Abbiegat0r's blog: "Alaska"

What a wild second year this has been. I have definitely felt a lot more confident in my teaching abilities and havent struggled so much with the paperwork that SpEd comes with. It's been a hectic year for many reasons outside my power. In afraid to say too much about the situation but I'll just say good did not win. After 2 years here I have grown to be a part and to love this community; the people here feel like my family now. I'm glad that my Alaska adventure doesnt have to end but am heartbroken that it will have to continue somewhere else. I dont know what I'm going to do without my roommate/work wife! I'm afraid of how I'm going to handle saying good bye to this new family of mine during the last week of school... 

My next adventure takes me about 100 miles south of my current location here nestled between the river and ocean. I've heard great things about the aesthetic beauty of my future community and that the people are just as welcoming as my current family has been. I will miss the sound and sight of the ocean at my  bedroom window, but at least there will still be a river. I'm excited to work with this new administration who is talking me up based on just word of mouth around my current district. I already feel needed and valuable. 

One last thing...  thinking of taking small short flights fromAnchorage back home for the summer. I would start Anchorage  to LA to see some family and I have no idea where after that... suggestions? Advice?

Warning: I'm about to complain a lot and probably jump all over the place with my thoughts.

I am so overwhelmed with my first year of teaching. Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to do the spelling bee as well? But anyway, back to my required duties and an opportunity to vent away from any knowing eyes. My certification in PA is PreK-4 and Special Ed K-8. I am in Alaska doing 6th grade language arts (not certified), 6th grade math (not certified), and Special Ed preK-12 (beyond my certification). I knew my first year of teaching was going to be a lot, but I didn't know it was going to be this hard. I wish I had time during the summer to look at the different curriculums and get more acquainted with what students are doing. I could have searched AK standards and then looked from there, so oops on me for missing that chance and slacking there. Being a special education teacher is sort of like being a manager, not only do I have to handle all of the paperwork for my caseload, I also have to manage these people under me to make sure they are filling out time logs correctly and promptly and I've been having to find someone to fulfill minutes for their absences. If I don't do this SpEd minutes aren't fully served and hello non-compliance. There's just way too many cogs in the wheel. 

As a first year teacher and a complete push over I will be the first to say that I have some improvements to make in the classroom. It's a huge adjustment to teach in AK as well.. so many different experiences than in the lower 48 and reasons why many of our students are behind where they should be. One of the teachers told me that probably more than 90% of the students are affected by some level of FAS, despite the fact that we are a dry community?!?!?!? I'm having trouble connecting with one student in particular, which is part of why I'm grateful for this break from the class. Maybe this will help me reset my opinions and start anew when I return.

My time away from the class is because my one-on-one aid is away for a doctor's appointment (oh, Alaska). This is helping a student with intensive needs and these words are no joke... this day was intense! My back is not ready for all the lifting and support that the student needs and I am hurting today. I would honestly feel this physical pain though than to leave school the way I felt yesterday. I had a tough day in my ELA class and of course my principal was observing. I opened up about this and honestly just felt worse after reaching out about my issues with the one student. 

When I return on Thursday to my normal schedule, I'm throwing the pacing guide OUT OF THE WINDOW! I don't care whether we are on track with what the district wants anymore, I just want to make sure learning is happening in the classroom. I know I need to slow down what I'm doing and give the students some time to process. I need a more structured routine that allows them some time in the mornings to get their brains working. Self peptalk I guess. Ugh, I can't wait until the second year of school.

On Friday we lost an 11 year old boy from one of my classes. From everything I've heard so far it was of his own accord. I am at a loss. I have dealt with this personally in my life with my dad. I can't imagine how the family feels, what sorts of questions they have. He was too young to even understand the repercussion of his actions... it's really hitting me hard. I have been checking in on the local kids by joining them at the playground and just being around for them. I'm still afraid for myself, as selfish as this seems. I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to be strong for them when we get back into the class. How will we deal with his books and stuff when we go to pass them out? How will I be able to field their questions and be strong for them when I haven't even completely healed from my own loss... I went to church today, despite my lack of religion, and didn't find much comfort in the words they shared. Im glad and thankful for the people who do find solace in it, but it's hard to have faith when things like this happen. I just can't see the greater purpose for such a loss and that's what they spoke of. I wish I had someone closer here locally to lean on and open up about how I'm feeling. I'm really bad about internalizing these sorts of things. Wish me luck in the coming weeks and keep our small village in your thoughts, especially the family and his two younger siblings. 

Seriously, Alaska is absolutely beautiful. My instagram is abbiegat0r if you're interested in seeing some amazing pictures. I can't get over it! So far the weather isn't too bad. Of course it's always going to be windy when we're this close to the ocean but it's been completely tolerable so far with my current gear. Rain and wind together..whew you bettuh bundle up, or if you're going out on a four-wheeler (Honda as they call it). 

I've had the opportunity to watch two Inupiaq women make Akutaq which is Eskimo ice cream. One of them used crisco and some sugar as the base, then added freshly yet lightly baked silver salmon and wild blueberries. The other woman had a slightly different recipe and I wish I paid better attention because it was better, haha! But the difference really was that I think the first one (with crisco) had a lil bit too much salmon for my liking. The fish overpowered everything else. We also got a chance to ride up the North River in Unalakleet (shout out to Nick Hanson!) Again, pictures on insta. This all happened at new teacher training, which was stressful and fun all at the same time. Glad I got to meet my roommate and have some really good bonding time, along with some other girls from different sites.

Here in Shaktoolik I got to use a gun for the first time in my life. Just went out far on the beach, set up some sticks in front of the ocean and took a few practice shots with a .22. Not going to do any good if I encounter a bear in the wild, but at least I've been exposed to the experience. Grateful that my very welcoming principal allowed me to invite my friend the civil engineer and roommate as well. Speaking of the civil engineer, what a lucky girl! She lives in Anchorage, but gets to travel to a lot of the different villages to help work on projects. I is envious.

I have also been berry picking multiple times. I never could have imagined how colorful and diverse the tundra could be. Blueberries a plenty when you find the right spot and they taste so good frozen or in the lemon flavored muffins we made :) Also had some salmon berries which I like even better, but unfortunately those are more of a summer thing and they're mostly overripe or gone for the season.

Went fishing on two different occasions. Rules are very different here in a town of 250. Fish and Game rarely present, and no form of state troopers. On our first day we just took the school truck to what they call second bend (everything is a very literal name and I love it.. old truck is an old truck. wash out road is a washed out road..) but anyway, we didn't catch anything but grass and sticks. On Saturday a Native and relative to the school district invited us out on his boat and took us up river. Between our group of 5 we caught 50 HUGE silver salmon. We finished about 2:30 or 3 and returned from the river to help clean the blood out of the boat.. and didn't finish cutting and bagging up the fish until 9pm. Now we all (us teachers) understand why the kids sometimes come to school so dang exhausted! I have 16 bags of salmon though so I think I'm good for a while on that :)

We are 2 days into school and I feel like I am slowly getting the hang of it. Day 1 was super stressful as we weren't totally prepared, and I guess that's to be expected. I took that all in, had a long Monday evening and was ready for when Tuesday rolled around. As a first year special education teacher I'm not only trying to learn the ropes for myself, but also having to help guide 3 special education paraprofessionals. Luckily 2 of them have been there for many years, and the last has at least one year of experience. Unfortunately she works full-time with an intensive needs student and that really puts a toll on you. I wish there was a way to spread out the amount of time she has to spend with him, but let's get the school year rolling a little bit further before we make any big moves like that.

More adventures and updates to follow. Please see previous blog posts if you'd like to send me things in Alaska. Will also accept priority mail packages. Message me for further details. And again, I am also out of space on fu (plus I don't have data to send pics) so I am adding pictures to my Instagram @ Abbiegat0r

Well after a delay on every flight I had (4 of em) and a night in Unalakleet I have made it to my village. I met Nick Hanson the Eskimo ninja from ANW and totally fan girled out. Going to try to post a video I made on here and share pics later. 9 pm and it's not dark lol. My neighbor said the sun will go down around 2am. I'm super jet lagged though and took a long nap. Four hour time zone change for the lose. 

IIf you didn't read in a status I recently posted, I'm moving to Alaska to take my first teaching job. I'm excited and nervous for the adventure. I'm leaving in 10 days and I still feel like there is so much to do. The district has helped with my travel, which will be taken out of my first 3 paychecks. The rest has been left to me, and then in January I will get a signing bonus. As a recent college graduate who was taking loans out to support myself while working 2 jobs, let's just say that I don't have a whole lot of extra money for this move.  I've borrowed some money from family and got a credit card. I've been looking up the best and cheapest ways to ship things out to my village as well and will be taking full advantage of Amazon Prime, which isnt as fast as it is in the lower 48 but still free shipping. Once I start getting paid I'm going to have my family ship some things through priority mail USPS. Standard box sizes means I will have several, but the shipping to alaska outside of this option s crazy! Any advice would be great if you have experience or knowledge. 

I'm also worried about the airline travel with 2 pets. I have booked both on my flights, but am nervous what will happen once we actually get to the airport. I bought a carrier that follows carryon regulations and hope to have both cats in it. I have heard opinions on both sides about this option, so again I am posting this seeking advice as well as recording my journey. The other option is to fly my second cat on a separate airline for 271$ in the cargo hold. This cat will leave 2 hours earlier than me, stop at a city I am not in, and then arrive in Seattle earlier than I. Got my anxiety level on peak with all that shenanigans. I don't currently have the money to book but am wondering if I book it if I can get a refund if Plan A works. Again, dealing with airports can be such a difficult process. 

As I mentioned, Amazon Prime is still free. If you have a burning urge to help this adventuring soul then please check out my Amazon wishlist which I've made public and setup to send to my address out in the bush. Thanks in advance on the off chance this happens, message me if you do. Http://a.co/cSOvB05

Stay tuned for updates, and as always your advice and knowledge are kindly welcomed!