Thursday, February 16, 2012
Beyond the Glitches
Okay, so it has taken me longer to post than I anticipated. After figuring out my glitch problems, we had intense internet outages which came in waves. I am not sure if it was a broadband issue or weather related. All I know is I had intended and prepared to post the day after my last post about being "Glitch Free", but that just wasn't a possibility. I spent that entire weekend frustrated with the internet. I tried checking emails, posting grades, Skyping friends, and, yes, posting on this very blog. And just when I thought I had a strong connection...SURPRISE...the connection was lost.
To be honest though, internet connective issues are not unusual out her in rural Alaska. The unusual aspect is how often it has been in the last week or so. That is what makes me wonder what the actually cause of the problem might be. So rather than dwell here any longer, I think it is time for me to catch you all (ya'll) up on what has been happening in my sphere in and out of Oscarville.
To be honest though, internet connective issues are not unusual out her in rural Alaska. The unusual aspect is how often it has been in the last week or so. That is what makes me wonder what the actually cause of the problem might be. So rather than dwell here any longer, I think it is time for me to catch you all (ya'll) up on what has been happening in my sphere in and out of Oscarville.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Glitch Prohibiting me from blogging
Okay, so it would seem like I have abandoned my blog. I have not. There was a glitch prohibiting from me from writing on my blog. Here in wonderful Oscarville I only have internet access through the school. And the district has several restrictions and blocks on usage. This is not a blocked site and has never been. It was just a matter of time before I was able to figure out the problem. Now I am back and ready to update everyone.
I will work on updating the blog this weekend. Stay tuned....
I will work on updating the blog this weekend. Stay tuned....
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Men in Alaska
A popular cliché about finding a man in Alaska is, ''The odds are good, but the goods are odd.''
A popular cliché about breaking up with a woman in Alaska is, ''You don't lose your girl, you lose your turn.''
Alaska has a reputation for a high ratio of men to women. Surprisingly though, the ratio between men and women is quite even across the state. However, in some of the more remote areas of Alaska there is indeed a larger imbalance of men to women. Seriously, what kind of woman wants to live in the wild rugged remoteness of rural Alaska? Oh, there are some; I apparently am one of them.
Or perhaps, the higher ratio of men to women in rural areas may very well have to do with occupations. Women in this region primarily work either in the area of education or health care. Men, although they also work in those areas, they also dominate a wider variety of "masculine" fields in rural Alaska.
So, with more men than women out here you’d think that women would have an easy time finding a man. That simply isn’t true. I have known several female teachers who have left their villages because of the lack of social possibilities.
And here, in Oscarville, there are no options. Zilch.
Men (or lack of) is a very hot topic out here.
It is a very real concern for some.
It is an escape for others.
A popular cliché about breaking up with a woman in Alaska is, ''You don't lose your girl, you lose your turn.''
Alaska has a reputation for a high ratio of men to women. Surprisingly though, the ratio between men and women is quite even across the state. However, in some of the more remote areas of Alaska there is indeed a larger imbalance of men to women. Seriously, what kind of woman wants to live in the wild rugged remoteness of rural Alaska? Oh, there are some; I apparently am one of them.
Or perhaps, the higher ratio of men to women in rural areas may very well have to do with occupations. Women in this region primarily work either in the area of education or health care. Men, although they also work in those areas, they also dominate a wider variety of "masculine" fields in rural Alaska.
So, with more men than women out here you’d think that women would have an easy time finding a man. That simply isn’t true. I have known several female teachers who have left their villages because of the lack of social possibilities.
And here, in Oscarville, there are no options. Zilch.
Men (or lack of) is a very hot topic out here.
It is a very real concern for some.
It is an escape for others.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
H.S. Speech Competition 2011
It is that time of year yet again for High School Speech. Two fun filled days of speech with some down time sprinkled all around, especially if you are not giving speeches. That could explain the reason I have a few posting all in one day. Of course, there was an explanation to the irregularity of number of posts in a given time frame.
Oscarville Participants: Kalila (sophomore) and Patrick (junior)
Day 1: Tuesday, November 15th
Round 1- During the first round students only give their speech in front of two judges; there are no spectators. The students practice or fret while they wait their turn to give their speeches. Students can give speeches in several categories: Dramatic, Humorous, Expository, and Original Oration (English and Yup'ik). Meanwhile, coaches and chaperones have some time to fill. I chose to grade papers, enter grades, and write lesson plans because Thanksgiving is right around the corner and it would pay to work ahead of the curve.
Round 2- The second round takes place after dinner. All students participate in Round 2 in front of an audience of peers and guests.
The average from Round 1 and Round 2 is what determines who makes it to Round 3, the semi-finals.
Day 2: Wednesday, November 16th
Round 3- This year I didn't have students make it to the semi-finals. Round 3 takes place in the morning of Day 2 and again their only audience is the judges. My students who do not make it to this round work on classwork and go to their VTC classes so that they don't have as much make up work to do when we return to the village. My students do not always like that I have them work on school work because many other students simply hang out and socialize when they are done competing. Hopefully, however, my students will appreciate their efforts and my structure (perhaps not today, but someday). This is the time frame I was able to publish post earlier today.
Round 4- The finals takes place after lunch and their is a huge audience. All speech participants, coaches, chaperones, and guests watch the final round. All the Yup'ik speeches are in one room and all the Engligh speeches are in another. As a whole we, the audience, watch the best of the best and this year especially was outstanding. The dramatic category gave me chills and had me crying (only a little), the humorous category was peppered with laughter and gasps of reactionary responses, the expository category shined new perspective on topics of interest, and the original oratation category pulled and persuaded with tugs at the heart and sparked the brain to reconsider what it might have thought it already knew.
After dinner (Pizza) and the Awards Ceremony is the event after the event, if you will....the Dance. Oh, yes, the dance. Now, I cannot speak for all coaches and chaperones, but I do believe that those 3rd year coaches (in my LKSD year) might just agree that we look forward to the dance almost as much as our students. Although there are many adults present, the third year crew seems to take the same posts now for three consecutive years: Mike and Matthew front hall, Kim hallway to gym, Erin and I landing to the library. The other 3rd year speech regulars who did not make it for whatever reason please know your absence was indeed noted. You were missed!!
As for dancing, seems like our speech high school crowd aren't too big on dancing-at least not in front of people they don't know. They love the dance, but many are too shy to dance. Bethel students tend to be more willing to cut a rug than the village students; however, by the end of the night more village students pop out for a quick dance here and there. Every once in awhile you could catch a glimpse of a coach/ chaperone moving to the beat and that is super fun.
Day 3: November 17th
Probably the most challenging day to teach....
We will stay in Bethel until 9:40am or so that way my students can go to their VTC math class and I can help shuttle teams to the airport. Then my team will be taken to the tundra where we will be picked up by snowgo and head back to Oscarville. When we get back we go right to class and it WILL be a challenge. The dance ended tonight at 10pm and the students will be exhausted tomorrow. Oh, who am I kidding? So will I for that matter.
And it all will have been worth it!!!
Speech rocks!!
Oscarville Participants: Kalila (sophomore) and Patrick (junior)
Day 1: Tuesday, November 15th
Round 1- During the first round students only give their speech in front of two judges; there are no spectators. The students practice or fret while they wait their turn to give their speeches. Students can give speeches in several categories: Dramatic, Humorous, Expository, and Original Oration (English and Yup'ik). Meanwhile, coaches and chaperones have some time to fill. I chose to grade papers, enter grades, and write lesson plans because Thanksgiving is right around the corner and it would pay to work ahead of the curve.
Round 2- The second round takes place after dinner. All students participate in Round 2 in front of an audience of peers and guests.
The average from Round 1 and Round 2 is what determines who makes it to Round 3, the semi-finals.
Day 2: Wednesday, November 16th
Round 3- This year I didn't have students make it to the semi-finals. Round 3 takes place in the morning of Day 2 and again their only audience is the judges. My students who do not make it to this round work on classwork and go to their VTC classes so that they don't have as much make up work to do when we return to the village. My students do not always like that I have them work on school work because many other students simply hang out and socialize when they are done competing. Hopefully, however, my students will appreciate their efforts and my structure (perhaps not today, but someday). This is the time frame I was able to publish post earlier today.
Round 4- The finals takes place after lunch and their is a huge audience. All speech participants, coaches, chaperones, and guests watch the final round. All the Yup'ik speeches are in one room and all the Engligh speeches are in another. As a whole we, the audience, watch the best of the best and this year especially was outstanding. The dramatic category gave me chills and had me crying (only a little), the humorous category was peppered with laughter and gasps of reactionary responses, the expository category shined new perspective on topics of interest, and the original oratation category pulled and persuaded with tugs at the heart and sparked the brain to reconsider what it might have thought it already knew.
After dinner (Pizza) and the Awards Ceremony is the event after the event, if you will....the Dance. Oh, yes, the dance. Now, I cannot speak for all coaches and chaperones, but I do believe that those 3rd year coaches (in my LKSD year) might just agree that we look forward to the dance almost as much as our students. Although there are many adults present, the third year crew seems to take the same posts now for three consecutive years: Mike and Matthew front hall, Kim hallway to gym, Erin and I landing to the library. The other 3rd year speech regulars who did not make it for whatever reason please know your absence was indeed noted. You were missed!!
As for dancing, seems like our speech high school crowd aren't too big on dancing-at least not in front of people they don't know. They love the dance, but many are too shy to dance. Bethel students tend to be more willing to cut a rug than the village students; however, by the end of the night more village students pop out for a quick dance here and there. Every once in awhile you could catch a glimpse of a coach/ chaperone moving to the beat and that is super fun.
Day 3: November 17th
Probably the most challenging day to teach....
We will stay in Bethel until 9:40am or so that way my students can go to their VTC math class and I can help shuttle teams to the airport. Then my team will be taken to the tundra where we will be picked up by snowgo and head back to Oscarville. When we get back we go right to class and it WILL be a challenge. The dance ended tonight at 10pm and the students will be exhausted tomorrow. Oh, who am I kidding? So will I for that matter.
And it all will have been worth it!!!
Speech rocks!!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Alaska State Troopers Visit
In the last week I've received many a phone call and email inquiring about how the newsworthy epic storm of Alaska has impacted my little village of Oscarville. Honestly, for the most part we only received extra snow dumps except for last Saturday when a short blizzard came through. The visibility was so low I was not able to even see the play deck out of the back door of the school (a matter of yards). The school building shook with the force of winds more powerful than I have experienced yet while in Oscarville.
Saturday we had a make up day, so it was a half day for students. Our NYO team was in Bethel competing and were supposed to return Saturday afternoon. However, the blizzard, left much snow but the temperature was not really cold. The result was that our back trail to Bethel became slushy and dangerous to travel over. One of our parents had headed to Bethel to help bring back our NYO team via snowgo and ended up turning back because the trail was not safe.
Our principal also had trouble returning from Bethel due to the sketchy condition of the back trail, so he went to stay with the NYO team until it was safe to travel back to the village. On the trail, Galen ran into couple of State Troopers who were having trouble on the trail.
The Troopers were heading to Oscarville to handle a "situation" and with them they had two filmers from the show "Alaska State Troopers". One of the snow machines was stuck in ice and water and all four people were soaked because of their snowgo swamping into unfrozen water. One of the filmers said that they were setting up survival gear before Galen came because of the severity of the cold and the possiblity of having to hunker down until help arrived. The ride from Bethel to Oscarville typically takes about 20 minutes on a snowgo; however, the Troopers and Co. had been stuck out there during the blizzard for several hours. Luckily, Galen was able to get the people out and back to Oscarville where they could warm up and dry out.
My classroom became a makeshift drying room and it was incredible how much gear was scattered about the room. I loaned the women dry clothes and hair dryers became boot dryers.
Mrs. Straw invited them all over for dinner (tacos), as well as, Tiffany and myself. Then we women watched the first movie in the "Twilight" series. A needed escape for our shaken guests and a requirement for me from my roommate to prepare for the lastest sequel movie in the series we plan to watch over Thanksgiving break. (How old are we again?)
It was imperative to get the snow go out before the temperature fell too much. Community members went out and helped the Troopers haul out the second snowgo. Thankfully the temperature dropped enough to make the trail safe for travel which meant our NYO team and principal could return to Oscarville in the night.
Troopers and Co. stayed the night at the school and then safely returned to Bethel Sunday morning.
Saturday we had a make up day, so it was a half day for students. Our NYO team was in Bethel competing and were supposed to return Saturday afternoon. However, the blizzard, left much snow but the temperature was not really cold. The result was that our back trail to Bethel became slushy and dangerous to travel over. One of our parents had headed to Bethel to help bring back our NYO team via snowgo and ended up turning back because the trail was not safe.
Our principal also had trouble returning from Bethel due to the sketchy condition of the back trail, so he went to stay with the NYO team until it was safe to travel back to the village. On the trail, Galen ran into couple of State Troopers who were having trouble on the trail.
The Troopers were heading to Oscarville to handle a "situation" and with them they had two filmers from the show "Alaska State Troopers". One of the snow machines was stuck in ice and water and all four people were soaked because of their snowgo swamping into unfrozen water. One of the filmers said that they were setting up survival gear before Galen came because of the severity of the cold and the possiblity of having to hunker down until help arrived. The ride from Bethel to Oscarville typically takes about 20 minutes on a snowgo; however, the Troopers and Co. had been stuck out there during the blizzard for several hours. Luckily, Galen was able to get the people out and back to Oscarville where they could warm up and dry out.
My classroom became a makeshift drying room and it was incredible how much gear was scattered about the room. I loaned the women dry clothes and hair dryers became boot dryers.
Mrs. Straw invited them all over for dinner (tacos), as well as, Tiffany and myself. Then we women watched the first movie in the "Twilight" series. A needed escape for our shaken guests and a requirement for me from my roommate to prepare for the lastest sequel movie in the series we plan to watch over Thanksgiving break. (How old are we again?)
It was imperative to get the snow go out before the temperature fell too much. Community members went out and helped the Troopers haul out the second snowgo. Thankfully the temperature dropped enough to make the trail safe for travel which meant our NYO team and principal could return to Oscarville in the night.
Troopers and Co. stayed the night at the school and then safely returned to Bethel Sunday morning.
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