaving their village after mere months (heck, some teachers don't even make it off of the airplane). It can be hard for the locals to accept new teachers because of how often they've been burned in the past. It took us many months, but we've slowly worked our way into a routine of getting invited to do things out and about. Now, we regularly get invited to play cards, take a steam, go ice fishing, and etc. It definitely took time to form these relationships though, and we wouldn't be nearly as content with life here without them. 
3. You must be content with yourself. Teaching here is incredibly isolating in a lot of ways. As a person, you really have to be ok being alone with your own thoughts. A negative person or someone with self-destructive tendencies would struggle immensely in such an unforgiving place. Being content also applies to your family that comes to live in Alaska with you. Cody and I had to really work to create some kind of balance because we see each other 24hrs/day (literally). We work in the same classroom all day, we come home together, and then we repeat the next day. Our relationship has grown stronger, but it has also been tested. All personal and familial problems will be magnified, so it's important to weigh the considerations of your own sanity before you take the leap. 
4. The winters are long.  The Alaska Peninsula, where I live, experiences far less extreme temperatures and daylight patterns than much of Alaska. However, it doesn't matter where you are in this state - the winter will be long. The sun won't rise until after 10am, and it will be dark by the time you get out of work. In some places, you may not see the sun for months. Some people, like myself, don't mind the lack of sun too much. There is a big difference between "not minding" something and "being happy" about something though. If you are new to the state, the winters will affect you. Take some vitamin D, stock up on hobbies, and make sure that you are keeping yourself busy and happy. 
5. The kids will get very attached to you, and vice versa. The kids in rural Alaska can be amazing. I may be a bit biased, but I think Pilot Point kids are some of the world's best. They are kind, thoughtful, loving, affectionate, smart, witty, and independent. My relationship with my students is so personal because we see each other every single day. We work one-on-one in our classroom, they follow me on walks after school, and on the weekends they help me grocery shop. Early in the year, we didn't have such a close relationship. They were, understandably, a bit slow-to-warm because of how regular teacher turnover has been here. As the months passed though, and they realized we were committed to staying all year, their warmth towards me (and Cody) grew exponentially. 

Teaching in the bush is an amazing adventure. However, it isn't for everyone. For us, living in the bush seems to work, and we intend to keep doing what we're doing for the foreseeable future. In fact, my contract has already been signed for next year. We will be returning to Pilot Point in August for another year of adventure and wonder.

As always, if you're interested in coming to the bush - send me a message! I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have and offer support, advice, or just an ear to bounce ideas off of.

Your turn...What are some tips you would like to offer newbies at your job?
Currently listening to...Love is All - Tallest Man on Earth

Holiday Potluck & Performance

Holiday performances are a staple of public schools everywhere.  Poems, skits, songs, and dance are all part of the normal routine. Here in Pilot Point, things are no different. The students practiced endlessly for the two weeks leading up to Christmas Break.  They prepared three songs, two poems, and we even invited the crowd to join us for a quick verse of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." The students looked adorable, and helped design their own cute costumes. Their performance was a hit!

Following the performance, we invited everyone to join us for a potluck, which is a very traditional part of life in the bush. Members of our community brought spaghetti, casserole, dinner rolls, veggies, fruit punch, cupcakes, rhubarb pie, and so much more.  The families really turned out and provided some great dishes to help us celebrate.

As a part of our performance we also ran a food drive. We collected food for the two weeks leading up the the event, and then families could sign-up to receive it at the potluck. Enough food was collected that we ended up passing out food to many families.  It felt so good to give back to the community for the holiday season!

After the performance, it was time for the adults to celebrate. A couple of our local friends threw a Christmas party and we headed over to their house following the potluck. It was so fun to get out and socialize with some of the adults in the community.  We tend get stuck in a routine of going to school and then heading home, but being able to get out and enjoy drinks, laughs, and good food with other adults from the community was a perfect way to wrap-up the school semester. 

Your turn...Are you participating in any holiday events this year? 

Currently listening to...Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland 

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

My First Week as a Bush Teacher

This year, I began my fifth year of teaching, three of which have been spent in Alaska.  Last Wednesday marked my first official day as a teacher in the Alaskan bush though, which is something I've dreamt about for many years now.  On top of that, it also marked my first day as Head Teacher, a position that has already proven to be incredibly involved.

Sunrise views on the way to school. 

I spent countless days, many of which I worked 12+ hours, preparing for the first day of school.  My classroom needed a complete overhaul, the school itself needed a facelift - mostly an injection of cheer - and there was a mounting number of students I needed to individualize instruction for each day.  Luckily, it all started to fall into place on Tuesday night, much to my intense relief.

The entire certified teaching staff at Pilot Point School. 

Cody and Ben (the other teacher's husband) worked to do many little projects around the school while myself and Melissa (the other teacher) went to teacher inservice. That helped immensely in the general "get ready" of the school building and it's main rooms.  Cody helped do a lot of decorating projects for my classroom too, and it really came together into something I'm proud of, and I think the kids like it too. I've had many compliments from students and community members.

After doing all of the prep work, it was finally time for the first day. Our principal and the district curriculum director flew out to our school for a couple of days to help us organize and make it through the first week successfully. Their presence really helped kick the year off right, while putting us on a good track for academics in the school.

The kids were excited and super sweet. They are definitely different than the kids I've grown used to on Beaver Island and in Juneau, but different is just what I was looking for in a classroom experience, so I'm happy to have found it.  I'm adjusting to many little cultural things in the classroom, such as the quietness (classroom discussions take much prompting) and nonverbal communication (raised eyebrows is the equivalent of answering a question "yes").  As the week drew to a close though I felt more at ease with all of the little nuances.

View of the school, from across the lake. 

Overall, it's been a fun and wonderful adjustment so far, but it's also been the most work I've ever had to put into a job.  I'm working long hours during the week, and probably another 8-ish on the weekends. As the year goes on, I'm really anticipating the amount of outside work to decrease, it's just the initial adjustment that takes time. Until then, I'm still trucking along out here, making the most out of our little life in bush Alaska.

Your turn...What is your favorite part about your job? 
Currently listening to... Red River Valley - Woody Guthrie 

Teacher Inservice

Three days after landing in the village, I had to do a quick turn-around and fly back to King Salmon for our teacher inservice.  Much like our first flight out to the village, the flight back to King Salmon was unpredictable.  We were told the day that we'd be leaving, but the airline had no exact time to give us, and instructed us just to "call back the day of your flight."  So, at 8:30am on the morning of our flight I called and asked.  We were told that we'd be flying out of the village around 2:30pm.  Lo and behold, at noon our school cook (who also works at the airport) came zooming up on his Honda to tell us the plane was on the way.  Me, with a half-packed bag, then had to rush to the airport feeling unprepared.

The flight to King Salmon went well, and it was nice to get to go to "town" for a couple of days (King Salmon has a decently stocked store and a couple of restaurants). The first three days of training were only for those teachers who were new to the district.  The daytime part of the training was fairly typical, with the exception being our "village safety" portion that dealt with wildlife interactions. The nighttime portion was very different though.  Our superintendent and a few other administrators taught us about subsistence fishing and we set a net on the beach at low tide.  Then, a few hours later (during high tide) we came back and collected the net. They taught us how to fillet the fish we caught in the net, and later we'd cook them up for dinner. 

We also got to stay at this great little lodge in town, where all of the new teachers could get together and bond in the evenings.  It was really nice to get to form bonds with some of the other new teachers, all of whom will share the school and village experiences we will be collecting in the coming months. 

On the third day, they flew us out to Katmai Lodge, which is a very remote wilderness lodge on the Alagnak River.  This portion of our training included the whole staff and lasted three days.  It was, by far, the best teacher inservice I've ever attended. Our days were spent doing some typical workshop-type sessions, but we spent 75% of our time working in small groups to plan our yearly schedule and work with curriculum.  It was super productive and helpful. Then, in the evenings we were free to enjoy the lodge to its fullest.  We could get massages, take a steam in the sauna, go on a wildlife viewing adventure, have a bonfire, or (my personal favorite) take a guided fly fishing tour.  

Fourteen of the female teachers, including myself, went out one night on a five-hour guided tour.  It was a complete blast! We caught a ton of fish, which we could choose to cook up right there on the river and eat, or take back to the lodge and have it prepared to take home with us.  I ended up bringing home six BIG fillets for Cody and I, which are currently hanging out in our deep freeze. We also got some free wildlife viewing in on our trip.  We saw a ton of bears, moose, eagles, and there was even a wolf hiding on the riverbank.  It was the experience of a lifetime, without a doubt. 

Inservice was a hugely beneficial experience in many ways.  We got invaluable time to meet as individual sites and plan out our year, we learned many ins and outs of new curriculum programs, and we bonded as a whole-district staff, which is important in such isolated places.  I'm very excited to see what the year brings, because I'm feeling ridiculously good about my district choice at the moment. 

Your turn...Have you ever been to a cool staff inservice/meeting? 

Currently listening to... Big Parade - The Lumineers