Boating In The Traditional Territory

We went out for the annual boat trip for new teachers. It was exhausting for me, even though I did absolutely nothing. I just sat on deck and chatted with all those aboard. We saw some really cool things. We saw lots of wild life such as seals, jumping fish, hump-backed whales along, eagles, bears, and wolves.



We set out 6 crab traps and caught 7 keepers. A bunch of us bet to see how many of the crab we would get to keep. My bet was the closest at 9. Sometimes it pays to be the pessimist... not that I usually am.

We left the dock at around 8 am and got back just after 5. We didn’t actually dock anywhere but we saw lots of islands. We saw many sacred places with rock paintings. They were neat to see. We were also shown the spot where a Big House use to be. That was really neat.

We were served food for the trip. As lunch rolled around, I was getting pretty hungry. We were served sandwiches for lunch. Our choices were egg salad or salmon . I do not like either. So I decided to go with my “You’re gonna eat and like seafood while you’re here” so I chose the salmon. It was alright. It was fresh salmon so it was palatable but I did feel like I was choking it down.

At the end of the trip, before dinner, we prayed to The Creator to look after us. That was neat! At the end of dinner we enjoyed a lovely cake to welcome the new teachers. It was pretty good. It had Dreamwhip frosting and blackberry filling.

Out of the new teachers, I think I am definitely the cutest. I’m not the thinnest though, but I’m not too concerned about that. I overheard some of the community members commenting that “the young new teachers” are too skinny and that we need more meat on us. I then thought about the typical body-type of people in the community. True, there are some overweight people, but the young people who are considered beautiful have a healthy looking body-type. I think I fit into that category.

I still can’t believe how beautiful this part of the world is. I’ve been around this type of scenery my whole life and it’s actually what I’m use to, but I know I am fortunate to live in such a beautiful spot. I can’t wait to get a digital camera to take pictures from my own perspective to put up here, but all the scenery picture up so far are of this area.

Some other little random thought I had on the boat trip:

I am not part of the teacher’s union. A plus of this are that I don’t have to pay union fees. A minus is that I am not protected by the union, so if I have problems with the school board or other staff, I have to rely on my own resources (either other staff or the school board, depending).

How city shocked am I going to be when I decide to leave this place? I’ve never been a huge fan of the big city, but I do enjoy the simple amenities like the mall, supermarket, and Costco. How much will my hometown change when I’m gone?

How much will all my friends change when I’m gone? Having a correspondence relationship with someone is different from a face-to-face one. With correspondence, you get the best parts of someone because they share what they want to. I’ll miss all those bitchy days I had with my friends when we were all hags and knew it but were able to exist around each other. Or those days, when you were all fine and even though the day was nothing special, it was one of those really good days that you were glad to have the friends you have. Does this make sense?

I Made The Right Choice

I’m flying high today. I think I’ve really lucked out with my circumstances here. Today is the first day I really feel confident that I choose to come here. I’m thinking that I know I can do this. My course planning is going well and I’m excited to start teaching. I feel I am confident I will do a good job here. I also like the fact that I am considered the math “expert” here. I could just be the best person at math in the entire village. I like being the best!

I had my first meeting with the evaluation person today. It went really smoothly. She even encouraged me to start a geocaching club of some sort. Part of my contract as a new teacher is to be evaluated. We were given a rubric of how will be evaluated. It looks very similar to some of the stuff that I used for my final report as a student teacher. The evaluator said that this rubric is the best rubric she has ever seen for teacher evaluation, and she’s seen a lot. She’s just retired from being a superintendent of the school district right next to the one I attended for my grade 4 to 12. If anyone wants me to send a copy of the rubric, let me know. As a new teacher, I’m evaluated so that I can be given a clear reason why I may or not be asked to stay for the 2007 -2008 school year. Plus, as I see it, it will be an excellent assessment of my teaching that I can use for jobs if I decide to not stay next year.

Why am I talking about staying next year when I’ve only just got here? Well, there is a big push on keeping teachers around because the students function better with teachers they’ve known for years. Well, that makes a lot of sense. It seems that in the past, the students have had trouble warming up to new teachers because there was such a high turnover of teachers.

But what I’ve seen in only a few days is that this is a wonderful place to be and teach. First off, the administration is great. They are so approachable. I know the VP will be one of my buddies while I’m here. And the principal is so involved with the school, which is nice to see. At my practicum school, the principal spent most of his time in his office doing admin type stuff. He didn’t even know my name, nor would he probably recognize me if I saw him in public, nor could he probably distinguish me from students in the school if I were wearing jeans. But the principal here not only knows my full name, she knows where I’m from and she cares about what I have to say.

The rest of the staff is super great too. Everyone I’ve met is really friendly and helpful. The other teachers are so unpretentious and willing to help me in anyway I need. The office staff is helpful too and very sweet. I remember at my practicum school, the head secretary was very good at her job, but you had to kiss her ass and stay on her good side or she could make your life hell. The maintenance staff is also friendly too. I know I’m going to enjoy working with the entire adult school community.

The school is also great about doling out resources. If I need supplementary books, all I have to do is ask. I’ve been told it is most likelythat I could order some GPS’s for the school to start my geocaching/outdoor club. Sweet!

I’m pretty much sold here about this being an incredible year. All that’s left is to meet the students.

Today we had an hour conversation about classroom management. Mostly, we discussed things I already practice and have heard. Here’s what we were basically told. The big thing here is to be consistent with policy and form relationships with the students as soon as possible. The best way to deal with unruly students is to take them aside and have a one-on-one conversation with them to see what’s going on. Don’t take things personally. The students usually don’t hold grudges so you shouldn’t either.

Token reinforcements are used school wide. The students are given tokens that they can “cash” in for prizes. In the high school, the students need a lot of tokens to cah in for prizes so I can give tokens out to students for almost any kind of positive reinforcement. I’ll use this to encourage students to bring their texts to class, as well as a pencil.



The big rule this year is that no MP3, iPods, cell phones, disc mans, etc. are allowed to be used inside and on school grounds.

This was quite an issue at my practicum school. I actually agree with my new school on this policy. The power struggles that will be avoided on this issue alone makes me glad that this is a rule. Anyone want to add their two cents here?

Tomorrow is the big boat trip. We meet at the school at 7:00am for coffee and muffins. Ugg, that’s early. We’ll be out and out exploring the traditional territory of the people here and doing some fishing etc. It will be an exciting day, I’m sure. Hopefully, it doesn’t rain (too much).

My First Day At The School

Today was my first day in the school. I got there at 8:30 to get a tour of the school with the rest of the new teachers. The school is so nice.

And then I got assigned my very own classroom. It's all mine.

There were LOTS of posters and borders for us to choose from in the office. I chose, of course, the shiney border. But Apparently, I'm not proficient at putting up paper on a bulletin board.



And there were lots of resourses already waiting in the classroom for me from the previous teacher(s). Now I start planning. I also have to have a year plan don by the end of September.

The best part is I get evaluated three times this year. Ahhh, just like my practicum all over again. At least I'm use to it ... but I thought I was done with reflecting. Oh, well. I'm the only teacher fresh out of teaching school, so at least I'll have one advantage over the other new teachers ... I'm use to this junk!

Tomorrow is the the classroom management workshop. I took classroom management this summer as part of my course work for my teaching certificate. Finally, it will be nice to see some useful strategies instead of all the theory I learned in my course.

I got my tentative classlist today too. I'll be teaching a total of about 5o students max. That's less than two of my classes during my parcticum! At least this way, I'll hopefully learn all the student's names quickly.

Anyway, it's time to plan for my classes.

Why I Hate Fish

I hate fish. Why, you may ask? You may say, "It's so yummy" or "It's so good for you" or "You're so lucky to live in a place where you can get it fresh". If you are saying any of these to yourself, YOU SUCK!

Fish is not yummy. In fact, it tastes like, well, fish. And it smells like fish. And we all know when we say something smells like fish, it smells gross.

Ok, ok. Fresh fish isn't that "fishy". I can actually handle the taste now that I have a more "sophisticated" pallet. But the bones!!! I hate the bones. They ruin the whole fish experience for me. Have you ever swallowed a fish bone and it went down your esophogus the wrong way? It fucking hurts, let me tell you. I haven't done it recently and I'll tell you why. Because I chew any fish that enters my mouth to pulp so I don't swallow a bone. And if I find a bone in my mouth, I IMMEDIATELY shove my fingers in there to fetch it out. I don't care if I'm in a fine dinning restaurant (though I've never ordered fish in one), I'll display my bad manners to get that fucking bone out.

And fish is not good for you. Ok ... it can be. But not the ways I like it. I like it either deep fried or smothered in hollandaise sauce. I especially like McCormick's International Hollandaise sauce (not exactly as shown)



Since I don't have my deep frier up here (it's in Dad's garage), I had to make due with the sauce. Of course, to prepare said sauce requires half a cup of butter. And to palette fish, about a quarter of the sauce is needed per fist-size piece. That is a lot of butter.
Technically, I haven't learned to use my deep-frier (thank god or I'd be fat), so I don't think I want to go that root.

I've asked my peeps for fish recipes when I call home and they have given me some good ideas. Brilliant Andrew said I should pan sear it and then cut slits in it and fill the slits with mayonaise. Ewww, gross! Warm mayonaise! That has food poising written all over it! Keya gave me a tasty marinade ... that requires basalmic vinegar ... too bad they don't sell that here in the general store. Pam is sending me a recipe that requires so Rye. I hope the bar sells that!

So fish is not good! If the bones don't tear my throat apart, the preparation methods will surly give me a heart attack

What I learned Today

I just found out I will initially be making almost $1000 less net per pay check (which is once a month) because my pay scale has yet to be determined by the governing boards. It takes so long for my final transcripts and recommendations from the my post-secondary institution to be sent that I’ll be earning less. I think I will get reimbursed for the amount once my certification gets sent. I wish I could by-pass the post secondary institution taking their sweet time in sending my transcripts. The kicker is also all the documentation will be sent to my hometown because I can’t access the internet to change my address with all these people! Ahhh! How frustrating. I guess this is the curse of the new teacher.

I went for a jog around own today. I used my GPS to make a four kilometer run. While jogging, I found the village bar. Sweet!!!! Not that I can go there often because of the small town gossip mill. As I was returning from my jog, some of my neighbors invited me over. I got to meet some of the teachers, a VP, and a constable. We all had beers at one of the teacher’s houses… well I wasn’t drinking and another teacher wasn’t. I spent the evening observing. Here is what I learned.

1) The town dump is the best place for wildlife viewing … especially bears.

2) No promiscuity for me!


A teacher who preceded me was the talk of the teachers still for hooking up with a ferry operator and one of the teachers. True, she was known for being a bit crazy and burning relationships with everyone. All I can say, is damn, another year of abstinence for me. All the new teachers and constables (some of the only local non-native people) are women and it seems all the young men are married.

3) The teachers play a finger game where all day they try to secretly give each other the finger. And never finger the secretaries! This is too nuts! As if the kids don’t know what’s going on! I can’t wait until I’m initiated in this game.



4) The teachers swear like me. I’m in big trouble here. I was hoping to get over my swearing. I’m holding my breath that I don’t drop the F-bomb in class.

Everyone was really cool! I know I will have some great co-workers here. I’m looking forward to tomorrow! I’ll finally have internet! Yeah!!!!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Happy Birthday Mom! Dad left today. I’m all by myself. I did some grocery shopping today. I got home and tried to open some cans and realized that I don’t own a can opener. I had to go all the way back to the store to buy one. $11.95 later, and I was ready for lunch. Nothing too exciting happened today. Just some chilling out, unpacking and cleaning. Days like these make me miss everyone more. I can’t wait until school starts and I get to do some serious work, meet some new people, and get on with it.

At the same time, I’m getting a bit nervous. At the bank today, the teller welcomed me to the community and I said I’m excited to be here. She then said that I wouldn’t be for long and then said just kidding. And then at the general store, the clerk asked me if I was a new teacher and I said yes. She asked what grade I’ll be teaching and I said high school and she gave me this weary look that said, “Good luck, buddy!” Well, I’ll just have to deal with what comes to me.

Settling In

Well, my bad! I woke Dad up at 5:30 for the ferry, he drove down there to find no one there. It turns out the ferry comes tomorrow. Whoops! Today was a pretty casual day. I called Brilliant Andrew to let him know I found a receipt of his in my cooking pot. It was really nice to talk to him. I miss him. He’s such an interesting person along with a fun guy to play with. I still can’t believe I got to fool around with a guy 5 years my junior (no need to worry, folks, it was all perfectly respectable … I am closer to 30 than I am to 20).

I also called Mom, Keya, and Pam. It was nice to talk to familiar people. I’m glad I have phone services. I’m still going ape shit that I don’t have internet. I’m missing out on so much!!!!



Dad and I just watched TV, unpacked, napped and took it easy today. I watched Dad nap today and I got a little sad. He’s looking his age now, and I know his health is only going down hill. I’m starting to have to face his mortality. I thought this trip would bring on lots of conversation for us. But it really didn’t. We just enjoyed each other’s company quietly.

I discovered that having channels from different time zones is beneficial. I get to see shows that other in my area don’t see at the same time. House and Bones are part of this bonus. Sweet!

My First Full Day in the Community

I got up this morning ready for my daily shower and then realized I don’t have a shower curtain. %^$#!!! I had to take a sponge bath, but first I had to wash the tub out. It was filthy even for my standards (because I was use to the funky showers in dorms). Thank goodness for Mr. Clean Magic Erasers is all I can say.



Another random note, it’s strange to actually be able to sit on the toilet seat, and to use the toilet and shower in the same room! I can be naked in an entire bathroom again! Oh, blissful joy!

I went to the school board today to check-in. Again, this is a building that I can throw a rock at from my place. I got to meet some of the office staff – they were all super friendly. I had to fill out a bunch of medical, pension, tax forms … all not to difficult. I then had to call the phone company (which doesn’t offer voice mail in this area) and power company to get those services. It’s always fun to go through all the menus. I finally got a phone number and as I gave it to the office staff, she said I should call right back because my number was one digit off of the ferry service and she said I would get a lot of calls at 3 in the morning. That was too funny.

The best part of the office visit was that I got my $500 moving bonus (!!!!!) and a welcome basket full of welcome-type gifts. That was super sweet!

Dad and I then went to the general store to check it out. I was quite impressed with the selection they had. They have rice milk and All Bran (but not the buds ☹ ) but they don’t have Nutella. We got some stuff for omlettes and pasta.

I was going to go to the bank but they are only open Wednesday to Friday from 11:00 to 4:00 (5:00 on Fridays!). And I thought banking hours sucked in the city!

We went back to my place and I was unpacking a little and Dad was napping when I heard a knock on the door. It was some of my neighbour teachers and they gave me three fresh pieces of coho. That was so nice of them. I thanked them profusely. They asked me if I like fish. I replied that I do now. They said they felt the same way.



I get a few cable channels too. They are quite the selection. I get channels 2 to 13.
2 - the local crawl
3 - Much Punch
4 - CNN
5 - YTV
6 - Fox Rochester, NY
7 - The Movie Channel
8 - LMN (I have no idea what that stands for)
9 - CBC
10 - HBO
11- The Sci Fi Chanel
12 - Global Vancouver, BC
13 - Some Christian channel

As for internet, I have two choices. One is that the school is on wireless and I could pick up the signal from my place. Too bad I don’t have the right hub. But Dad will send one to me when he gets back to the city. My other choice is dial-up. Ahhh! I’m opting for that, but I don’t get it until Friday. I know I will slowly go crazy until then. I need to check my email, and go on MSN, dammit!!

Anyway, tomorrow should be a good and a bit of a sad day. My phone should work tomorrow, yeah! But Dad will leave tomorrow.

My New Home

We’re here! We made it in one piece! I’m so stoked to be here.

The ferry trip was pretty surreal. The ferry was very small. It had a “cafeteria”, and a forward lounge. The lounge had reclining seats where I slept for a few of the 10 hours involved for the trip. The first part of the trip was quite rocky so instead of barfing my guts out, I choose unconsciousness. The food was nothing to wish for. Anything I would have wanted to eat that was on the menu, was unavailable. So during the entire trip, I had some nasty eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, toast, and fries.
There were lots of whales off the ferry. Dad got lots of pictures of orcas and hump-backed whales.

We arrived at 6 and headed to town. My contact actually went to meet us at the ferry terminal and we drove right by him. I thought I’d call him when we got to town. While we waited for him to show up, we had dinner at the local restaurant. My Dad, the vegetarian, had a hamburger! Weird! I had no clue what my contact looked like but I could spot him right away as he came in. His name gives away his ethnicity so he was easy to pick out in a Native village. The people sitting behind us in the restaurant were teachers too so I got to meet some of my co-workers.

My place is so sweet!



I can literally throw a rock from my deck and hit the school (and I throw like a girl too!)



My place is huge! It’s way bigger than the dorm room, that’s for sure. It’s a two-bedroom suite in a 4-plex. The place is furnished. One of the beds (which will be mine when Dad leaves) is a pillowtop! I’ve never had such a nice mattress in my whole life... and it’s queen sized! I guess I’ll need to get new linens at Christmas. The other bed is a double, which is nice since that is what I have linens for. The small bedroom will be my bedroom, it will just have my dressers and bed in. The second bigger bedroom will be my office. This is all so bizarre, having a spare bedroom for an office!!! Hey, if anyone wants to visit (I’m serious) there is a nice bed for you!!

The kitchen has lots of cupboards. No microwave or dishwasher (I have a microwave at Dad’s and I don’t have enough dishes to fill a dishwasher anyway). I have my own washer and dryer. Again, a first for me. I’ve lived on my own lots of times, but I’ve always had to share. The sweetest thing is that all of this is deducted from my paycheck each month AND it’s all less that $500 a month! Too crazy!

I have this awesome panoramic view of the inlet from my living room window.



I also have a deep freeze freezer in my living room. Supposedly it for all the fish I will be eating. I guess I’ll have to like fish.

The village is pretty cool. There is a restaurant with a convenience store attached, a general store, a post office, a bank (!!!), a hospital, and a police station. I’m gonna visit the general store, bank and post office tomorrow.

Leaving All That Is Familiar

It only took about 7 hours to drive from my hometown to the launch point of the last ferry. I was surprised it only took that long. That included a stop for dinner half way up.

The day started by going to breakfast with Mom, Dad, brother, sister and nephew. It was strange all of us sitting there … the blood family. We had to wait like 45 minutes for a table at the restaurant. Good thing the food is so good!!

I went to my old work to say good-bye to the crew. What I wasn’t prepared to hear that my boss’ breast cancer came back with a vengeance. This time some tumors crushed (or fused) some of his vertebrae and he’s paralyzed from the waist down. I was shocked to hear this. I’ll send him a card but I’m not too sure what to say. All the typical stuff seems tiresome, especially since I know he doesn’t want me to be sad nor would he want my pity. I’ll think of something fitting to say, I’m sure. Here’s to you, Lou!



Dad went to Mom’s after breakfast for a nap while I went to say good-bye to Robin, the mother of my nephew. That was a real hard good-bye for me. I stayed strong and didn’t cry, for Robin’s sake, but I was close. Of course, I cried later. I’ll really miss her. She’s one of those people that I can truly be myself around. She’s one of those people that make my life so much more rich. Here’s to her!!!



Dad and I left the hometown around 3. I got to play DJ while he drove. I specifically chose CDs that I thought he’d like for the drive up, and he seemed happy with the music selection.

We stopped in a town three hours from out destination for dinner. He asked me to pick a place that looked interesting. I randomly chose a place. It ended up being a fish n’chips joint with mostly geriatrics inside. The food was really deep-fried and all I really wanted was a salad. Oh well, we ate and then stopped at Safeway for some fruit.

We made it to the town where the ferry comes around 9:30 and got a hotel room. Of course, the hotel cost an arm and a leg, but it’s not like we could sleep in the stuffed SUV for the night. I stuffed that SUV so full, that I was squishing socks and underwear in all the extra spaces between boxes.

Anyway, I’m so beat that I’m off to bed. I get to get up at 5:30 tomorrow morning to make the ferry reservation.

Moving day

Today was moving day. I woke up at 7:00 am feeling a little dehydrated from having a few drinks with Brilliant Andrew (as opposed to the ex-boyfriend Andrew) yesterday. I thought I could get up, make some breakfast, take a shower and get some last minute packing done. But, I was slower than expected and my Dad got to my dorm half an hour early. So it was us scrambling away for a few hours. Brilliant Andrew and Dad carried everything down to the van while I packed and got boxes out of the room. I was quite flustered and when it was time to say good-bye to Brilliant Andrew … well, it just didn’t go as I expected. It was a quick hug and kiss and some lame words (as in nothing I really planned on saying) and then Dad and I were off.

The big problem with the move was that when Dad went to pick up the U-Haul, they informed him, in fact, they could not hitch up a Ford Explorer since they had an on-going court case with them.



So Dad had to borrow someone’s sketch van and we had to go all the back to his place (one more round-trip ferry), put all my stuff in his garage and then cram as much of it that we could into his SUV and then head to my hometown to say good-bye to the rest of my family.

As we sat at the ferry terminal to go to Dad’s, it really hit me that I was leaving the big city for at least a year. True, I’d be back at Christmas for a few days before I went home, but I was pretty much leaving for what could be the rest of my life. And I was missing everyone I had gotten to know over the last year… especially Brilliant Andrew, the most recent friend I’ve made.

I’ve moved five times in the last three years and this was the first move of all of those that I was actually sad to leave. But I know this move will be the start of the biggest adventure yet.

Well, three ferry trips down and one more to go!

Unit brings down average

So I got my math unit back the other day. I got 9 out of 20!!!!

That's the shittiest mark I've gotten on anything since 2002. I kid you not.

Because of that mark, my grade went from an A+ to an A-.

Ok,I'm not much of a perfectionist, but that just sucked. What sucked themost is that I busted my butt for that unit and still did bad.

Why did I do so bad? Because I was creative ... well, I looked creative.

The assignment called for us to make a math unit that incorporated two lines of a math play the instructor gave us.
The funny thing is that the "math play" actually happened to me in a real life situation. So I doctored a unit I previously taught to fit the assignment criteria. Then I had to complete the math play. Basically, I wrote the play from what happened in real life in my classroom.

The reason my instructor didn't like my play was because I didn't build myplay/unit around quadratic transformations. Instead, I built my unit around inequalities. Several of the lessons are centred around quadratics (like the quadratic equation and quadratic inequalities) where the skills learned in the actual quadratic unit are applied. I'm pretty sure everyone who did this assignment, built their unit around the transformations. I tried to be creative ... and it back- fired.

Two lessons here.
Lesson 1: Keep jumping through that hoop. When you think you're done jumping through those hoops, you gotta keep doing it. I should have done what everyone else did and I would know have an A+.
By the way, my classroom is going to be as hoop free as possible.
Lesson 2: My instructor is an idiot. Here's to you, teach!



P.S.I got straight A's this semester. I've never done that. I've managed to get straight D's in a semester in college, so I'm not bragging here.I'm just happy

Welcome

Well, here's the first blog. I've been thinking about doing this for a while now, and I think the opportunity is now.

I've sent this link to quite a few people because they've shown interest in my new endeavor.
As most of you know, I grew up in a mid-sized town and I moved to a REALLY big city to finish my teacher education. I will be moving to a tiny village (about 1,400) to teach for one year.
I wanted to blog so others can see what my adventure will be like ... because that is what it will be, an adventure. I know this is a tight knit community and it will be very intersting for me to join it.

As part of this blog, I will not be saying the name of the town or identifying myself too much. I have a feeling I'll be saying some thing in this blog that are definitely not appropriate for my students to read, hence, if they come across this blog, they will not be able to identify me. I'm hoping my readers who know me will honour my decision here and not identify me either.

I'll try to post daily, or every other day at least. But I probably won't post much until I actually arrive to the village. I'll be leaving the big city in just 15 days. Wow! So much to do! I have (had) to say good-bye to so many wonderful people. It's going to be hard leaving behind my family until Christmas.

Ok, so here it is! Enjoy and I hope you enjoy my blog.