Don't you wish your staff loved you this much?
I think it is officially okay to count down the days until the end of the school year now. We have 15 school days left. The end is in sight! It's a good thing too, because I'm not sure how much longer I could last. I am feeling a bit stressed about my last few weeks of lesson planning, grading, and preparing final exams. I just keep telling myself that I have to work really hard for 3 more weeks and then I'll get a break. Anybody can survive anything for 3 weeks right?
Monday morning Tim and I went to school a little bit early. I needed some extra time in my classroom, since I had an substitute from the previous Wednesday afternoon through Friday. I hadn't seen my classroom since I had gone to Kodiak. I felt like I had a lot to accomplish before the bell rang at 9:00 am. Luckily, I was working pretty productively and was able to accomplish all the necessary things by 8:30 am. It was then that I got an awful email.
If you've been keeping up with our blog, I'm sure that you're aware that Tim and I really like our administrator. I am convinced that there has never been a better principal. We couldn't be happier with that part of our job here. Jason and his family have expressed how much they like living in rural Alaska. His kids have fit in well and made a lot of friends. He and his wife are well liked in the school and the community. They have been planning on staying in Togiak for a long time. This year (probably for the first time in history) the entire Togiak staff has signed their contracts to return next year. Many of us attribute this to Jason and the great leader he has been. However, about one month ago, Jason's son became very sick and wasn't getting better. I won't go into too many details here, but it turns out that his son will need medical care for the rest of his life and living in a rural area of Alaska would be putting his life in danger. Monday morning, we received the news that the Mabry's could not return to Togiak for next school year. The staff was very subdued for the rest of the day. We were all speechless and shocked. We literally felt like we had been punched in the gut. Now I realize what a selfish reaction I had. My first reaction should have been concern and sadness for his family and their situation. They will be sad to leave. I am confident that they will be happy and successful in their more urban setting wherever it may be.
Monday directly after school I flew to Dillingham. I don't think my students were exactly thrilled to learn that I was leaving again after being back for one day. (Well, I'm sure some of them were thrilled, but I'll pretend like they were heart broken.) I had to go into district office for a science curriculum meeting. I have been part of the science committee this year that is revamping the science curriculum and courses. It has been a big, overwhelming job and I don't feel like we are even close to finishing. Tuesday I spent the day at district office working on writing the scope and sequence for science courses and selecting the new textbooks. I still have some "homework" I need to do to finish up some write-ups for our new Chemistry course.
The remainder of the week seemed fairly normal. Some of the students are hard to handle. I think the nicer weather has been making it hard to behave and focus on school work.
Monday morning Tim and I went to school a little bit early. I needed some extra time in my classroom, since I had an substitute from the previous Wednesday afternoon through Friday. I hadn't seen my classroom since I had gone to Kodiak. I felt like I had a lot to accomplish before the bell rang at 9:00 am. Luckily, I was working pretty productively and was able to accomplish all the necessary things by 8:30 am. It was then that I got an awful email.
If you've been keeping up with our blog, I'm sure that you're aware that Tim and I really like our administrator. I am convinced that there has never been a better principal. We couldn't be happier with that part of our job here. Jason and his family have expressed how much they like living in rural Alaska. His kids have fit in well and made a lot of friends. He and his wife are well liked in the school and the community. They have been planning on staying in Togiak for a long time. This year (probably for the first time in history) the entire Togiak staff has signed their contracts to return next year. Many of us attribute this to Jason and the great leader he has been. However, about one month ago, Jason's son became very sick and wasn't getting better. I won't go into too many details here, but it turns out that his son will need medical care for the rest of his life and living in a rural area of Alaska would be putting his life in danger. Monday morning, we received the news that the Mabry's could not return to Togiak for next school year. The staff was very subdued for the rest of the day. We were all speechless and shocked. We literally felt like we had been punched in the gut. Now I realize what a selfish reaction I had. My first reaction should have been concern and sadness for his family and their situation. They will be sad to leave. I am confident that they will be happy and successful in their more urban setting wherever it may be.
Monday directly after school I flew to Dillingham. I don't think my students were exactly thrilled to learn that I was leaving again after being back for one day. (Well, I'm sure some of them were thrilled, but I'll pretend like they were heart broken.) I had to go into district office for a science curriculum meeting. I have been part of the science committee this year that is revamping the science curriculum and courses. It has been a big, overwhelming job and I don't feel like we are even close to finishing. Tuesday I spent the day at district office working on writing the scope and sequence for science courses and selecting the new textbooks. I still have some "homework" I need to do to finish up some write-ups for our new Chemistry course.
The remainder of the week seemed fairly normal. Some of the students are hard to handle. I think the nicer weather has been making it hard to behave and focus on school work.
Michael and Leslie cooking burgers
Saturday we had our staff Easter potluck. The weather was too bad on Easter to actually have our potluck, so we had to postpone it. We actually had a cookout. Michael cooked hamburgers on our "grill". It is made out of two 55 gallon drums welded together. One has a stand and one as the grill.
We took the opportunity of this gathering to present Jason with an appreciation gift. Heather and I had organized the pooling of staff funds to get him a new Ipad. We all felt really awkward making an official scene to give him the gift, but really wanted to let him know how much we appreciate him. I like to think he's been sitting at home ever since playing with it.
We took the opportunity of this gathering to present Jason with an appreciation gift. Heather and I had organized the pooling of staff funds to get him a new Ipad. We all felt really awkward making an official scene to give him the gift, but really wanted to let him know how much we appreciate him. I like to think he's been sitting at home ever since playing with it.
63 finished squares for my sampler afghan
I had such lofty plans for this weekend. This has been the first Saturday in a month that I have actually been at home. (It is quite obvious when you look at the condition of my house too. It's getting kind of gross.) I was going to create full lesson plans for the rest of the week and finish writing up the chemistry course for next year. None of that happened. It seems like my body and mind just shut down when I make it to the weekend. I think I ran out of gas. Maybe taking a little break will help me be more productive during the week.
I've been working on a new afghan since November. It is called the sampler afghan. It is made up of 63 unique crocheted squares. It's been kind of fun to learn so many different patterns and designs. This weekend I finally finished the last square. All that is left is assembly. I feel like I'll be finished in no time!
I've been working on a new afghan since November. It is called the sampler afghan. It is made up of 63 unique crocheted squares. It's been kind of fun to learn so many different patterns and designs. This weekend I finally finished the last square. All that is left is assembly. I feel like I'll be finished in no time!
