Always Getting Ready

It’s Sunday; and I am getting ready for the week. But my mind is focused on getting ready for my next flight. On Thursday, I have to fly to Bethel. I am thinking of all the things I need to do before I leave. I start packing so I do not forget anything. I start preparing SIOP lessons and materials that I have promised to help teachers with. And cleaning the house. And then I will work on paperwork that needs to be done before I leave. The list goes on and on.

Nonetheless, I have a little more time to relax; I sleep in until 9 am and walk to church. Enjoying the beauty of the early morning in Chefornak, this poem came to me as I walked to church.


Twilight on the Tundra

A faint rose-hued glow on the horizon
contrasts against the darker streaks
of pink and gray-blue clouds.
The sliver of the new moon hangs
over the last row of houses,
where village meets the expansive earth.

Its 10 am;
snow crunches under my boots
on frosted boardwalks,
the rasp of ice reminds me
that it is yet another week
until Winter Solstice

The sun postpones her presence
as she slowly slides
into the silent beauty of the day;
Twilight on the tundra.



Indeed, an hour later I watched a glorious sunrise when church got out. I walked quickly down boardwalk to the school where I wrote down the image of this magical morning that I witnessed. Wooden boardwalks connect the school to the church, store and houses, to carry people over the marshy tundra of the spring, summer and fall. Now that the landscape is frozen, the snow machines zip across the frozen lakes; a shortcut back home after church.

The title of my blog today is take from the title of a great book about this region, Always Getting Ready: Upterrlainarluta Yup'ik Subsistence in Southwest Alaska by James H. Barker. It is a great book that has given me insight into the people of this region and the importance of subsistence. Knowing the issues of this region and culture is essential for any teacher. It is of even greater essential for a SIOP coach, because we have to make lessons culturally relevant and build on students’ background knowledge. For SIOP to be effectively implemented in this Yup'ik region, I must adapt it to the culture and intergrate the great cultural resources of the region.

I am constantly learning from the elders here, from the community activities and from the natural environment. In this way, I gain insight into the strengths of the students and the depth of their background knowledge. Students have a wealth of resources to draw on, if only we can think of ways to connect their background knowledge to the content and curriculum.

A wonderful, gifted teacher here in Chefornak has found away to connect to the students’ strength in their expressive language through song and dance. She brings her students to an elder’s house, who teaches the children to dance. She teaches them the stories, the words of the song and the motions that go with them. The students gain a rich oral language experience and learn the motions that help them create meaning through the song and dance.

Everyday, I am amazed at how much I am learning from the people around me: the elders, the teachers, the children and the local culture. I look forward to the week to see what new things I will learn as a SIOP coach. Sometimes it seems like I am doing the greatest learning of all.

My life as an Instructional Coach in Western Alaska

This blog is a reflection of my life as a SIOP coach. SIOP stands for Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol and is a model of instruction developed based on the research of Echavarria, Short and Vogt. I first read their book, Making Content Comprehensible for English Language Learners: The SIOP Model, about ten years ago and I was impressed. 

In the interest in meeting children's diverse needs in rural Alaska during the following decade, I took graduate courses in reading and achieved two degrees: a K-12 reading endorsement and an Education Specialist degree in Literacy Leadership. 

Then, I took a SIOP course from Stanford and I was so impressed with this approach. Every component was based on the best research in literacy instruction, including a comprehensive approach to instruction in reading, writing, listening and speaking. I was sold. Besides from agreement with the theoretical and research base, I was most of all impressed with the changes I saw in my students. Their achievement increased, as well as their motivation and confidence in language learning.

I find that SIOP is a great model for lesson planning and implementation of high quality sheltered instruction. The eight components of the SIOP model are aligned with current research on instruction for English learners. And it all makes great sense. Seeing the students´ positive response is also one of the benefits!

One challenging aspect of this job is the flying between schools. There are no roads between the villages except for the “ice road” between some of the villages, when the Kuskokwim River is frozen and the trucks drive on the frozen surface of the river, hoping to avoid any overflow. Most of the planes are Cessna 207s, which are single engine, propeller planes, which seat six people. If I am lucky, a Cessna Caravan makes the route and I can sit in a little more luxury and feel a little more secure from the winds and winter conditions.

The distances between villages are great here in Western Alaska. The flight from the villages where I work and the town of Bethel is about 45 minutes to an hour in duration, depending on whether there is a tail wind or head wind. Between the two villages is about 16 miles, which takes about as many minutes to fly. Even a 15 minute flight between two of my schools takes a couple hours of packing and organizing before I leave. I always have hours of work to wrap up before I leave and meetings with teachers, who I will not see for a week or two.

Next, I need to bundle up in snow pants, a down parka, fur mittens, a hat and gloves; not only because it is cold on the planes, but also in case the plane has to make an emergency landing. The good news is that I have only heard of one plane having to make an emergency landing this winter, in this region. Yet, it is always good to be prepared. Besides, it gets cold, just walking out to the plane and waiting for the pilot and the agent to off-load mail and cargo before we take off.

Another formidable challenge is the fact that one is submersed in the school, isolated and cut off from the outside world. How can a SIOP coach keep up his or her energy and inspiration, when living thousands of miles from the next district that is implements SIOP, from contact with teachers outside the district, who may have fresh ideas and insights?

Another challenge is getting a good night sleep. This is especially difficult when one has to sleep on the floor of the school. One itinerant school professional told me that she had nightmares about accidentally sleeping in and being woken up by a circle of kindergartners surrounding her, staring down with their curious, smiling faces. I can relate to this nightmare; sleeping on a classroom floor is far from the privacy and comfort of home. Even though I am far from home, I create a ritual before I go to bed, that helps me relax, so I can get energized for the next day!

The challenge of being an Instructional coach in Western Alaska is to take all the difficulties of living in remote part of Alaska in stride and focus on the needs of schools, teachers and students, without skipping a beat. This is easier said than done.

I try to focused on the teachers, students, the positive learning environment, and joys of coaching teachers, rather than the challenges of the job. In my next blog, I will focus on some of the successes of the teachers I work with; the teachers are doing great things as they implement new strategies to help English Language Learners.

For now I will leave you with the words of a great song, sung by one of my favorite singers, Héctor Lavoe:

Estoy segura que mi suerte cambiará. Pero ¿cuándo será? --Omar Alfanno