Let the challenges continue...

Before I write about teaching..here are some pictures since I've been back in Chevak...

                               Jo was attempting the "Gallon Challenge"...he failed

                       Kiddos we ran into when we went out by boat! The found baby ducks

 I was blessed to be asked to go to camp with a family here in Chevak. We took a 4 hour boat ride to get to "Moose Heaven" were we set camp. We picked 60 gallons of blackberries in one day. That night I went to bed seeing berries..

                                          Some of the berries that we picked...

     Teacher work day we went to Old Chevak. On the way there, one of the boats              caught a seal.

Okay now to teaching...

Whoever said "Oh, you'll get the hang of things sooner or later" was a liar. I really don't think that I'll ever get the "hang" of teaching the older kiddos. 

BUT- that's what makes it exciting for me. I NEVER have any idea on what to expect. It's like a constant surprise. I usually had a good idea on what the day would hold when I was teaching the little kiddos, it's a completely different ball game now. 

Tomorrow begins the third week of school. Technically it's the second week of actual 'teaching' since we had sea week and tundra fest one of the weeks. It's like I started a completely new profession. 

I am very thankful that I came into this already having a relationship established with many of the students I'd be working with. It has helped tremendously with the general attitude of the classroom. 

Right now, my kiddos are doing a lot of journaling and a lot of reading. That's one of the things I love the best about teaching the older kids, I get to read books that I love with them. The junior high kiddos aren't sold on reading books yet but I'm getting A LOT of excitement from the high school kids.

I'm doing a project with 2 of my classes. The sophomores-seniors are reading "The Freedom Writers" and they love it already. We just finished the first section (which is only about 50 pages) and they're anxious is reading more. Some of them have seen the movie and have realized that the book is much better because it has more of the story. Both of these classes have started journaling, using the book as their model. We have decided that we are going to make our own 'Freedom Writers' Chevak style. It's going to be different because my students aren't 'fighting' racial issues but I'm still excited for them! 

Quyana Agayun