"A mind once stretched by a new idea can never regain its original dimensions." ~Oliver Wendall Holmes

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Thursday, March 12, 2009

One more year!

I signed my contract yesterday for one more year teaching in Bethel, Alaska! I am really excited about this for several reasons....

The kids that I had as tenth graders last year will be seniors next year and I will get to see them graduate. I've never been able to see any of my students graduate before as a class.

The kids that I had as 8th graders last year will be sophomores next year, which means that I will get most of them again for Biology. I think it will be so fun and interesting to have those kids as students again after a year of growth and maturity. I am really looking forward to this.

I feel like every year I am a better teacher and I really think that I will be even better next year. I have really made some great strides this year in my teaching and have implemented some very successful teaching strategies. BUT a good teacher is never done improving and there are so many more things that I want to do next year to make my classes even better. This is the first year that I have taught the same classes two years in a row. I have been amazed at how satisfying it is to see how I have changed my teaching methods from one year to the next and how that pays off in the motivation and achievement of my students. It really makes me think that where ever I end up next is where I will probably want to stay for some time, if not for the rest of my career.

The money is great! I make twice as much as I would be if I were still teaching in Ohio. We got a nice raise with our new contract this year and we'll get a pretty nice signing bonus in August.

AND...I will get to have Avery as my student next year which may turn out good or not so good, but either way will be interesting.

Avery and I are established here as part of the community. We have friends. We are involved in activities around the community. We know the ins and outs of living here.

We are finally experiencing some of the things I envisioned when moving here. The winter camping, visiting villages, seeing other parts of Alaska, etc.

Another amazing summer! I booked my ticket to Vegas last week and I cant wait to spend the summer in the sun. I cant wait to see my friends and part of my family. I cant wait to wear sandals and tank tops and get a tan!

7 comments:

Kelly Kurtz said...

Hi
I am a new reader. I am from Oregon, Mo, the northwest corner of MO. I am 46, have three sons, Brady, 26, a science teacher in Lake Mills Iowa, (chemistry and physics) Branson, 25 in April, military and a computer student, and Bryant, 17, a Jr. in High School that loves to play football, golf and is a good student and most of all a social animal. I am fasinated by Alaska and found your blog. I read from Aug. 07 until today ....in just two days....to say the least I have gotten very little done. I would love to talk to you for several reasons. 1. I admire you have your brother with you. 2. The adventure in your life. 3. I think you are an interesting person. and 4. I would love for Brady to talk to you, my oldest son that is a science teacher. He is not attached and I think you two would be great friends if not more. 5. What the hell happened with the roommate, Chanda(?). Send me an e-mail if you wish,

Have a great one,
Kelly Kurtz

alisha said...

Kelly,

I am completely flattered! Thank you very much for all of your compliments!

I cant believe you read in 2 days what has taken me almost 2 year to write. Wow! You were really reading! It really puts it into some perspective when it is read in order from the very first post. I have gone back and read the entire thing myself a couple of times.

I do feel blessed to be living such an amazing life and my Alaskan adventure is just a piece of it. I'm glad you have enjoyed reading and hope that you will keep following the blog regularly. I update almost daily, some posts clearly being more interesting than others. I will look forward to your comments in the future and would be happy to talk with you in more detail. Do you ever use instant messaging?

Let me know...
Alisha

Anonymous said...

Let the adventures continue!!!! You are right where you are supposed to be for now......luckyschool, lucky kids!!!!!

What a wonderful feeling to know you are making a difference AND having a great time too! Keep blogging....

Edna

Christine said...

congrats on signing on for another year in BET. We only planned to be out here for 2 and it's been over 5 now. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Alisha,

I just noticed the very hard-to-see why number on the top left of your blog...what is it?

Anonymous said...

Ooops I meant the white number not the "why" number, lol.

alisha said...

It is the blogs template number. When you first choose the design for the blog, you choose from a list of templates. I cant take the number off. It is automatically put there.