Walking in a Winter Wonderland

My perfect little tundra tree<3

One more sleep. Just one more sleep followed by a short few hours at school before winter break officially begins! I think it’s safe to say that students and teachers alike are ready for some time off. I know the teachers in Nondalton are ready to relax while our students are excited to spend their daylight hours outside playing in the snow. 

Last weekend's ride to Newhalen

With the winter solstice coming up, we are down to about six hours of daylight. The sun rises at about 10:15 and sets a little after 4:15. Students spend five of those hours inside at school while teachers spend almost all six of those hours inside working. On the 22nd, the winter solstice will occur and we will slowly start to gain back minutes and then hours of daylight. Oh how I am yearning for the days of the midnight sun. It will be refreshing to get some sunshine back on the east coast, and maybe I'll get a tan with the weather that has been occurring back at home! 

One of our 4:15 sunsets

While the east coast is getting hit with warm weather and isn’t looking promising for a white Christmas, Alaska has already seen two good snowfalls this year. We’ve had almost triple the amount of snow that we had all last winter, and it’s only December! I am looking forward to seeing if more snow piles up during the few weeks that I’ll be roasting on the east coast. With how cold it’s been, I have already felt the pain that improper gear can cause and I am going to need to upgrade a few of my cold weather items over the break. 

Bear Creek Trail, Iliamna

Last weekend, Sam and I went out on a snowy adventure to get some fresh air and spend some time outside. While the trail we went on was breath-taking and incredibly peaceful, I was desperate to get home. I think the temperature was five degrees when we left, but with the wind it felt like negative 10 or worse. Halfway through the ride I had lost feeling of my toes and I spent the entire ride back coming to terms with the fact that I would never feel my feet again. However, after putting some hot hands in fresh warm socks, painfully soaking my feet in lukewarm water (that to me felt like one million degrees), and then having Sam sit on my feet for awhile, I finally regained feeling in all ten tootsies. Have no fear, the number one item on my shopping list over break is a pair of Alaskan native approved “Bunny Boots” (google the picture for a giggle, but know that my feet will never be cold again). 

A snow covered Six Mile Lake

Aside from being the weekend that I almost lost the use of my toes, it was also my first lake crossing of the winter. Two weeks ago the lake officially became thick enough to safely cross, and many people have been riding snow machines and hondas back and forth between here and Newhalen. Considering the fact that everything makes me anxious, it shouldn’t come as a shock that crossing over a frozen lake causes a mini panic attack no matter how many times I’ve done it. To make matters worse, it was snowing both times that we crossed and I was convinced that there was a hole in the middle of the lake that we could not see and that we would surely fall through (my anxiety gets the better of me sometimes). Rest assured that there are no holes and the ice is both solid and thick. While it might make me nervous, the lake being frozen makes for much easier travel between mine and Sam’s villages so I am hoping that the freezing temperatures stick around for a few more months! 

I found some time for crafting!

As for school, the past few weeks have been busy with end of the semester wrap-up. In addition, I very recently took over the title as the Nondalton FAMILY Grant Coordinator. The purpose of the grant is to help develop and strengthen positive interactions between pre-schoolers and their families while also helping prepare little ones for kindergarten. I am excited to take on this role, but the past week has held with it long nights of hosting family meetings, reviewing materials, and getting student records prepared and organized. I have also been trying to get work together for the first few weeks after break because I will be taking an online course beginning in January (more to follow on this later) and I want to be able to focus my energy on that when we return. However, I am ready for a few weeks of not having to do any paperwork! 

Our decorations for
the winter program!

As a nice goodbye to this semester, we held our winter program tonight and the whole community came out to support our students. The younger elementary students sang Christmas carols, the upper elementary students preformed a mini-play along with the reading of a book, and our middle and high-schoolers created skits to perform their own version of “A Christmas Carol”.  It was a fun time, but I was happy to get home to finish up packing and last minute things. Weather depending, I am supposed to hop on a plane tomorrow afternoon and then spend the weekend in Palmer (which is about 45 minutes north of Anchorage) with some great people. However, tomorrow is calling for a few inches of snow and it's possible that we will not be able to fly out of Nondalton. I am feeling so happy that I am not flying out of Anchorage until Monday night. With the weather conditions being so sporadic, travel from the villages is not guaranteed so it’s nice to allow for some buffer days in case you get weathered in or out of a village. Fingers crossed that we can get out tomorrow, because I am looking forward to seeing my friends, shopping, and going to a restaurant. 

My current outdoor decor

Oh, what a wonderfully chaotic semester it has been. I have had days that I never want to forget and I have also had days I wish I could never think of again. I have been on many adventures and have created unforgettable memories with people who I am lucky to be able to call co-workers and friends. My semester has been one unknown after the other, but what a ride it has been. With all that has happened in the past five months, I cannot begin to imagine what the next five will hold. My hope is that the second semester will bring with it a little less stress and a lot more adventuring!

I would like to wish anyone reading this a very happy holiday season and say thank you for continuing to follow along with me as I tackle my first year teaching special education in my tiny Alaskan village!  Stay tuned if you want to find out what Alaska has in store for me:) 

My Miss Paige

My little artist at work

My writing group has just left my room and I rush to heat up my travel mug so I can make tea to get me through the afternoon. I’m wondering for the hundredth time why I thought it was a good idea to stop drinking coffee, but I grab a bag of tea and push the thought from my mind. As I get back to my room I have two or three minutes to update my classroom behavior system, add a few more items to my to do list, and if I am lucky I even have a chance to check my email. All the while I am thinking of where the day has gone and if I’ve actually gotten anything across to my different groups. I could sit there all day trying to get caught up, but from my classroom at the top of the steps, I can hear the front door of the school open. I pause and wait, listening to the clock as the seconds tick by. Then I hear it, the clumsy footsteps of a little one in snow boots, and all thoughts and worries leave my mind.

"I'll miss you buddy"

Each day, when one o’clock rolls around, I must step out of the role of elementary school teacher and into the shoes of a pre-school teacher. If you don’t believe there’s a difference, just ask the secondary students next door and they’ll tell you how my voice changes and how many times I clap my hands or say “good job!". Everyone knows that I love children, but I never thought I’d be teaching 3 year olds, especially not in the same day that I work with students in elementary and high school. Most days I feel that I’m just hanging on by the seat of my pants and there are many days in which my students teach me more than I can hope to teach them. My two 3 year olds (a boy and a girl) keep me on my toes, and I have to have a new activity ready every five minutes (sometimes every 3) to keep up with their tiny attention spans. However, they also teach me patience (so. much. patience.) and provide me with constant laughter. I’m often exhausted after our 30 and 60 minute sessions, but most days I am sad to see them go and wish that I was able to work with them longer. Today was one of those days.

It was five after one and I was worried that only one of my students would be joining me today. It had been a long day, I was frustrated with some of my students from earlier in the day, and my pre-school sessions go by much quicker when both students are there. The roads have been icy, so I was hoping that they were just running behind, but as the clock ticked by I thought my bundle of energy would surely be absent. But then I heard the front door open, followed by those clunky footsteps. Seconds later, she rushed through the door exclaiming “My Miss Paige!”, and my day turned around. Three little words paired with the look of excitement on my student’s face, and my day was instantly better. 

My adorable little nurse

As I watched my students play together, I reflected on how they have grown since August. While I can’t always see it in my older students, my little ones show me progress each day. Whether it be recognizing the first letter in their name, being able to match a number to a set of objects (today we counted/matched up to the number 3), or running around the table to push in my chair after I stand up, I can constantly see their brains at work. I celebrate every accomplishment as if my students have just won the lottery and they probably think I’m crazy, but at least they clap right along with me! As my little lady and I worked on how to cut paper with scissors, I could almost pinpoint the exact moment in which the gears in her brain shifted and her hands and eyes teamed up to showcase some awesome fine motor skills. Today was a great day in Miss Paige’s room. 

I wish I could describe it, but getting to work with these youngsters fills my days with happiness. Each day is an adventure and while I never know what I’m facing when they walk through the doors, I know our sessions will never be boring. My pre-schoolers continue to remind me of the innocence of children and I hope that I provide them with a learning environment in which they feel both safe and cared for. These two small children have had such a large impact on my life, and I hope that I am able to help do the same for them. Tonight my heart is full knowing that I am someone’s “My Miss Paige”, and for that I am thankful.