Advice to a teacher considering working on a reservation

Re-posted from a reply on ProTeacher:


I taught in NE Arizona on the Navajo Rez. HS Spanish...

Some of my kids were angels, but those were usually the ones from a 2-parent household that didn't allow drugs/alcohol, etc.

Most of my kids came from broken homes, partied on the weekends/weekdays, and dealt with things most people don't encounter until after graduation. We lost at least 4 students that year to suicide or murder, not counting deaths of family members.

I would compare it to an inner-city, urban school.   Your heart will get involved, and you will cry often for these children who have had their innocence stolen. Embrace them, and they will try to please you (by learning, behavior, etc).   You will deal with multiple absences for whatever reason, (many of my students had an hour+ bus ride to school one way!  Many suspensions, moving to other cities, etc). There were gangs, certain colors of shirts were not allowed at the school (black, blue, etc)... I kept snacks in my room for "sale" for very cheap so my students wouldn't ditch my class to go to the earlier lunch simply to hang out with friends (because they didn't bring lunch)

Don't be afraid to ask cultural questions.:)  Some things they might not tell you, but if they invite you to a ceremony or event, go! :)

But if you stick it out, the kids will learn to trust you with their lives. They will try to learn because you are trying to teach them; They will try to behave better because you care about their future. They will make an effort in class- or even to COME to class - because you try to make learning fun.

Be yourself, be real, realize that they are most likely dealing with very hard things at home, and LOVE them.
They will respond if they see you are genuine, and if they know you care about them as an individual and as a culture.

I miss my Rez kids, but I know I'm right where I need to be right now :)

caos y ruida

there is no quiet here;
it is all noise.
there is no stillness here;
everything moves.
there is no peace here;
chaos rules.



all my soul wants is a tiny speck of quiet,
a place unmoving, thoughts able to focus.

what would happen if i turned it off?
i'm pretty sure chaos would happen; they'd be confused.

then, of course, i'd have my silence. stillness. peace.

Lois Lenski - book reviews: San Francisco Boy, Shoo-fly Girl, Corn-farm Boy

I recently discovered several new-to-me books at the local library. Lois Lenski's books have always been on my top choices for children, and when i discovered about ten out-of-print, expensive-on-amazon books, I couldn't NOT pick them up and take them home with me.

Here is a short run-down on the ones I was able to find:

  San Francisco Boy is about a young boy and his sister (and their other siblings, but the book's main focus is on those two) who move from Alameda, California to San Francisco. Most of the story is about the boy's struggle with homesickness and making new friends; his younger sister makes friends easily with their neighbors and shop owners. It is full of Chinese culture - and even some Italian fun, as well! - and a great read for anyone interested in life in Chinatown, California.

Shoo-fly Girl is about an Amish girl who is part of a large family. She helps the family grow their tobacco crop for sale, and has a pet crow that no one likes. She and her family learn to be friends with their "English" neighbors, all the while overcoming their prejudice. Reading this story was definitely fun, and recommended for anyone who is interested in the lives of Amish children.

Corn-Farm Boy is about a boy who suffers with rheumatism. He lives on a farm with his siblings; since he has to limit his physical activity, he "collects" animals as pets, doctoring them when they're sick. He tries his best to help the family as they try a new method of planting corn that makes them look foolish to the neighbors, but it pays off in the end. This is a great story for animal lovers and young boys looking for everyday adventures.

butter typoes ;)

When I read something - anything, be it print, on the internet, on signs, etc... - my brain is on alert and ready to mock any typos or grammatical eras* I see ;)   I'm not sure when it started, (even though I myself sometimes use lowecase letterage or coin words), but any time I catch a typo (ad nauseum), I get a little excited. ... and sometimes a little frustrated that the world didn't help out those people enough to show them they could have a much better life if only....

Anywhoodle, I know I'm not the only one out there / they're still around / their influence makes me who I am ... ;)


What's the best / worst grammar/typo you've seen?  comments necessary!

Also, in the last week I've lost a whole pound of weight - that's equivalent to four sticks of butter! It doesn't seem like a lot in my head, but if I picture butter I feel so much more proud of myself!

2012, meet 2013!

It snowed on New Year's Eve, on New Year's Day, and today. It might not have been two feet of snow, but it was a decent salt-shaker's worth of snow in appearance as it fell from the sky.

We left my inlaw's house on NYE and as we were getting into the Jeep we got to catch fireworks exploding a few blocks away.  It was pretty super (and also pretty cold).

at Colonial's "Movie on the Lawn"

We've been married for 6 months and it seems like much longer(inagoodway). We've learned much about God's goodness in the Psalms in the past few months, and much about each other as we've dealt with job hunting, interviews, declined jobs, job offers that wouldn't be enough to live on, and  Still haven't been able to have the Michigan reception we'd planned on, but hope to soon. We've shared many meals with D's family, and learned to share what little we have with each other and D's grandpa (withwhomwe'reliving).

I've been working at Barnes&Noble as a "seasonal worker" - didn't have the 90-days-of-training that almost everyone else had, but I've done all right so far. We shall see if I am asked to stay on . . . I like working there, but it's hard to pay bills on only $7.50/hr.

Waiting for Grand Canyon to find me a placement - finally heard from someone today that all three of the schools I'd put on my application didn't have space.... so I took initiative and gave the guy who is supposed to be helping me get placed no less than 25 schools to call for me.
we shall see.

D and I have been scheming how we can get out of debt and move forward in our goal: alaska, airplanes, 6 kids, etc...

February 2011 at Beaners :) 

I've been hounding Pinterest for homesteading ideas, and gradually learning bits and pieces of how-to-make-it-on-very-little. Even though we still don't have our own place, we've been learning to live on very little as it is, and I've been learning to make freezer meals (and been trying harder to cook for possibly 3-instead-of-7 people)...

This year I hope to write more... Last year (11/2012) I attempted NaNoWriMo.... Made it to about the halfway point, but Thanksgiving / social activities got in the way, and I discovered it's incredibly hard to write when we don't have our own place... because inlaws just so happen to be very loud. :p  (sometimes loud is fun, but when trying to write or study, it's very distracting. . . at least, it is for me.)

I can't promise I'll write every day, or even every week.

Sally and I at the dogpark in Homestead :) 

I want to be a better writer, though, so I promise I'll write more.

I'll shoot for quality, too. I might post about something controversial, or simply share a recipe that my family enjoyed.

Churrasco Steaks at Mario's in Homestead

I might post a picture on occasion,


or something encouraging.

I might review a book, or a hotel, or an interesting landmark.

in love on the beach (FL 2011)

My blog isn't really thematical, but it is me. Coined words, silly phrases, and lots of creativity. A little bit of love for everything God made, and a lot of love for the Creator.

Stay tuned - this could be (more) fun!
<3 amanda="amanda" p="p">

NaNoWriMo: The Box...

I am going to write.

(join me at NaNoWriMo!)

Crochet Dudes

D and I went to Wal-mart last night to pick up a free redbox DVD (for redbox' 10th birthday), and decided to meander back to the check-out. On the way, I spotted a guy our age in the crochet aisle, looking at crochet-y things. I ran back to D, begging him to come look at the guy with me (in a slightly haha, there's a guy in the crochet aisle way). Yes, he was still there as we tried to sneak past him with our pretty-much-empty cart.

But then, he stopped me.
"Do you know anything about knitting?" He asked, holding up a package of crochet hooks.
"I can crochet," I told him.

Turns out he wanted to learn how to crochet, and not just anything. He wanted to learn how to make an afghan. I gave him some suggestions over the meager book selections Walmart had available, highly suggested Jo-Ann's or Michael's, and showed him how to read yarn labels. It helped having D there too, since he can crochet a little as well.

What fun to be a boy, braving into the world of "the old lady I asked wasn't much help," and wanting to build an afghan :D
What fun, also, to have been brave / silly enough to stop and talk with someone that I wanted to slightly gawk at. Because, let's face it, for whatever reason, men think that crochet is too girly for them. . .

Think again, boys!   If "he" isn't too scared to show up in the yarn-and-hook aisle, why are you?

I am a mermaid

During silent reading time, some time in May, 2012...

(Felix) "Miss Johnson, are you a mermaid?"
(me)"Felix, are you sleeping?"
(Felix)"No"
(Amanda)"Then I'm not a mermaid. Why would you think I'm a mermaid?"
(Felix)"Because you have red hair."
(Amanda)"That's because I'm part Irish."
(Javier)  "Irrrrrrrish")



Oh, the joys of being with preteenagers (9-11 years of age, of course) day in and day out...

Fiesta fiesta!

These are [some of] our new, happy Fiesta dishes.   ... We currently have almost all of the warm colors - red, paprika, flamingo (their newest, a peppy Floridian pink), orange, "plum," (i think) and yellow... Still hoping to find the rest of the colors for a rainbow set. . .  They are often on sale at Kohl's for less than $30 a set.  They are heavy duty, super sturdy, and best of all.. colorful!   Click the picture for more information, and let me know your opinions on Fiestaware!  (I've been converted ... hehe).

~amanda

raccoons, skunk, and Sally.

The very first toy we bought Sally (our cat dachsund/chihuaha? mix puppy was a raccoon that was stuffed with a water bottle. She got rid of the water bottle and just carried the raccoon around until she figured out how to rip off parts of its head.  David and I figured out that she liked the raccoon because of the contrasting stripes, ... we bought her a squeaker mat (looks like a tic tac toe board) raccoon at Walgreens, which she liked almost as the first "Raccoon."  We wanted to find her another squeaker mat for when she chewed out the squeakers (she's made good progress so far!), but all we could find was a Skunk. ... skunks have stripes, raccoons have stripes, so  possibly this would work as well.

We let her have both the old raccoon, the new raccoon (we called both of these creatures "raccoon" to make things [potentially] easier for Sally, and now "skunk."    She loved them hard, and every time she came inside she had to dash to her pet taxi and take out raccoon, raccoon, and skunk. She would then either kill them or make them "mind" with a vigorous shaking-down.

We were at a store and saw another raccon, not preflattened or squished like the two prior raccoons but a more realistic one, so we bought it to supplement her diet...

...she likes to leave that one to fend for itself  ...still... and would much rather chew holes in her tic-tac-toed, squeakable, mostly dead friends Raccoon and Skunk.   The most realistic toy she has, therefore, is still alive. 

and she has an aversion to the pet cologne we bought so she would smell good, but we discovered that if we hose her down while she is outside (it's not torture if it's over 80 degrees everyday, is it?) she can forego the cologne... for a little while. 

a raccoon at Bill Baggs Park ... pre-Sally... 

us at Bill Baggs, also pre-Sally
(August 2011)