I survived my first two weeks of teaching in the village! I have been so busy and have learned so much in these two weeks that they went by in a blur. I know the life of a teacher (especially a first year teacher) is supposed to be a constant stream of chaos, so I was expecting some of what I experienced, but you can't prepare for everything. So far I've been able keep my head above water and even create some productive relationships with my students.
There are some resources I have from college, student teaching, and working as a para that I have been able to use here, but for the most part I'm starting from scratch. The textbooks here are mostly inaccessible to my students. Though they are in high school, many have reading and writing skills at the upper elementary level. They are great at worksheets that involve copying information from one location to another, but critical thinking and making inferences is difficult for some of them. This is not to say that they are not intelligent, but it is a different kind of intelligence than what is sought after in a Westernized form of schooling. A very high percentage of FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome) means that repetition is vital to learning, but repetition is difficult when attendance is spotty.
Attendance is a big problem here; even in the first two weeks I had students who only showed up a couple days. There are a variety of reasons for poor attendance. Some are typical, some are cultural, and others are due to some disheartening attitudes that seem to permeate parts of life in Tuluksak.
Examples of cultural reasons are:
-Many of the high schoolers have the responsibility of getting wood and water for their households, also taking care of younger siblings
-Moose season is beginning soon, and necessary preparations to go make camp on the tundra are underway
Examples of disheartening reasons are:
-If my high school students don't get themselves up for school, there is often no one at their home awake who will
-Some parents of my students don't think that education is important, and especially not when the teachers are Kass'aqs (white people) who are only going to be in the village for a little while
-Instability where my students are living and who they are living with
-Some high school students get so far behind in credits needed to graduate they don't feel it is worth trying to catch up
-A lack of post-secondary opportunities in the village
-The overt presence of alcohol and drugs (including huffing gasoline) that are a much easier past time than coming to school
All that being said, there are wonderful young people in my classes and I feel lucky to be their teacher. We've had a good couple weeks with lots of laughing, a little learning, and only a couple of pencils thrown into the ceiling :) The three other high school teachers have been very supportive in helping me acclimate to teaching here. Measures of students success that are used in the lower 48 are not always applicable in the village. I might not be able to get my students to memorize the preamble to the Constitution, but I can show them that there are adults in the world who are not alcoholics, who will try to provide for their basic needs, who will respect them as individuals, and not give up on them even if they make mistakes. My biggest lesson learned in these few weeks is that regardless of what higher-ups in education expect, my duty as a teacher is to first provide care and stability to my students, and second try my best to teach them relevant content.
I've been a bit overwhelmed by some of the details I learn about my student's histories and home lives, but I have also found a sense of purpose and feel like this is where I am meant to be at this time. Now that classroom routines have been established and my students and I are getting used to each other, I'm excited for what the rest of the year will bring.
Here are some more pictures of the trails where Birkie and I walk. I'm trying to be outside as much as possible before the sun disappears :)
Many of the leaves are already starting to change here
A huge moose track on our walk out to the slough
Birkie on the look out for moose (none yet!)
Tuberculosis is present in the village so all students and teachers have to be tested. This was my first TB test. If you've never had one, its kind of strange--they inject a solution under the skin on your arm, and then check it two days later to see if there was a reaction. I thankfully tested negative.
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