Weekend boat ride

I have spent many evenings lately with some really good friends. We've gone out looking for moose and seals. We've had dinner over a fire on the tundra. We've been in some pretty rainy weather and seen some really beautiful sunsets. We've laughed a little... Okay, we've laughed A LOT! I am so grateful for these friends and the memories we make each trip. 

Here are a few pictures from this weekend's boat ride... Enjoy!

Greg and Kinsey headed out to look for moose with Jimmy

Great day for a boat ride!

Ready to look for some moose!

This kid never fails to make me laugh.

Chasing some mukluk.

Got some good laughs hearing these two little kiddos when they'd spot the seal.

Gotta be ready!

A little duck hunting on the way...

Dinner time!

Agatha forgot forks... Greg found a good one!

So sassy!

World's best hunting guide right there... :) If the boat driver sleeps, the moose come out. 

Beautiful evening with some of my favorites.

This was my Saturday trip... Chased seals for most of the afternoon, then looked for moose for a few hours after dinner. No luck with either animal, but there's plenty of time left before freeze up! Thanks again Greg and Agatha (and Pius and Gregory) for taking me out!

xoxo,

SJ

Year 3.

I would've never thought that on the eve of my third year teaching the thought that would be running through my head most is, "Man I can't wait until I can sit criss cross with my kids or to lesson plan..." Oh how things change when you have unexpected knee surgery over the summer. ;)

It was a great summer filled with trainings for work, sitting in Paisley with my knee propped up, plenty of laughter and almost enough family. However, I must admit I am VERY happy to be home in Alakanuk. Coming in 2 weeks ago, my heart began to swell with joy the smaller the planes got.

We spent the past week and a half in trainings for new Language Arts curriculum, new behavior management framework, and unpacking a completely packed up school. I am sad to say that my lesson planning was a bit rushed tonight since I didn't get it started until after 9 tonight, but I am happy that school is almost here!

I am very excited about this year. I have been able to attend some trainings over the summer for some awesome programs, Wonders (new K-6 Language Arts curriculum) and elementary CM (constructing meaning--to support our English Language Learners). I am super excited to implement these in my classroom and help my students learn and grow!

I will blog more this week with some pictures and updates of what I have done the past two weeks besides working because, belive me, there was plenty of fun too! :)

Cheers folks. Here's to the best school year yet! :)

xoxo
SJ

Jumpstart!!

So, the past two days I have been part of a group of educators who are so excited about the new literacy program that they gave up a few days of their summer break in order to get some extra training on the new curriculum for next year.

I must admit, in all my nerdiness, that I had already checked out most of the program prior to this jumpstart. However, at the end of day two, I feel very confident that if our teachers stick with it, follow the program, and set up those routines, we WILL see success.

Tomorrow begins the Alaska State Literacy Institute. I am excited about it too. As far as I can tell, we'll be looking at the new Alaska State Standards (which are very similar to Common Core, but with a few additional standards including culturally relevant standards). I am excited about it, I've been able to have lots of time here recently to look at curriculum, standards, assessments and how that will all look in my classroom next year.

All in all, I am VERY pleased that I was given the opportunity to attend the Jumpstart training for the past two days and I am so excited to see what the next 3 days hold for me.

Looking for closure...

River is still pretty frozen....

Temps are still in the 20s....

I missed the last 3 days of school with my kiddos...

Where is the closure on this school year and the mark of the beginning of summer??

I must admit I have  been truly blessed for the past 2 years of my life... I have many fabulous friends who've added so much richness and happiness to my life... I live in a BEAUTIFUL place among some of the kindest, funniest, most generous people I've met... I get to experience a new culture and become part of a community that is so much like the one I grew up in...

I have a wonderful job. I've been able to be part of so many interesting, fun, exciting things like coaching co-ed volleyball, girls basketball, chaperoning dances and student travel, coaching elementary, team teaching, trainings, curriculum selection, and, most recently, curriculum mapping. (Man, that looks like an overuse of commas!! Is it?)

With all this curriculum surrounding me this week, I had an epiphany. I am a nerd... But not just any nerd, no sir. I am a curriculum nerd. While I must admit that sitting on my bum for 8 hours a day the past 3 days was difficult, I thoroughly enjoyed mapping out our language arts curriculum for next school year. Makes me sooooo excited for August to come!

This week has also got me thinking about potential options for my career to go... I'm not making any life changes as of yet... And I'm not jumping ship from my AUK boat, but I'm looking at possibilities at a district office in the curriculum department... Options as a reading specialist... Obviously, it takes more than 2 or 3 days of discussing it with people I highly respect and trust to make this choice. And honestly, this change won't happen next school year. Its just all potential possibilities...

The world is my oyster, right? The possibilities are endless... With a little determination, a ton of hard work, and a pinch of fun, I can do anything. Right?

Here's to a night of cleaning and packing, one final work day at school, a night of relaxation then 5 days of literacy stuff in Anchorage... (I told you I was a curriculum-and especially literacy- nerd... Giving up my first week of summer to be part of the two seminars.)

Do you love your job?

So, tonight as I browsed my facebook feed, I ran across my good friend Sam's blog post about loving your job... It got me to thinking, how much do I love my job? 

Most days, I love it completely... Getting to play P.E., read kids books, have snack, play out in the sunshine are all things I look forward to daily. However, what I look forward to MORE is watching my students learn... Seeing the progression of skills as they learn letter names and sounds, blend them into words, the begin to read connected text. I jump for joy (sometimes literally) as they recall things taught many months ago... I become ecstatic when they ask to practice addition facts rather than have a few minutes of free time... 

Other days, my job is a bit harder... More than 50% of the class not listening, running around the room, trying everything they can think of to get me angry... Teaching something but feeling like I'm talking to a wall and trying to brainstorm how to come at it from a different angle in order to reach them...

There are times I look at the clock and try to figure out how the heck the whole day (and sometimes evening) have gone by without me realizing it... And other days that the hours just drag on.

This doesn't hardly touch the WHY part of my love for my job... I think it could simply be broken down to 3 things... 1. My students who are so eager to learn, 2. The challenge of doing the best I can even when I don't feel like doing anything, and 3. The exciting opportunities to learn FROM my kids every day.

Sam posted in his blog his results to this little quiz... I'm going to share mine as well. :)

1. You don’t talk about other people; you talk about the cool things other people are doing.

I love talking to others about what they're doing!! There is soooooo much to be learned from my peers! 

2. You think, “I hope I get to…” instead of, “I hope I don’t have to…”

Ha, I'm constantly looking for new exciting ways to do things, opportunities to become a better teacher, chances to work with different kids through different sports, after school programs, etc.

3. You see your internal and external customers not as people to satisfy but simply as people.

I don't understand what internal and external customers means... So I can't vote on this one.

4. You enjoy your time at work.

How can you not love it when you're sitting criss-cross applesauce reading books with 15 munchkins or playing basketball with them?

5. You would recommend working at your company to your best friend…

I do try to recruit teacher friends all the time to join me!

6. You enjoy attending meetings.

Hmm... Some meetings I do. However, it seems as if most of the meetings lately have been centered around complaints and frustrations about how things are going rather than ideas for how we can change things... Minus half point

7. You don’t think about surviving. You think about winning.

You don't worry much about losing your job. You're more worried about not achieving your potential. Not being as impactful as you can.<--I think thats a good summary of how I feel... 

8. You see your manager as a person you work with, not for.

I'm not sure... I haven't always felt the respect from my Instructional Leader, nor have I felt the support I've asked for... I'm gonna say no on this one. Minus a point

9. You don’t want to let your coworkers down.

I think I care less about letting the other teachers down and more about not letting my classified staff down. I think there are too many teachers out here using Bush Alaska schools as a stepping stone to get to somewhere bigger and better that they don't always care. BUT our classified staff members are rooted in this community (Much like I hope to someday be) and as teachers come and go, they're the stability that keeps the school running.

In all reality, at the beginning of each and everyday, my goal is to not let my students down.

10. You hardly ever look at the clock.

This is so not true--but only because the clock tells me when to move to the next lesson, when to go to lunch, when to let the kids have a bathroom break, etc. However, after 3:30 when my kids are home, I don't often look at the clock. In the spring time, if I'm not out riding my snow machine, it can be 6 or 7 in the evening before I realize it... I also beat everyone to school (most days), getting there between 6:30 and 7 when contract time isn't until 8.

11. You view success in terms of fulfillment and gratification – not just promotions and money.

I hate that teachers get paid so much better here in the bush than they do elsewhere, especially the lower 48. I think that teachers should love their job and continue to live somewhere BECAUSE they love it, not because they've created a lifestyle that they can't support on a salary anywhere else. 

I can honestly say that I could make half or a quarter of what I make now, and I would still love to do my job in AUK.

12. You leave work with items on your to-do list you’re excited about tackling tomorrow.

Hmm... I feel like my to-do list never gets smaller, and I don't think the continuous "grade papers, clean classroom" tasks are ever things I'm super excited about... Minus a point

13. You help without thinking.

Absolutely. Ask my coworkers.

14. You don’t think about retirement… because retirement sounds boring…

…and a lot less fulfilling. ... and I'll probably end up teaching until I die. :)

How many of the above statements apply to you and your job?

Total it up and you end up with 11.5...... Not too shabby for a job thats 2 days flying away from all my family, eh? :)

If you said:

0-3: You may want to find a new job. Life is too short.

4-6: You don't hate your job... but you don't love it either. What can you do differently?

7-10: You really enjoy your job and the people you work with

11-14: You are deeply, madly in love with your job! (and your friends are jealous!)

Happy Earth Day...

One final rant for the day... People are all anti-loggers because they think loggers simply clear-cut and move on to the next money making job... You're right, if that was how loggers were, then we'd be out of trees in no time and everyone knows the problems that'd cause. As a loggers daughter, former wildland firefighter, and girl who can't keep her trap shut, I say this... Loggers are the best caregivers for the forest. Back in the good old days (yes, before I was born), when the government allowed loggers to do their jobs and make a living, loggers would bid a sale, log it, then RE-PLANT the area. Hello people. Its the EXACT SAME THING farmers do each year... They harvest their product (for all of us to consume) then they RE-PLANT.

The problem with logging doesn't come from the logging companies or the individual timber fallers, knot bumpers, choke setters, etc. It comes from the forest service environmentalists who don't understand the cycle of a logger.

In addition, with the drastic decrease of timber sales came the drastic INCREASE of wildland fires. (No, I don't have statistics to back this up, but hear me out). Walk through the woods in Lake County. You'll be sad to see dead pine trees, some standing, some down. You'll see underbrush and debris all over the forest floor. The government is poorly mismanaging the forests. They aren't allowing loggers to remove and replant trees but the government also isn't allowing wildland firefighters to do their jobs to the full extent meaning controlled and prescribed burns to eliminate much of that debris on the forest floor.

On another, not completely unrelated note, back in the 80s schools were funded by timber dollars. In places like Paisley, where the timber industry was thriving, the school was in great shape! The kids were given a great education, the community population was more than simply retired folk or the families who'd been there for a hundred years. Businesses were doing well, economy was great. With the decline of the timber dollars in general and as a source of funding for public schools, schools have struggled. I remember when I was in 3rd and 4th grade, people in Paisley talked about how the school wouldn't be able to afford to operate the next year let alone long enough for me to graduate. When I was in 7th or 8th grade Paisley School District became a charter district which, among other things, gave them $100,000 over 3 years which helped it stay afloat. I have no idea what their current situation is, but I do know that if timber dollars (and, thus, the timber industry in So. Central Oregon) was still responsible for part of that funding, the kids in my home county would likely have many more opportunities.

Its amazing what the removal of an entire industry does to a community who heavily relied on that industry... Think of the jobs lost when the mill closed in Paisley... The mill workers, the road crews who kept the roads in the woods in good shape (I don't know, Dad, was this part of the logger's responsibility in the prime logging days too?), the loggers (and all the men/women employed by those companies), and the businesses in the towns around those logging operations/mill yards who benefitted from said working folk who'd go out to dinner, do local grocery shopping, etc.

Did I write this to get people all fired up? No, but maybe it will get you to thinking about the logging industry and the benefits. I know this post won't change anything in the broader scope, but you all know that once I get up on my soapbox, its darn hard to get me down... So, just remember, Sammy Jo is a fan of loggers, but also a fan of proper forest management.

Cheers!! And I welcome some good debate about this... Get ahold of me, I'd love to chat. I'll even be respectful when listening and considering your points!

Loving the Long Days

So, we've been seriously blessed with some beautiful weather to accompany our longer days. I've taken advantage of the sunshine for the past 3 weeks by getting out and trying to earn new freckles... Sometimes that's been by going for a run, sometimes for a ride, or sometimes to sit on the steps in the sunshine and read for my spelling class. At any rate, I'm happy for the 20-30s temps, the sunshine, and the long days.

The most exciting of all the things that happened this week was that I FINALLY was able to double my mileage from the beginning of this year... Last riding season I ended with 897.5 miles on my new ski doo... Yesterday, I rolled over to 1795 miles... Then I hit another milestone--1800. :) Thats the first video and picture.

Yesterday afternoon we took off for Emmonak to get a few groceries... Mostly I wanted to go for the sun on my face. :) On the way back, I stopped because I hadn't noticed for a year an a half but there is a cool old wooden boat toward the end of our slough. I saw it last weekend, maybe, but didn't take the time to check it out. We got back to AUK from EMO around 530 or 6 last night, so I figured I had plenty of time to go check it out... Jana, Culea, and Nathaniel all joined me in the exploration. Here are a few fun pictures and a video of Nathaniel jumping off one of the logs sticking out of the bank.

Rackin' 'em up!

 What a fabulously ridiculous coworker. Ha! Nathaniel jumping off the log.

Even in Bush Alaska, they know to go with Caterpillar. 

My shadow... ALWAYS following me everywhere... Ha.

Some random stuff by the boiler.

An old boiler.

I'm not sure what this is, I didn't wander that direction... Best guess is another boat??

The rudder. Is that what they're called??

"What is that?"-Culea
"Its a caterpillar."-Sammy
"What?! Where?"-Jana
"Not a bug kind, Jana, the diesel kind."-Sammy
"Oh, I was gonna be real surprised if you saw a bug..."-Jana
(She was inside the boat checking it out, she didn't actually see this yet, I don't think.)

I was trying to see if I could find a year on it... I can barely make out the model number...

Reminds me of the boat in Forrest Gump... Or maybe from
The Little Mermaid. Ha!

How could you resist that sunshine on your face?! 

Pretty sure we should be an advertisement for ski doo...  Or at least Alaska Mining and Diving...

How did I miss this fun last year?!

I'm obviously a Carlon... Super excited about the old Caterpillar parts. :)

Jana needed a boost, so I pushed on her butt... I needed a boost, so she pulled me up.
Such good friends. :)

Preparing for takeoff!

If you look closely, you can see my left arm through Culea's finger... Ha.

Thats where I landed... Felt my back compress on impact then  upper back slightly go out (??) as  I fell forward... Ha.

Best friend in the Bush... Carhartts.