Friday, March 11, 2011

A Look From my Desk

A student leads the class in the Reading SBA (statewide assessment) Practice Test. Testing begins next month, so the students have been getting used to the format through open discussion and practice in a usually humorous and productive atmosphere. The students in Alakanuk enter Kindergarten at a very low level and struggle to catch up to the rest of the state expectations for years to come. I'm hoping that practicing some testing skills and working on difficult vocabulary will boost their confidence and their ability to do their best on the test.
We can see a crane in the distance working on installing the first power lines out of the village-- from Alakanuk to a nearby village, Emmonak.
Usually the students choose their group names to be an animal, such as The Moose, The Panthers, The Mukluks, The Shark, etc. This group chose to be The Wild Pampers.
Students love the elementary laptop cart that our school got in January. Here a student is looking up a map of Alaska on Google Maps.
Here is a picture of a little girl I met one day out on the porch of the school. I'm still not sure exactly who she was but I loved her eyes that told a story before she could talk.