I thought I'd post a short blog because I've been posting on fridays and wanted to get one done early this week in case I forget. The Autumn barge is here and this is what the administrator wrote. It must have been a typing error but it sure sounds funny. He wrote" Now we await the Autumn Barge to bring janitorial and fool service supplies, paper rolls and more. Hummm! I know he must have meant food service.
Our school had a fun friday where many teachers K-12 had fun activities for their students at the final friday of the month. The highschool side even had a High school art show because they have a new aide helping out with art classes this semester. Here is a picture of my classrooms fun friday.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11197724@N03/1464332715/
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
End of September, 2007
The month flew by so fast, it's already October. This last week, Noel, the kindergarten teacher I work with, and I took a stroll around the village with the students to take pictures of the students with their pets. We were to use the pictures for writing projects. It was a fun adventure and its amazing what names the students come up with for their dogs names. It seemed to make the students write more when a picture was included for the writing. The junior high and highschool are getting ready for NYO, and the Chefornak school eskimo dance team is already practicing each friday for an hour and a half. Our school is sort of running out of supplies because our school supply barge that usually comes during the summer dropped off our school supply's at a neighboring village Kipnuk for some reason and some of the supplies had to be brought over here by plane.
Our scenery is starting to get fall colors and with the rain finally slowly going away we are having great rainbows appear in the sky. It was fun to watch them during a recent boat ride. Hope all is well with everyone. Take care now! Bye!
Our scenery is starting to get fall colors and with the rain finally slowly going away we are having great rainbows appear in the sky. It was fun to watch them during a recent boat ride. Hope all is well with everyone. Take care now! Bye!
Friday, September 21, 2007
Subsistence issues and school
In the Chefornak Schools I have learned that the students are given one day per week to hunt if they bring a note from home and clear the note through the pricipal. He calls up the parent who wrote the note to make sure that the trip is necessary for the family. The schools main interest is that the young men (usually its the young men in the school) highschool and junior high accompany their dads or relatives on hunting to learn the skills. When they need to make up the missed school day. it is the students responsibility to make up the work, the school does provide supervised after-school study halls three evenings per week.
The school schedules are not adjusted for subsistence activites. During this time the subsistence activites include seal hunting for migrating seals heading south, hunting for mostly cacklers, canadian geese and ducks, fishing for certain fish, clamming, berry picking. mouse food gathering before the snow falls, and then their are some certain plants right after freeze up, you can pick off from the ponds. So spring and fall are very active times here especially when the birds are migrating north or south. Towards fall it's mostly to pick berries. Once the freeze up begans the young mens subsistence activities taper off.
Our school has seemed to have worked out the issue of subsistence activities by addressing the issue to the parents. It seems most parents are supportive of the school attendance policy. As for the teachers and aides that need to pursue subsistence activities, they take annual/personal leave as provided in policy. My husband who is a secondary teacher tries to save his leaves for the spring time especially because of the seal hunting season. I have also asked another certified male teacher here and he said the same thing about saving leaves for the spring seal hunt. I guess the leaves would depend on the regions where people live as to when they can take them. I know in our area, the subsistence activities we do are usually late in the season during the fall time, while the areas up river from the Kuskokwim do early subsistence activities in the fall, then the subsistence activites reverses itself in the spring, where the coastal activites occur earlier in the spring and later in the upriver areas of Alaska. I think this subsistence activites "time span" would be a vital issue to be considered if a state or school district were going to issue a manditory law or requirement. I think they should even consider why the students are coming to school so sleepy in the mornigs during the fall and during the spring. (I think sleepy kids has something to do with the subsistence activities at home).
The photo is of one activity some people do as they are out on their subsistence activities.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/upload/done/
The school schedules are not adjusted for subsistence activites. During this time the subsistence activites include seal hunting for migrating seals heading south, hunting for mostly cacklers, canadian geese and ducks, fishing for certain fish, clamming, berry picking. mouse food gathering before the snow falls, and then their are some certain plants right after freeze up, you can pick off from the ponds. So spring and fall are very active times here especially when the birds are migrating north or south. Towards fall it's mostly to pick berries. Once the freeze up begans the young mens subsistence activities taper off.
Our school has seemed to have worked out the issue of subsistence activities by addressing the issue to the parents. It seems most parents are supportive of the school attendance policy. As for the teachers and aides that need to pursue subsistence activities, they take annual/personal leave as provided in policy. My husband who is a secondary teacher tries to save his leaves for the spring time especially because of the seal hunting season. I have also asked another certified male teacher here and he said the same thing about saving leaves for the spring seal hunt. I guess the leaves would depend on the regions where people live as to when they can take them. I know in our area, the subsistence activities we do are usually late in the season during the fall time, while the areas up river from the Kuskokwim do early subsistence activities in the fall, then the subsistence activites reverses itself in the spring, where the coastal activites occur earlier in the spring and later in the upriver areas of Alaska. I think this subsistence activites "time span" would be a vital issue to be considered if a state or school district were going to issue a manditory law or requirement. I think they should even consider why the students are coming to school so sleepy in the mornigs during the fall and during the spring. (I think sleepy kids has something to do with the subsistence activities at home).
The photo is of one activity some people do as they are out on their subsistence activities.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/upload/done/
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Fall comes blowing
Fall comings blowing wind from the south all week. I bet after this we will get a frost. It's time!! I have started my classes and I am taking Alaska Native Education/ED420 (as some of you are). The assigned book that caught my attention was by Deloria, J. Vine & Wildcat. It caught my attention because some native educators, not just from Alaska, are finally realizing the idea the book is talking about. That is why it has been so strongly reccommended that native history be recorded, not especially from a western view, but from a native view. I really like the book and it is very easy to read. I have already reccomended it to several of the native teachers in the school I work at.
I attended a school board meeting this week at our school and it was good to hear good things happening to the highschool graduates from our school. It was also interesting to hear what was going on in other areas of the school, not just where I usually work at. I might attend another meeting just to hear what's going on besides the kindergarten room I usually work in. Tua-i-ki -tak that means thats it for me. Have to get back to my life. God Bless! take care!
I attended a school board meeting this week at our school and it was good to hear good things happening to the highschool graduates from our school. It was also interesting to hear what was going on in other areas of the school, not just where I usually work at. I might attend another meeting just to hear what's going on besides the kindergarten room I usually work in. Tua-i-ki -tak that means thats it for me. Have to get back to my life. God Bless! take care!
Sunday, September 2, 2007
flickr slideshow
I did a project on my family and community. I didn't get a chance to put in a picture of my husband and oldest son. This flickrslidr is kind of tricky to use. As a teacher I think I would mostly use it with the highschool students or older because they would just be more patient with the program. I couldn't tell if the comments I wrote down for the pictures showed up with the slideshow.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
First week of September
Fall colors are appearing fast on the tundra. My oldest son is off with his uncle to hunt moose on the Yukon. Its at least a three to four day trip. I have been busy picking blackberries and feel my body is sore from the activity. Anyway my family and I engoy the results once we've eaten!!
We're going into our third week of school and sort of getting into a shedule of daily activities. Our first school board meeting is sheduled for the week of Sept 11th. We've already had a school assembly, parent assembly where suprisingly the bleachers got full of parents. Our school is a bustle of activities and even visitors from two prism companies. I feel that our school is overcrowded though and really needs an addition or even a new building for the highschool. One of the teachers was asking for parent help because they are expecting to graduate at least a dozen highschool this year. Three new teachers were added to our school, one is a science teacher, a social studies teacher and a special ed teacher from Florida, shes complaning it is too cold here already and states Florida is a good retirement place because its nice and warm. I feel sorry for the new science teacher because his room is so small and people are always passing his class on their way to other classes. I hope we get something done soon.
On to my panraven project again. Appearently I forgot to hit "share" when I finished the project so I went back to the program and hit "share" and put down everybody's email addresses. Live and learn!! That's what I like about panraven, you can go back to it anytime and edit it. Not like this blogspot where once you hit enter, its done. So I hope my panraven worked "this time" and this is my blog for this week. I enjoying reading everyone elses blogspots, its like getting letters in the mail.
We're going into our third week of school and sort of getting into a shedule of daily activities. Our first school board meeting is sheduled for the week of Sept 11th. We've already had a school assembly, parent assembly where suprisingly the bleachers got full of parents. Our school is a bustle of activities and even visitors from two prism companies. I feel that our school is overcrowded though and really needs an addition or even a new building for the highschool. One of the teachers was asking for parent help because they are expecting to graduate at least a dozen highschool this year. Three new teachers were added to our school, one is a science teacher, a social studies teacher and a special ed teacher from Florida, shes complaning it is too cold here already and states Florida is a good retirement place because its nice and warm. I feel sorry for the new science teacher because his room is so small and people are always passing his class on their way to other classes. I hope we get something done soon.
On to my panraven project again. Appearently I forgot to hit "share" when I finished the project so I went back to the program and hit "share" and put down everybody's email addresses. Live and learn!! That's what I like about panraven, you can go back to it anytime and edit it. Not like this blogspot where once you hit enter, its done. So I hope my panraven worked "this time" and this is my blog for this week. I enjoying reading everyone elses blogspots, its like getting letters in the mail.
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