Halfway Point

WEDNESDAY

I don't want to leave :( It's only Wednesday though...

Yesterday we got to see a variety of classes. We visited the math classroom, which was very very organized. I was surprised to see the kids competing to get the right answers. In such a small classroom there are personal vendettas against each other as to who will get their worksheet done first (with all of the right answers.) In the tech classroom yesterday, we got to see a whole different side of the kids. They were much more relaxed and the class was filled with both laughter and extreme concentration on the task at hand (which was building a circuit board.) In this class we heard a lot of the lingo that the students use... I joke, look see, try come, go help me! Rachael talks about this more in her blog... 

Today we are visiting science. It still just amazes me how eager these kids are to learn. There is very little classroom management because the students come in, sit down, and immediately start getting to work on the problems. They are volunteering answers and questions left and right. They argue over solutions and one 7th grader in particular shrieks and giggles over everything in class. You can't say she doesn't have fun at school. Everyone wants attention from the teacher. These are dream classes.

Yesterday Rachel and I heard the funniest thing. One of the kids came up to us and said quiet seriously... "Do you know how to do grievance counseling?..." I was confused and thought he was serious... so I replied "No... I've never studied counseling." Then he shoots back, "Oh, because I'm going to be grieving when you ladies leave... :) " I keep busting out laughing when I think of him. It was so sad and so funny at the same time.

Today was a pretty laid back day though. We taught our English again and worked with some small groups that were making presentations in history class. It makes me sad, because after only a few days we know most of the kids names and random little things about them.

One thing that is still confusing me is the word cheese. Rachael and I were reading a poem about a kitty eating cheese and every time we say the word cheese they break out in giggles. I'm not sure if it's just... cheese is funny... or if we say the word strange? They keep bringing it up too and I ask them "What! Is it funny when I say that word?"... and they burst out in giggles again. CHEESE!

Like I said in my last post, the trooper is in town. He keeps the school as his home base and runs around town checking out different issues, responding to rumors, investigating stolen property. I did not know that troopers are required within their first five years of service to spend two years in a rural area. He is based out of Kotzebue and makes monthly trips to some of the different villages. We sure learned a lot from him about his job and what he deals with. One of the funniest things was, well first of all, we've learned that a lot of the locals raise their eyebrows as a way to say "yes." Now... being a trooper, he is recording audio of what goes on between him and the people he is questioning. He said that a lot of those conversations go something like this...
Trooper: "We're you ____________ last night?"
Suspect: ........... (raises eyebrows)
Trooper: "You're raising your eyebrows.. does this mean yes?
Suspect: .......... (raises eyebrows)
Trooper: "The suspect raises eyebrows in response to both questions... it is confirmed that he is saying yes..."

... he later said.... "try explaining that to a judge..."