-Today the aide of one of my intensive needs students was sick and couldn’t come in. We COULD NOT find a sub for her so I got to be the sub. Long day- enough said. Love the kids- but still a long day... I need to start bringing in treats for all of my aides!
-So while I was subbing today I went to lunch with my student and starting thinking about differences between school and here. Now there are SO MANY differences but for right now I can only name a few.
1- the kids eat in the gym- there are about 8 tables set up I believe. When they are finished eating they play in the gym for a little bit before class (their ‘recess’) We don’t have playgrounds here because, well, you would just sink into the ground. There is a ‘basketball court’ outside of the school but it is made completely of boardwalk boards and there are big holes in it which kids can easily get hurt on.
2- Kids are obsessed with guns here... but it is normal. In the lower 48 we don’t talk about/draw/pretend to have a gun. In Kong- my students are constantly pretending to be shooting something. When I gave my boys blocks today- one made a gun and the other an airplane. I can’t even tell you the number of times I walk through the hall and see a student ‘aiming’ at something.
3- My number one excuse for a student missing cross country practice is- HUNTING
4- When people come in from out of town- they stay in the classrooms. My room is the popular room because it has a ‘bed/changing table’ in it. I have visitors in my room from today (Wednesday) through Monday.
5- Any teachers out there will understand this.... at the end of the day you are ready to just go home and have your students go home. HERE... your door will be knocked on endlessly with students ‘wanting to visit’... every day of the week. I am sure this means they want to play with Moose more than visit me though.
---I am sure there are many more differences but I can not think of what to compare. I will take any suggestions...
**I recently heard from another teacher that the only flu virus in Alaska currently is Swine Flu. I have also heard various rumors about people in my village and in Bethel with Swine Flu..... any one else hear anything about this?
~And now I need to leave you with a FUNNY story! I mentioned that on Sunday Rachel, Garnet, Midnight, Moose and I went on a long walk to the graveyard and back. What I forgot to mention was the highlight of the trip... sorta. As we were walking on the boardwalk.... we go over a long elevated (bridge) section of the boardwalk which goes over a large creek/little river. I was in the front of the group and noticed a large board was missing. It was about the width of my foot... pretty big. I stopped and said “O wow someone could fall through this!” just as the others were approaching. Unfortunately I was not paying attention (imagine that) and Moose walked right up beside me and fell straight down. Actually... not exactly straight down- he tried holding on with his front paws... they slipped and he his the board that fell on his way down. He landed in this tall grass on the tundra below and was soaked!
The grass was taller than him- he tried hopping around and then just started crying. I felt SO BAD for him but still managed to take a couple of pictures. LUCKILY one of the students had been following us on his bike and ran into the wet tundra to save Moose’s life!
I hope you enjoyed that story at Moose’s expense...~
Moose still hasn’t made many friends- except Rachel’s cat. They LOVE to play together! He has however been watching the other dogs and learned to growl and bark- lovely. He doesn’t do it much but I am worried about what is to come.
OH FYI! So I THINK a teaching position is opening here in Kong in January for a maternity leave sub. It will be 12 weeks long- let me know if you are interested!
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