Belated Mail Post

Awhile ago I received my license to teach from Alaska. 

Due to Alaska Law, only my certifications for Ohio can be placed on my initial license. Everyone knows that I have taken several Praxis exams and I'm highly qualified in more than two areas in science. I have to complete two college courses for Alaska Studies and Alaska Multicultural Classrooms. And I forgot to send recommendations from OVU. Ops! I'm thinking about taking those two classes online through Ilisagvik College in Barrow. Then I will get my big girl license to teach in Alaska! My initial license is good for two years, but I have to get those classes finished so I can get to work on my praxis exams and master's program (!). 

I am not the know it all of Alaska licensure. Go to the Dept of Ed website for Alaska for further information. 

Crazy Questions From My Students

Some of the students had questions about me moving to Alaska. I answered the in class, but you can also read my replies here. 

1. Where's Alaska? Let's bring up Google Maps and look for it. 

2. Do you fly to Russia first? No I will fly into Anchorage, Alaska first. Russia is close to Alaska. If I was to go Little Diomede island I could climb to the top of that island and see Russia. On a clear day I would be able to see mainland Russia. 

3. Is it cold? I am 1,122 miles from the North Pole and 322 miles inside the Arctic Circle. Its going to be very cold in the winter and maybe in the 50s during the summer. 

4. What are you going to do? Teach Science.

5. How do you move there? I am going to sell lots of my stuff that I don't need, store the stuff I can't live without, mail some things and fly there. 

6. Can you build a snowman? Yes, and ride bikes down the halls.

7. Why are you leaving? I'm not used to living in one spot too long. I like travelling and doing new things. I'm ready professionally to do something different. 

8. Is it our fault? Absolutely not! I am leaving because its my personally choice. I have been offered a job at VCS and have turned it down because of personal and professional reasons. 

9. Who is going to be our teacher? I don't know. Ask the Director and Principal. They are in charge of hiring. 

10. Will you visit? Alaska is far away to come back for weekend trips. I will probably be up there for awhile before I fly home to WV. 

11. When do you leave? I want to leave the Lower 48 around June 23rd or 30th. 

12. Can you come back for Christmas? No. I wouldn't have enough time. If the weather is bad, I can't get back to work. 

13. Are there penguins? Wrong pole.

14. Can you pet a polar bear? Only if I don't need my hand anymore. 

15. Can you vote? Yes I will still continue my civic duty. 

16. Are there cars? Yes. People barge their cars up to Barrow. They drop them off in Anchorage in April and they get them back in August in Barrow. 

17. Is there a lot of darkness like that movie? So for about 60 some days, the sun doesn't rise above the horizon. It makes it dark but not pitch black the whole time. In the summer, the sun doesn't set below the horizon for about 60 days. When its midnight, it will still be bright out. 

18. What do you do if its too bright out and its bedtime? Tin foil on windows or blackout curtains. 


     

April 28th was intense

Today I told my students at lunch that I was moving to Alaska. Before I told the students, the teachers and I made predictions about what was going to happen. We predicted that everyone was going to be happy, except for the known drama queen. Overall, students laughed and sounded a bit confused. My 5th and 6th bell classes which are my elementary class and ninth grade classes had the opportunity to watch the video that I had created to explain my leaving of the school. I answered questions for about 15 minutes and then it was business as usual. I planned on showing the video the next day for the students that already saw me prior to the news. 

I did not want any of them to cry about me leaving. I'm leaving to do something new. I always let my students know how much I care about them. We might play and have fun at times in class, but ultimately, I'm the adult in charge of the room and not their friend. Its this type of relationship dynamic that has enabled me to leave without tears. I know I have done my job with them. 

Here's the video that they watched....

Shoes, Shoes and What To Do

When I moved away from Bahrain, I must have packed about 50 pairs of shoes. I entered Bahrain with my black boots, tennis shoes and flip flops. In three years, I accumulated shoes. When I moved to Japan, I started downsizing due to lack of space for my collections. The downsizing continued until I started observing classrooms and student teaching. I was required to dress professionally. I did so and learned flats and a great Spenco insert is a teacher's best friend. I dressed professionally every day except for the day my middle school Principal ordered me to wear normal clothes for my last day. 

The dress code at my current school is casual. Wearing heels is difficult if you have to get down the hallway to deal with a blow up. I wear heels for special occasions and IEP meetings. The dress code in Alaska seems to be similar. With that in mind, I've decided to bring a minimum amount of shoes. 

1. heated Columbia boots - on sale bargain!
2. black flat boots
3. mud boots
4. my favorite black heels
5. 1 flip flops for the pool
6. tennis shoes for running
7. cute tennis shoes not for running
8. black flats
9. casual black flats

Yes, I need all these shoes. 

Don't judge, lest ye be judged! (shoes included)

Another country off the list...

I crossed Indonesia off my bucket list. There's sea snakes there that travel in packs!

Sorry, I'm taken!

I wish there was a Do Not Call Again status for job applications. Another school district sent me an email the other day about setting up an interview time. I replied that I had signed my letter of intent and I was taken. The next day I received a phone call from a Principal in a different district wanting a phone interview. I called back and left a message that I signed a letter of intent and I'm taken. 

It's amazing to me that I would have this many school districts interested in me. When I graduated from OVU, I applied in a staggering amount of districts in WV. I only got one interview! One... uno... un! It was with Hamilton Middle School in Wood County. It was in my hometown and I was excited. One of the questions during my interview was if I felt that teaching middle school was stressful. My answer was no! I've been in stressful situations in which my actions or my inactions could have caused the death of one or more individuals. Teaching middle school science would be a piece of cake. 

What I should have said....

Teaching middle school can be difficult at times, but the skills I learned in the military enables me to cope with stressful events in a healthy appropriate manner. 

It doesn't matter that I didn't get that job. I was hired at VCS half way through my interview. It was WV's loss that they didn't hire a passionate WV girl to teach science. My first year at VCS, I applied to WV schools with no luck. I didn't even get acknowledged that I applied in some counties. All the hype about needing highly qualified science teachers sounded like a tub of malarky to me. 

Fast forward to the present day. The ATP job fair in Minneapolis was successful. Posting my resume on the ATP website has been positive. Unfortunately, a little too positive and successful. I've been forced to turn down interviews and jobs in other districts. Some have questioned me if I picked my district too son. I don't think so, I think I'm destined for Barrow. Maybe I should just put something on my voice mail to let others know I'm not available. 

8 weeks and I'm frustrated

I'm at about 8 weeks till I fly to Barrow, Alaska to start my new job teaching high school science. I'm becoming more frustrated with my current surroundings. I don't know if its my brain telling me to separate now or whats going on. I am frustrated that I still can't share the news with my current students. I have to wait and be extremely careful about who, what, where and why I say certain things. Its beyond annoying, but I'm not a psychologist or counselor and don't get to make a decision on this one. 

Saying goodbyes can be difficult for some people. I still remember a going away party that we had at Ponderosa up by the Mall. I think it might have been 1999. I was headed overseas to Bahrain. I hugged my Uncle Paul.  (He actually wasn't an uncle. He is married to my mother's cousin, Liz.) Paul was sick and I didn't want to say goodbye to him. I told him that I would see him later and he said no that it was goodbye. I told him that I didn't accept that but okay. Sadly, Uncle Paul passed away while I was overseas. Thanks to Bill Clinton's mess he created with Monica Lewinsky, I was unable to fly home for his funeral. I still think back to how difficult it was to hug him and to say good bye. He knew that it was the last time we would hug. I still miss him. 

There are times when its easy to say goodbyes. I can casually say goodbye to cousins and distant friends. I know that I will be with them for a long time. I can even hug my mother in all her hysterics good bye. I try to make it quick before airport security stops her. (Anyone remember the Parkersburg airport incident? She ran to the plane to get Baby Emily? That was the last time we flew there!)

In the coming weeks, I'm working on saying my good byes and giving people a sense of closure in our relationship. They can keep in touch or we might not ever meet again. I don't know my future and its not for me to know. I live my life the best I can with a smile on my face. 

Make new friends,

but keep the old,

some are silver,

and some are gold,

a circle is round,

it has no end,

that's how long,

you're gonna be my friend.