Camping

Last week Ender and I went camping on one of the many islands in Island Lake. We couldn't have asked for better weather then we set out; the sky was clear, the air was warm and we had perfectly calm water. While most of the larger islands in the area have names (some are Cree names but most are English), the one we camped on was little more than a rock with some moss and trees so I doubt it has an official name. 

When we left the next morning the wind had picked up and the water was much more rough. The largest stretch we had to cross took between 20-30 minutes of hard paddling against the waves and wind. We likely won't camp again this fall (it snowed today!) but we might take the canoe out again to get to the store on Stevenson Island.

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!