New Faces!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am getting pretty pumped these last couple of days. Things are coming together and I feel a ton more prepared this year than last. One of the advantage of teaching highschool is that I know my students already give or take a couple new names and faces. As for new faces we have gotten four new teachers up here and I have met three so far and if their enthusiasm is any harbringer for what the year might bring we are in for a great year. Last year we just missed AYP by a handful of scores, but it was the closest we've come in eight years, (ever since No CHild Left Behind was enstated). The teachers up here have been doing some good, and I think this next wave will be able to continue it. I helped them settle in and I was trying to give them some helpful advice when I tried to think of my initial impressions of the village. Coming into the village I remember being kind of shocked how everything was laid out. My initial preconceptions of what life would be like in Alaska was shattered and it took me a couple of weeks to actually try and wrap my head around the idea that I was going to be out here for a year. The new residents of my apartment are facing similar challenges oddly enough that I faced, the hot water doesn't work, even after I showed them the trick of turning a knob or two on the pipes. This is Alaska for you a couple of kinks in all plans yet somehow there's a way to make do. This year the water challenge seems to be kind of intriguing, right now I have dumped my honeybucket a couple of times, but I generally visit Paula and Kris throughout the day and we swap chores with each other. I currently have a pretty sweet deal going, I go into thirds on the groceries and pick up a couple of nights of dishwwashing a week and I can come over for dinner every evening. Then I can also bring my laundry over and they will do it for me if I get their mail every week. Sounds pretty good, although The last time I went I carried back 80lbs of mail so maybe they got the wool over my eyes for that one :).

So there has been a revamping of the Social Studies curriculum in our district and we are getting new next textbooks. Now I thought this was pretty good our old books some of you might recall stopped after 1920. But true to Alaska form there has to be a kink somewhere in the works. This monkey turns out to come in the form of quantity, I only recieved five new text books for each subject that I teach. Currently I am at a loss asto how I am supposed to begin teaching class in a week without the books but who knows something will hopefully shake out.

Admidst all of the hurdles I am still oddly optimistic, I am not sure where this is coming from, I was struck with a bug to get everything unpacked yesterday and I even tried my hand at a little decorating/ trying to put away my juggling stuff even though there is a lack of shelving. Ladies and gentlemen let me stress the number of things you can do with some strings and couple of nails and a hammer. I was able to hang 9 clubs all with a nail and a piece of string, and the rings, devil sticks, diabolos, and balls were all interwoven into an interesting piece of work that looks almost like the head of a giant mosquito. In a rush with all of this hammering I nailed up a calendar to my wall however my nail had a flat head and I am not sure what I going to do when the month changes. i think I have about three weeks to come up with a solution. As for problems I am facing, does anyone have a solution for dealing with black houseflies, they are every where. I shut the doors trying to trap them in the rooms but somehow even without food they seem to be thriving. Any fixes would be welcome!