A few pictures of the cute kiddos in Shishmaref, Alaska

I know people are wanting to see pictures. I haven't been able to hook my camera up to the computer yet, but I have a couple on the computer from Photobooth and from emails. So here!

 Timary and me tonight using Photobooth. Timary is my neighbor. She's 6 and in the 1st grade. Her dad Ken is the science teacher and

 has been here 11 years. Her mom Lisa is from Shishmaref and is a para-pro at school. I am sure I will write a lot about Timary and her brothers and sisters. Gabe just turned 9 and Sarah is 8 - they both are in 3rd grade. Timothy just turned 5 and is kindergarten. Baby Norman was born in April and we all have tons of fun with him!

This is a picture of two of 

my preschoolers and me. Frank is on the left, and Carter is on the right. This was taken in the gym during our gross moto

r play time, which we get three times a week. Notice Carter's LeBron jersey? His grandpa is from Cleveland! 

This isn't really a good picture of any of us. It was taken the same day as the one with Carter and Frank. My little guys (L to R) are Madison, Ida, Gary, and Victoria. I don't think any of them were quite ready.

I'll add more pictures as I can!!

Evidently I'm busy...

So, sorry for not posting for awhile!

I wondered if anyone would read this, and if anyone would want to read it. But when I talk to friends and family, they usually comment on what's been written on my blog - so I guess I'll keep going with it.

However, I obviously haven't posted in awhile. I am obviously teaching everyday. Then I was also Cross Country coach. So we had practice everyday after school, plus meets on Saturdays - so I would be gone all day long. With only one day on the weekend, and just a couple of spare hours in the evening, blogging has been pushed aside.

A couple of weeks ago, I took on another responsibility. I became the Class of 2011 co-advisor. Bob the math teacher is the other advisor. So we're busy fundraising and planning with the junior class. 

Cross Country is over now, so that's gives me a little more time.

I will try and be better with posting.

So, school is going well. I have been doing a lot of testing at school. The district requires some testing every fall and spring so that we can monitor progress, but the grant that pays for my job requires even more testing. So that has been kind of crazy. Last week Julie Egli from the district office was here. She helped so much with the testing. I just love her. She's so helpful and supportive and I was super glad to have her here.

Every night except for Sunday, there is rec at the school. It's basically open gym. The first hour is for 4th grade and younger, the next hour is 5th-8th, followed by the high school, and finally adults. Rec is a huge part of most of the village people's lives. The school-wide punishment is to be put on the "rec list". If you are on rec list, you can't go to rec that night or  go to their sports practices. A student is put on rec list automatically for being more than 15 minutes late to school or for being tardy to 2 or more of your classes that day. Also, some teacher put students on rec list for not doing their homework or for misbehaving. The Vice Principal  (Floyde) prints out the list every night and tacks it on his door. I don't put any of my kiddos on rec list because they are too little to understand that not sitting still on the carpet is why they couldn't go to rec. 

I am at the school a lot anyway, so I usually stop by little kiddo rec to play around. I see who of my kids are there. All the other kids know me too. It's fun to play around a little bit with them. Wilsa and Mickey, who work with me in the 4-year-old class go to rec almost every night. Sometimes I stop in to say hi when I'm in the school during that time. They always say I should play. 

Basketball is what it is all about in Shishmaref. If you aren't into basketball, you are an outcast. As you all know - basketball is definitely not my thing. In fact, sports with a ball in general are not my thing. Basketball especially though. I am trying to enjoy watching games on Friday nights, but even that is pushing it. I like the social aspect of the games though.

So Saturday, I finally went to rec. Jerome, who is 20, helped me out with my shot a bit. Basically, the women shoot around during the men's game (opposite side of the court from where the action is at the moment), and then the men shoot around during the women's game. So, I played in my first basketball game ever. I sucked, but they were nice to me anyway. One time, everyone backed away from the net and let me shoot and get my own rebounds until I scored. Then both teams cheered for me. Haha. I might go again tonight.

I stopped into rec during little kid time tonight. I was running around and I bent down to sneak up on my little Frank. Just as I was leaning to him, he moved his head back and my chin slammed into his head. He was fine, he kept on playing - but I am in pain. My whole jaw hurts and my ear on that side is ringing. I am icing it right 

now. In fact, here is a picture of what I look like as I type this.

So now I am trying to decide if I want to go to rec tonight. I probably should get some exercise.

Rec is also a great place to get to know people. I am starting to recognize most people in the village. Saturday I got to actually talk to people I hadn't before, and now I actually remember their names! So that is good. Angie said that a lot of people go to rec that don't go to other things, so it's a good way to see different people.

Well, like I said, I will try to be better on posting! 

Shoot me an email or call! :)

Amy - the ECE Teacher

Hello!

School is going well! The kiddos are so cute! I just love them. Wilsa and Mickey are great to work with too. Overall, things are going great.

The names of my kiddos are so cute. In this culture, if a person close to your family dies, you name your child after them. So there are lots a little children with big people names. In my class I have a Ida, Vivian, Gary, Delbert, and a Frank, just to name a few. I do have some common children's names, like Autumn and Carter, but it's very interesting the names that kiddos have.

The kids are really funny. I think one of the funniest things that is different than in Ohio is that they all plug their ears when they flush the toilets. At school, we have plumbing. At home they do not. So they have spent the past four years of their life with a non-flushing honeybucket. They are so funny!

I am getting used to the eyebrow-raise for "yes" and nose-scrunch for "no". I even do it sometimes during school. I notice the little ones use that a lot more than the other people in the village. Some families use it more than others too. It seems really odd, but it makes sense. We shake our heads. When you are wearing a GIANT coat, you can't shake your head. All of your expressions have to be in the part of your face that the coat and hood don't cover - your nose and eyebrows. It is actually pretty cute.

All the kids in the village say "funny" for mean. Like Gary will tell me at school "Jimmy is being funny to me!" And it doesn't mean that they have good jokes.

We live right next to the school, so that is like playing headquarters. Little kids play there, big kids play there - it's busy all the time. On Thursday, I was napping in my Lazy-Boy in the evening, and a little kindergartener walked into my house and said "AMY! The little Amy is being funny to me!!" My response was "Tell her to be nice." I have decided that when I am sleeping in my own house, children's behavior is not in my jurisdiction.

So, I am going to go home and make some dinner. I didn't sleep to well last night, so I want to try and get to bed before midnight tonight. Colleen didn't sleep well last night either. Maybe something was weird in the air. Anyway, I'm off.

Peace.