A friend of mine sometimes mentions all the trainings he has to go to as a new teacher, and how he despises writing the sub plans for the days that he is gone. Our district has taken care of that. They call it a “working weekend,” fly people to a central location (usually Unalakleet), and do trainings and professional development that way. We don’t miss any school days, but we also don’t get a weekend.
A couple of weeks ago, the principal sent me an e-mail asking me if I would represent our site at a math training being held in Unalakleet. We implemented a new math curriculum this year (enVision Math), but no one has been trained in how to use it effectively. The district was bringing in a presenter to train a handful of people who could then take the information back to their sites and share with the other teachers. Between other conferences, illness, and maternity leave, I was the only elementary teacher left. I reluctantly agreed to come, knowing that it meant the loss of my weekend – my time to relax, unwind, and get my homework done.
My travel was scheduled for Friday evening. It was a charter plane scheduled to pick me up at 6:40, and get to Unalakleet at 7:30. Knowing how travel can change so quickly up here, I made sure I was ready shortly after-school on Friday. It was a good thing, too. At 5:00, the principal called me and said something about needing to catch some afternoon flight that was currently at the airport. Was I ready? I had my stuff ready, but I still had to get all my gear on, which I did as quickly as possible. We headed up to the airport, not really sure which plane I was supposed to be on. I got on the afternoon Era flight to Nome, with the assurance that there was a flight going from Nome to Unalakleet. Turns out, I was meeting the charter flight in Nome, instead of the flight picking me up on the way. Going west to end up in the southeast makes no sense, looking at a map, but that’s the way travel goes. We finally got to Unalakleet at 7:45. I left almost 2 hours early, and got to Unalakleet right about the same time. Go figure.
We went straight from the airport to the dorms to drop off our stuff and then straight to Peace on Earth, which is the local pizza joint in Unalakleet (the only pizza joint in the region). They had graciously agreed to stay open late to accommodate our late flights. Fantastic people!
No sleeping on the floor like at in-service. This time, we’re staying at the dorms. It’s a set of dorm style apartments that house mostly work-study students from around the district. We’re staying up in the attic, in a small room with bunk beds. It reminds me of an old boarding school dorm room. Real beds, with mattresses and sheets and (thin, ineffective) blankets. What a treat!
The workshop on Saturday was fantastic! The presenter did a nice job of answering questions, but not getting side-tracked on tangents. She fielded everything we threw at her, but it wasn’t disjointed. I learned so much about what I’m doing wrong, but I also know how to fix it now. I only got bogged down on one thing about pacing and the order of the topics to be taught. (It’s a really long story and a whole different blog entry.) I’m pretty sure my opinionated side is going to get me in trouble one of these days. Most of it falls under the umbrella of common sense, and the rest of it falls under “Don’t fix something that ain’t broken,” and I have trouble keeping quiet about that. I’m not the only one with a bone to pick about this particular issue, though, so it’s all good. There was so much information, so I’m still processing. It was also very practical; I have ways I can change my instruction starting Monday.
I went down to the media center after the workshop, and got some new books for my classroom. Darla, the media center specialist (librarian), has so many books that she gives away to anybody who comes in a visits with her. I had to re-pack my bag to accommodate the new books.
Sunday morning was more training, which continued the trend of the day before. We reviewed the important concepts from Saturday (modeling what good teachers do, using the particular model from this curriculum) and then got into how to use the online resources and tools available to us. I don’t envision myself using the online tracking and don’t have reliable access to a class set of computers so that I can assign lessons, games, and tests to individual students. It’s also unlikely that students will be able to complete those activities at home, as most of them don’t have computers and even fewer have internet access. Still, it is good to know what is available and how to use it.
I am currently sitting in the cafeteria at the Unalakleet school. Most of the other teachers left on their flights right after lunch. There is a handful of teachers left – all of them from Savoonga, except me. We were supposed to go on the district plane, and depart shortly after the first wave. I was anticipating leaving a bit early or at least on-time, because the district pilot has a reputation for being early. I shouldn’t have assumed anything – we’re not supposed to leave for another hour, and I’ve already been sitting here for that same amount of time. It’s the hurry up and wait game. My least favorite part of this job.
