My life is the most wonderful

This is me...
teaching science,
outdoors,
wearing Birkenstocks.


 Life could not get any better.

more reasons....

6) We take school-wide camping trips.
7) The Chilcotin word for Father is 'aba'. It brings me soo much joy to hear students calling their father 'aba', and every time it makes me think of Jesus and His 'abba'. It is a beautiful connection between the Chilcotin people and Jesus.

I hate statistics...

In grade 12 my physics teacher, Mr.K., told me something that I would never forget. We were talking about my university plans and he told me that so many people picked their careers based on what they loved to do. These people are normally happy, but he thought they were a little selfish. He told me to pick what I thought was the greatest injustice and to work hard the rest of my life to end it.

Over the years I have encountered many things that I hate, many things that I would gladly work the rest of my life trying to eradicate. But I have narrowed my scope to the fact that our students are entering into an educational system which is perfectly willing to settle for educating only those who want to learn; too many of our children slip through the cracks.

I have been researching First Nations graduation rates and I am furious; only 40% of First Nations students living on reserve will graduate from high school. My class has 12 students in it, which means that only 4.8 of them will graduate (to encourage myself I will round that up to 5 students). That also means that when I look at my class 7 of my students will not be able to find success in the classroom.  I’m sitting here running through my list of students’ names and seeing their faces; deciding that this class will be different, that this group will be the exception. That I will find a way to teach, engage and mentor each of these beautiful children in a way which enables them to be successful.

And I wonder how many other teachers have thought these very same thoughts, and failed.

I can’t decide whether I want to break something or cry

I am the luckiest...

Reasons why I love the place where I work:

1) There is a herd of wild horses that roams the reserve, some days you are almost late for work because they are loitering in the road.
2) It is acceptable to teach in Lululemon pants.
3) It is encouraged for me to teach in Birkenstocks
4) I only get attacked by dogs while driving to work once or twice a week.
5) These are actual "Intended Learning Outcomes" for my students in their Chilcotin culture class:

- It is intended that students memorize the Bannock recipe.
- It is intended that students will make Bannock.

I will formatively or summatively assess those ILO's any day of the week; hellllo fry bread.

steep learning curve

I have realized that for every day you teach on a reserve you gain the equivalency of a years experience in any public school. Therefore in the past 2 weeks I  have dealt with approximately the same amount of drama as a veteran teacher of 10 years. 


You may not believe me, but its true.... I offer the following story as proof. 


Teaching day 3: One of our teachers was away so I was teaching the older grades and one of my students was being especially rowdy and would not do work. Every single thing becomes a power struggle and he is the most defiant, but funniest, student I have come across. He takes his hot dog (an actual hot dog- it was lunch time) and throws it and hits another student in the face. By the time I walked across the room to talk to him he had a different student in a headlock. So I gave him a purple referral, which is the worst kind- it means that you have to go to the principals, and wait until a parent came to pick you up. 

He refused to take the purple referral, and was like "I dont care, try and make me go home" and would not leave. So I just stood there looking at this 11 year old boy, very aware that every student in the school was about to think I was a giant push over.  Because he is right there is absolutely nothing that I could do, giving a purple referral is the worst thing in my disciplinary arsenal.  I am contemplating what to do next, when all of a sudden he rushes to the back door, throws it open, and whistles. Lo and behold every stinking rez dog that loiters around the school comes bounding into the room.


So in a matter of 3 minutes, my room went from 8 students quietly eating lunch, to 4 students screaming, 3 students laughing, 4 dogs running around my room, and one student standing at the backdoor smiling maniacally- while I stand there flabbergasted.


I will have to tell TWU to add a what-to-do-when-a-student-lets-wild-animals-loose-in-your-class section to their classroom management course. 

In summation

I have been unintentionally neglectful of updates during the past few months. Partially because nothing exciting ever happens and partially because I was spending 24-hours a day with the only people (person, who am I kidding) who reads this blog. So here is a concise list of everything that happened over the past 2.5 months.


1) Graduated University: B.A. Check B.Ed. Check
2) Packed everything I own in my car
3) Scrubbed, spackled and painted my house.
4) Got a 600 dollar damage deposit back from landlord
5) Deposited 600 dollars into back account
6) Took money out in Mexican Pesos
7) Flew to MEXICO with wonderful friends
8) Got incredibly sunburnt 
9) Had angry landlord cancel 600 dollar damage deposit check
10)Spent many hours complaining about idiot landlord
11) Had bank freeze my accounts
12) Spend more hours complaining about idiot landlord 
13) Drank Margaritas
14) Ate cheap, delicious, Mexican Avocados 
15) Flew home
16) Repacked all belongs into tiny car 
17) Drove 10.5 hours to first  official teaching job
18) Settled into new home, far away from friends, family, cell phone coverage and grocery stores
19) Ate expensive, mediocre, Northern B.C. Avocados 
20) Drove 2 hours to use internet and update blog

I can totally hook you up with a fake I.D.

Recently a group of my (moderately rowdy but incredibly endearing) students inquired what I would be doing over the weekend, when I answered that I was going to my graduation banquet they began to whisper excitedly.

Endearing student #1: “Ms. D, if you want I can totally hook you up with a fake I.D.”

Me: “……. Excuse me”

Endearing Student #1: “You know like a driver’s license but with a fake age”

Me: “Yes, I know what a fake I.D. is, but why would I need one, I'm pretty old?”

(Slightly less) Endearing Student #2: “yeah, way too old”

Now not only am I confused, but mildly insulted.

Endearing Student #1: “We were just thinking that after your grad banquet you could stop by the all-ages club to party with us… but you can’t be older than 18, so we would need to get you a fake I.D.”

The fact that my students wanted me to hang out with them (at a terrible, sleazy, and incredibly inappropriate all-ages club, where drunk 14 year old girls party with high 18 year old boys)  almost outweighed the incredibly illegal activity they were purposing, however I told them I did not think it was a good idea.

My students then dejectedly walk away, and then one of the boys turns and adds,

Endearing student #1: “Ok well if you want to stop by, we will be pre-drinking in the parking lot around 9:30”

My grade 10’s boys are just the funniest; I also now have to avoid that part of town, every night, for the rest of my life. 

D-town babaaayy…

This morning was the best morning of my week.

I was walking down the hall, and glanced into a nearby classroom; I noticed one of my students and smiled in acknowledgment. He proceeded to stand up, in the middle of his teacher's lesson and declare…

“Yo Ms. D, yeaaah D-Dawg, represent D-town babaaayy…"

Now I am not sure how most responsible and civilized teachers would respond, but in that moment I chose “yeaaah git it”….

…

What does that even mean? I then realized that the teacher and the ENTIRE class was now staring at me, so to save myself I added , “sit yourself down”, and walked quickly away. I am now planning on avoiding that hallway, those students, and the staffroom for the remainder of the week. 

In a nutshell...

Historically, I have had a deep dislike of blogs, and an even deeper distrust of bloggers. I could not understand why anyone would constantly, and consistently, update strangers on the inner-most details of their life.

But this year something changed.

Deeply funny things began happening, the type of things where you need to tell as many people as soon as you can. There are stories to tell, quotes to remember and events to archive, and blogging about it seemed the most logical choice.  

Plus my wonderful and wildly influential roommate talks about her deep love of blogging quite openly, frequently and loudly. 

So, my life in a nutshell…

1) I hate wearing dress pants and shoes

2) I am a teacher

3) Teachers are required to wear dress pants and shoes

4) I love Jesus

5) East Van is the one place I always feel I belong

6) I love youth (the more ghetto and gangsta the better)

7)I love roots, trees, moss and grass

7.5) I would be quite content to spend the rest of my life telling rowdy ghetto youth about Jesus and trees!

6) I once took a class in soil chemistry (it was my favorite)

7) Lists are essential if I want to get anything accomplished

8) I like Organic and Fair-Trade groceries

9) My students call me "Ms D"

10) Hilarious things happen and are said to me almost every day as I try to reconcile my inner gangsta-hippy with my newfound life as a high school teacher.