First Full Week Back

It's impossible to start a fire and not have a swarm of kids show up.

It’s the weekend, and other than the tell-tale throat tickles and headaches, Ender and I have survived our first full week of teaching grade 6 together. Our classrooms are beginning to shape up (though my supply closet is still a mess and I haven’t even started on the filing cabinets. This week in art we made chalk letters to display this year’s art quote:

Thanks Degas

Many of my students have a hard time articulating their thoughts and feelings. For some it’s because they aren't as comfortable with English, and others just aren't used to being asked. Art is a great way to communicate ideas without having to speak, and sometimes it’s easier to talk about a piece of art you made than it is to just say what your feeling.

We also started some torn paper animals. I like this project because it’s deceptively easy. Starting with a contour drawing, students need to try and fit their torn pieces together like a mosaic to fill in the shapes making up their animal. The really successful ones consider the negative space and how everything fits together. It’s a project that’s really hard to rush and have something that makes sense.

 

Ender and I tried to find the trail leading to the cranberry patch we visited last year this morning. While we were able to find a path and what looked like what might be where the cranberries were last year, we were unable to find any actual berries this time out. It may have been that we were looking in the wrong place, or it just might be that we came too early or too late, or that this year there aren't many berries at all. Still it was nice to get outside while the weather is still relatively warm.

We have one more week till ‘Traditional Week,’ and I am excited to use the break as a chance to regroup, get my classroom and lessons in order and get one camping trip in before the cold weather hits.

Return to Eden

 After two months of family, friends, good food (and beer!) and art making, summer is officially over and Ender and I have returned to Garden Hill. We miss everyone back home terribly, but are happy to be back at work and teaching. This year we are both grade 6 teachers at the elementary school. We will share two classes, Ender will teach Math and Science and I’ll be teaching English, Social Studies and Art. This first week we moved into our new unit, set up our classroom and welcomed our students.

Our living conditions have been upgraded this year. It’s a smaller unit but has a much nicer kitchen and three times the storage. Because we now know what to expect and most of our things stayed here over the summer, the move was relatively easy (though half unpacked boxes remain in corners throughout the house). Having towels and sheets this time around was wonderful! Another major change is the 17’ canoe that is hanging above our couch. We’re both excited to take it out once the initial back-to-school business is under control.

There was a high turnover of teachers this year as well. I think it will be nice to have some new faces and new ideas in both the high school and the elementary.  Alex and I were disappointed to discover that very few of the teachers were given the guide we wrote in the spring (the ones who did receive it found it very helpful). There is a tendency here not to communicate helpful or necessary information from the Education Office down to the teachers. We had precious little contact with the Education Office all summer. Things haven’t gotten better now that we no longer have an acting Education Director. We are also waiting to have several positions filled in both the elementary and the high school, including the two in grade five and one in grade 6 (our hallway). 

While administration is a bit of a mess, we successfully completed our first two days of teaching this week and so far I love grade 6! My students are talkative and excited to be in school, which is a big change from last year. I also have my own office which is slowly being transformed into an art supply and prep space. We began rotation this week and so far it has gone well and we have already started reading our first novel of the year, “Bridge to Terabithia.” We also brought a number of books up with us to add to our class libraries. We are trying to build a decent collection of books and comics for our student so any suggestions of new titles are always welcome.

I’m going to try and update every weekend (she said with naive optimism), as well as try to take more photos this year. Alex and I have also promised ourselves that we are going to set aside time each week, starting in October, for our personal writing and art. With all the teaching, outdoor activities, taking and ABQ and art/writing it’s going to be a busy year!