I thought that being a teacher in Alaska would change me completely into a different person. In a way I have changed but I struggle to not let my job define my whole life. Yes, parts of me will be and already is greatly influenced by being a high school math teacher. But I am trying to learn how to have my own life outside of school. I have had "seasoned" teachers ask me what I like to do outside of work and I honestly haven't had much of that outside life yet. Don't worry though! I am taking steps to find how I fit in my life here in Dillingham. A big part is finding a church that I can have friends that aren't all teachers and can challenge me spiritually. The three churches I have been to so far have positives and negatives so I am praying that God will show me which one is best for me. Also I try to do fun things with my housemates either out of the house or at home. Our thing is to watch Northern Exposure a TV show that is place in Alaska. We get to laugh together about it and just spend some quality time. Here they are!
But enough about that, I really want to tell you about the school, my colleagues, and my students. We are the Wolverines and there are five sports here: cross-country, wrestling, volleyball, and boys and girls basketball. Also we have NYO in the spring which is Native Youth Olympics. The clubs consist of Drama with a show in the spring, Pep Band, Student Council, and sometimes a science club. The school and the community college are very connected and often you see professors walking the halls. I get to work with a professor on bringing Calculus dual credit for my students during the second semester. Recently the college brought to my attention another possibility for my lower level students dual credit in math by using lots of hands mathematics in construction. I am really hopeful for this to work out because it would be great for these students to feel accomplished on having a college math credit even before they graduate from school! This accomplishment is usually provided for students who are academically succeeding in school.
My coworkers are great!! Instantly I connected with the science/math teacher who is across the hall from me, Tara. There is another math teacher who is mainly middle school but also has two high school classes, Andrew. His wife is the PE teacher at the HS/MS and she is a sweetheart, Meghan. One of the English teachers who has a lot of my students is named Andria and I know after we get to know each other, we will really get along! She has traveled quite a bit and has some of the same desires for the high schoolers as I do. My classroom neighbor is awesome at making sure I am doing well and gives me many opportunities to talk about my day, Nathan. He is great at giving advice and has been apart of the school community for a longer time than most. My principal is great and seems to be supporting us in all ways for teaching our students.
Instantly, I knew that my students would be like any other set of students found around the world in thinking about whether I have "good" or "bad" students. With this said, I feel like my students are behind in math skills compared to other schools. This means that I have lots to work with my students and supporting them by giving opportunities to succeed and learn. My classes are as follows: a lower level Algebra class that consists mainly of 9th and 10th graders, Geometry which are 10th graders, Informal Geometry which is geometry without the algebra, Algebra 2 which are 11th graders, and Calculus! The first day was definitely the most tiring day compared to the rest of the first week. I really enjoyed getting started with the content and already I see students starting to learn. The school is on a block schedule therefore Monday classes are 55 minutes, Tuesday-Thursday 80 minutes two days, and Friday 41 minutes. Every Friday afternoon we have in-service and meetings. Teaching hasn't changed much from being in college. What I mean is that you are working on school work at all different times of the day. The only difference is I get paid!!!
This weekend my housemates and I went to Aleknagik Lake which is the next town and only town we are connected to by road. Man was this a beautiful drive and I finally got to see the mountains up close and see the beauty found in Alaska. It felt good to get out of town and really get the chance that I live here and not only work here. I have been able to catch up on a lot of reading and about every week I finish one to two books. The school is very big into getting students to read that every day for a half hour we read. I LOVE this and glad I get to be apart of it at school and at home.
The Lord has taught me a lot over this week and I think the major thing is that we don't have to have everything together all the time. I'm not really sure how to be improving myself as a Christian at the moment and also exactly what I am doing at the moment. BUT I have learned as long as I let God be apart of all of the confusing parts it won't be as much confusing. My focus at the moment is also to just love my house mates by being there for them and supporting them in what they do.
Thank you for reading and I miss you all!
My coworkers are great!! Instantly I connected with the science/math teacher who is across the hall from me, Tara. There is another math teacher who is mainly middle school but also has two high school classes, Andrew. His wife is the PE teacher at the HS/MS and she is a sweetheart, Meghan. One of the English teachers who has a lot of my students is named Andria and I know after we get to know each other, we will really get along! She has traveled quite a bit and has some of the same desires for the high schoolers as I do. My classroom neighbor is awesome at making sure I am doing well and gives me many opportunities to talk about my day, Nathan. He is great at giving advice and has been apart of the school community for a longer time than most. My principal is great and seems to be supporting us in all ways for teaching our students.
Instantly, I knew that my students would be like any other set of students found around the world in thinking about whether I have "good" or "bad" students. With this said, I feel like my students are behind in math skills compared to other schools. This means that I have lots to work with my students and supporting them by giving opportunities to succeed and learn. My classes are as follows: a lower level Algebra class that consists mainly of 9th and 10th graders, Geometry which are 10th graders, Informal Geometry which is geometry without the algebra, Algebra 2 which are 11th graders, and Calculus! The first day was definitely the most tiring day compared to the rest of the first week. I really enjoyed getting started with the content and already I see students starting to learn. The school is on a block schedule therefore Monday classes are 55 minutes, Tuesday-Thursday 80 minutes two days, and Friday 41 minutes. Every Friday afternoon we have in-service and meetings. Teaching hasn't changed much from being in college. What I mean is that you are working on school work at all different times of the day. The only difference is I get paid!!!
This weekend my housemates and I went to Aleknagik Lake which is the next town and only town we are connected to by road. Man was this a beautiful drive and I finally got to see the mountains up close and see the beauty found in Alaska. It felt good to get out of town and really get the chance that I live here and not only work here. I have been able to catch up on a lot of reading and about every week I finish one to two books. The school is very big into getting students to read that every day for a half hour we read. I LOVE this and glad I get to be apart of it at school and at home.
The Lord has taught me a lot over this week and I think the major thing is that we don't have to have everything together all the time. I'm not really sure how to be improving myself as a Christian at the moment and also exactly what I am doing at the moment. BUT I have learned as long as I let God be apart of all of the confusing parts it won't be as much confusing. My focus at the moment is also to just love my house mates by being there for them and supporting them in what they do.
Thank you for reading and I miss you all!
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