Math and Eagles

This is a juvenile Bald Eagle. My friend estimated
he was about 2 years old. And no, we don't really
know its sex.

I was a lazy student. I was also a perfectionist. Math teachers told me to show my work, but I was too lazy to do that. And check my work? But that would imply I didn't do it perfectly the first time!

Really, though, I struggled through Algebra I and II and Geometry. I didn't understand the underlying concepts, so I had to do everything by rote. Eventually, I ran out of memory space for math formulas. At some point, I started to get it, and acquitted myself nicely in College Algebra.

I was about 10' away from this eagle, creeping closer and
closer very slowly, and taking a pic with every step. Since
the camera is equipped with a telephoto lens, it looks like I'm
standing right next to him. I love that I was able to get his
face and those eyes!

And here is that same eagle, flying away when I got too close.

That's why it amazes me every day to hear the things that come out of my mouth while I'm teaching Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, and Geometry. Each class is taught one-to-one, so I have to understand the content, be able to find mistakes, and explain the corrections. And there's no textbook in the program to help me! I keep telling kids to show their work and that I can't help them fix their mistakes if I can't find their mistakes. I'm pulling phrases like "combine like expressions", "balance the equations," and "reduce fractions to lowest terms" out of some dusty cabinet in my brain. One of the test keys turned out to be lost, so I had to solve each equation on the test myself. I figured if my answer and the student's matched, then it was probably right. That doesn't really inspire confidence in a math teacher, does it? I owe my high school and college Math teachers a note of thanks. They managed to teach me when I wasn't looking!

We let the dogs run around the tundra for awhile.
Here's Cody, lying down in the tundra grass,
nose up, scenting the air. Such a happy dog!

On a totally different subject, one of my colleagues took me for a ride around the island over the weekend. I got some good pictures that I'd like to share. Enjoy!

Seeing and Believing

Shortly before I left China, as I was walking with a friend through her apartment complex, she asked me why I like China. I told her that everyday brought something new, like a new challenge, a new bit of language, or something beautiful to look at. She was amazed that I found her home country beautiful. She had spent time in the U.K. with her husband's family, and thought that China wasn't nearly as lovely as England. I walked over to a low wall near us and showed her the ceramic tiles that had been used to top it. Each one had a dragon design embossed on it. She had never noticed them before.

I was home, sick, while most of the
community was at the school for Family
Movie Night. I saw this rainbow through
my window and ran to get the picture.
A few days later, my students told me
that rainbows are rare on Atka!

That anecdote is relevant to my life here in Atka because there is always something beautiful for me to look at. The mountains are more or less visible, depending on the amount of fog and cloud cover there is. Sometimes I can see the base of the mountain and the peak, but the rest is obscured by fog. If there's been heavy rain, the waterfalls may be wider and whiter, but if there hasn't been much rain, they become narrower and darker. I love seeing the day's weather report every morning when I let the dogs out.

It rains nearly every day, anything from a light drizzle to a squalling downpour. It also clears up nearly every day. The usual rhythm is rain in the early morning, clearing in the late morning, and more rain in the evening. Sometimes even the rain brings its own surprises!

The most fun thing to watch is the pattern of light and dark on the mountains. The dark patches are *not* the shadows of other mountains. Instead, the dark patches are the shadow of the clouds, while the light patches are where the sun comes through and turns the dying fall grasses gold.

It's easy to see the patterns of light and dark as the sunlight
falls through the clouds onto the mountain.

When I tell my students how much I love this island and that it's beautiful, they think I'm joking. To them, it's just the rock they live on. Like my Chinese friend, they don't recognize the beauty that's all around them. Maybe part of my job is to teach them to see.

Weather or Not

I know that the biggest threat to my long-term happiness in Atka will be the weather. I don't mind the cold, but that's not even an issue here. The climate is maritime, so the temperatures are more moderate than inland temps. It's rarely lower than 20º F here. However, there is a *lot* of rain. At the moment, daily highs are running around 45º to 50º F, so I don't even need a jacket to walk to school. If it's raining, I just get wet. It's only 75 paces, remember? BUT, when the temps are 15 degrees lower, the rain is harder, and the wind is 50 mph or more, and it continues like that for days on end, I may not be as relaxed and sanguine about living in this climate.

We had one storm that was so strong it kept me awake until 2 a.m., though I tried to go to sleep around 11. The wind kept rattling the house while the rain beat against the windows and door! I thought sure the rain was coming in my bedroom window. Even the locals were talking about how bad the storm was the next day.

Yesterday, the rain and wind suddenly picked up out of nowhere. We could hear ice beating against the windows. The kids were saying to each other that it was too bad I wouldn't let them go look at the rain. Ha! We stood at the back door, trying to see if it was hail, sleet, or freezing rain. Three of the kids decided to venture out from the eaves. They asked if they could come back in by way of the front door (we were at the back door). I told them they could. Two minutes later, three wet, happy kids came in. Five minutes later, the sky was clear.

I now understand the meaning of the word "squall." It's a very localized, brief storm that's very intense. Rain is common here, and it's usually intense, but short-lived. We might call it a shower. However, it takes a certain combination of wind and rain to qualify as a squall. I think we are now leaving showers behind and trading them in for squalls.

More fresh snow! This time it covers the peaks.

In the picture, you can see a lone storm cloud. This area is so remote that even storm clouds can't count on having a lot of friends nearby. In the South, all the clouds get together with their buddies and make thunderstorms. Here, a cloud's gotta go it alone. I think that's why we have squalls.

Oh, and today our VPSO (Village Public Safety Officer, the local law enforcement guy) did the school's annual presentation on "Drop, Cover, Hold." That's what we're supposed to do in case of an earthquake. Drop to the floor, preferably under a piece of furniture. Cover your head. Hold onto the furniture so it doesn't move away from you.

Squalls and earthquakes? I'm just hoping the volcano doesn't wake up!

The Humans of Atka

Chapter 3 of our Geography text lists 9 facets of human culture. I assigned the students the task of describing Atka in terms of those 9 facets. I thought you might enjoy reading some of their responses.

Family and Social Structure

"There are extended families in Atka because everyone's related to everyone basically." "Almost everyone in Atka is related in some way." "Most of the people that live here stay here."

Agriculture and Industry

"No one on the island farms; all we do is hunt or fish.""We don't have farms, but we have wild reindeer, birds, and fish. We go hunting or fishing." "Atka's residents don't really grow plants. If they do grow plants, they keep them indoors." "One of the main jobs on the island is halibut fishing."

Population

"The population is small in Atka, about 60 locals. When the fishing season starts, the population rises by a third." "In 1990, there were about 80 people living in Atka. Then in 2010 there were around 70, and now there are around 65 people." "The temporary population is like 65 to 70. The permanent population is like 60-65." "Some people in Atka stay permanently. Some people leave with money."

Rural and Urban Life

"Atka is a rural area, a big island and a small village."

Housing

"Atkans live in more modern housing with mainly metal and wood." "The houses are like a trailer with metal pieces on the outside of the houses." "The houses come in two pieces, and there are no fences." "The houses here in Atka are made out of wood. It's a three or four bedroom house, and some people have warehouses right beside their houses, too."

The Arts

"The arts in Atka are basket weaving, native dancing, and kayak making. However, nobody does those arts now." " Dancing shows how the Aleut people lived and how they survived." "In Atka, we have dancers sent to Anchorage to perform." "If you go to the school in the hallway, they have things in glass cabinets that the students in high school made."

Language

"In Atka, the common language is English, but most of the local people over 40 speak their Native language." "All of the people in Atka speak English, and the elders that are like 65 years old, they speak Aleut." "The Aleuts have their own language. It's somewhat Russian." "The language in Atka is fading away, and only the adults speak Aleut."

Religion

"Most Atka residents are Russian Orthodox." "The people that live in or are from Atka are Christians."

Customs and Traditions

"Atka's traditions are fur clothing, wooden hats, and spears for hunting, but those traditions haven't been used for a long time." "They have Russian Christmas and hunt reindeer." "The Aleut people used to trade beads to get things from other cultures." "We believe that the sea otters are our ancestors when they are dead. We never hunt the sea otters unless we have to. Then we use all of the sea otter parts."

Landforms on Atka or Let's Go For a Walk

The newer, taller mountains are covered
with snow year-round.

Sometimes the taller mountains are
hidden by clouds or fog.

My students are studying Earth Science and World Geography this year. I chose those courses because they have some overlap in content. This past week was one of those overlaps. Both classes were talking about landforms such as mountains, plains, and plateaus, as well as sub-types of each form.

It's easy to see where pressure has
folded the mountains.

I decided that I wanted the kids to write about the landforms on Atka (or create a map with the forms indicated), so we went on a "field trip." It mostly consisted of standing in the gravel parking lot and walking along the gravel roads, seeing what we see every day. They recognized folded mountains with no trouble. They had a harder time understanding that the taller, mostly bare, mountains are younger than the rounded, grass-covered ones. We ended up having an introduction to geologic time the next day.

The stream now doubles back instead
emptying into the bay.

We also walked down to the beach. Cody had to go with us so that I could have his help walking back up from the beach. The stream that used to empty into the bay was rerouted and now runs parallel to the shore. I hadn't planned on seeing signs of human interference. So much for showing them a delta! I looked around and saw some boulders near the beach. Expecting to hear something about erosion, I asked the students how the boulders might have gotten there. The city put them there. Drat! More human interference!

After the meander, the stream runs
parallel to the shore.

We had great weather for taking a walk. I wish there had been more we could have seen right in our vicinity, but we would have to ride on ATV's to get to the volcano or pretty much anywhere else. I did manage to get some decent pictures. Enjoy!

P.S.--The mountains now have fresh snow on them. We'll probably get snow before the month is out!

A Day in the Life

What follows is a description of a "typical" school day. Not that any day is ever "typical," but perhaps this is the average of all the atypical days!

The alarm goes off at 6:30. I hit snooze a couple of times, and walk to the bathroom at 7:00. It's quite dark still. When I leave the bathroom, I walk to my office, which is the room where my hanging clothes are. I collect what I'll need for the day, then go back to my bedroom to get dressed. And, of course, to play with the dogs. Cody loves morning play time.

Around 7:30, I let the dogs out, leaving the 3 doors between the outside and the kitchen open so they can come back in. I prepare my breakfast and theirs. My usual breakfast is yogurt with fruit and granola. The yogurt is homemade. The fruit is dried or frozen, since fresh fruit is hard to come by. I make iced mocha by the pot, so all I have to do is pour it out. I'm hoping to get some bottled juice to go with my breakfast.

I leave by around 7:55 for my morning commute. The school is about 75 paces from my door. I don't know how long my pace is, but I'm sure this adds up to a really short commute! If I'm first, and if my key cooperates, I unlock the door. There are often several students already waiting. I've trained my kids that they can arrive at school any time after the doors are unlocked, but they can't arrive in the classroom until 8:20.

My teaching station, with Elmo, is the putty colored
cabinet in the middle of the room.

When my kids finally enter the classroom, they start working on their Journal question. They have 10 minutes from when school starts (8:30) to write at least 3 complete sentences. Then we do Daily Oral Language. In the past, each student had a book with their D.O.L. It was all individualized by grade level, and the teacher checked the work. However, I've found with other classes that if I don't talk about the D.O.L. corrections with the students, they don't really learn anything by doing it. D.O.L. takes 10 minutes max. Then we start Language Arts.

I learned very quickly that these kids have minimal writing skills. I'm teaching them what should be a grammar review at about the 6th grade level. I've also had to teach them the basic format for writing a paragraph and a five-paragraph essay. They're showing good improvement in just a short time. I think they had some of the basic skills, but didn't know how to apply them.

The District doesn't have a reading program for these kids, so I'm using novels. We're all doing the first book together: The Bridge to Terabithia. Once I get a sense of each student's level, I can group them for future novels. I could even create literature units for individuals, if there isn't anyone else at the same level.

The last 15 minutes of Language Arts is when I read aloud to the students. They're really enjoying Stargirl. One of the best parts of reading aloud is that I can read books that are more difficult than they can read on their own. I think the next book I'm going to read is Ender's Game. I hope to read Dracula, though, for Halloween. It's a long book, so I may have to read that next, and Ender after.

10:00 to 10:15 is break time. The District buys snacks for the kids. The procedure for handing out the snacks seems to have existed for a long time. I didn't want to do anything to disturb it. The snack helper--okay, having an assigned helper to do the work is my contribution--puts an assortment of snacks in the bowl. Then the oldest student picks first, and down the line to the youngest.

I sit at the semi-circular table as I dispense
mathematical wisdom!

After the break, it's time for Math. My students range from 4th grade math to Geometry. They watch video lessons, then work in the text. They've learned that I'm going to make them go back and correct everything they miss, so it's better to come to me for checking after every lesson segment. The big surprise for me is how much I understand in the Algebra I and Geometry curricula. I didn't think I had retained that much, and I know I didn't understand all of it when I took the classes in high school. I had warned the kids at the outset that I might not be able to help much in the higher levels, but it turns out I was wrong.

At 11:15, we move into one of the other classrooms for Fine Arts. Today was Music. I've gotten over my shock at how few songs these kids know (mostly), and now I'm working at giving them a decent education in music. My jaw still dropped when I asked them to sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," and they didn't know it. However, I forged ahead and taught it as we sang. Then I introduced the concept of a round. After we sang it in parts a couple of times, I put on a section of Fantasia, with Bach's Toccata and Fugue in Dm. I told them to pay attention to how the music seems to echo itself, as if it's playing follow the leader. I compared that with the round, which we sang again. My hope is that they can sing Dona Nobis Pacem at Christmas.

A Day in the Life of Cody and Shadow: sleep on the sofa,
wake up, repeat

Lunch time is noon to 1. No school lunch program here. The best part is being able to go home and let the dogs out. Cody is always so happy to see me!

The afternoon seems to fly by. The first 50 minutes is Science. We're mostly working from the text, as we are in Geography, which is the next 50 minutes. They get another break at 2:45. At 3:00, my kids go to the gym for P.E. with Sonja while her kids go to the Art room for Music (or whatever) with me.

I go home to greet my dogs and let them out. I spend most of the rest of the day working on my lessons for the next day. Sometime in the late afternoon or evening I cook a meal for myself. No pizza delivery in Atka! Eventually, somewhere around 9:00, I let the dogs out for the last time, and get ready for bed.

It would probably be a boring life, except I like what I'm doing!

And Her Little Dog, Too!

My teaching partner is a slender, red-headed vegan, originally from San Francisco, but most recently from Reno. She had a rough year last school year, so she wanted to get away and escape to some place less stressful.

She has six K-2 students. That's the age that I'm usually most comfortable with. My partner, on the other hand, has never worked in an early childhood classroom. Most of her experience has been with secondary students. Each of us is working outside our comfort area. We talked about trading jobs, but we both had reasons for wanting to do the exact job we're doing. And since each of us has expertise the other lacks, we have built-in mentors!

We are about the same age (50-something), and both come from a special education background. She is teaching P.E. to all the students, while I teach them fine/cultural arts. Neither of us teaches our subjects in the way the kids expected. I teach Art, for example, with a heavy dose of Art History mixed in. My partner's P.E. classes include yoga, meditation, and martial arts.

Sam is her dog. His body is kind of houndish, but his face looks Labby. He's a very active dog, so he and Shadow get along pretty well. He's also a bigger dog, so he and Cody get along, too. He even gets along with Monster Cat, the kitten that I had to give back to my partner when Shadow wouldn't stop barking at him. The first day Sam and MC were together, the cat was playing with Sam's tail. This morning, I saw Sam staring out the window at some of the kids as they passed by on their way to school. He wasn't barking, just watching the kids. Sometimes he walks into my house to see the dogs. Sometimes my dogs go to Sam's house and "ask" if Sam can come out to play. It's a nice dynamic.

I'm lucky to have such a great partner to share this experience. The dogs are all lucky, too!