And it just keeps getting better.

After two very busy days, it's time to recount my adventures again.

I don't think I had any astounding revelations during the day yesterday - my teacher was still administering assessments (this time, writing), so the classes were pretty calm. As in any middle school classroom, there were several students per group who decided they just weren't going to do the work, or at the very least, they weren't doing anything until the last ten minutes of class. I heard my teacher raise her voice for the first time when she reprimanded an antsy student. A couple classes finished the assessment early and we got to work on similes and metaphors in poetry, and I got to help with some group work, which was really nice. I feel like the students warmed up to me, and I enjoyed some one-on-one time with them.

I got a chance to witness a Navajo drumming practice during lunch yesterday, and IT WAS SO AMAZING. Some high school boys in a cultural after-school club have really taken to the traditional music, and it was so neat to watch them practice. My teacher shared with me that ceremonial music is dependent on the time of year, and that the winter ceremonies, which the boys had performed, are her favorite. I'm glad I got to see it, and I'm hoping to learn more about it tomorrow and Friday.

Last night we traveled to Rough Rock for both the boys' and girls' basketball games. I'm proud to say that we easily won both games by large margins, and it was so fantastic to see the students outside of the school. The teamwork displayed was really incredible, and it's clear that the team thrives as a group, not as the result of one or two superstars. Other spectators were very kind and friendly to us - word must have gotten around that we're here. The family next to us chatted with me about how we liked Rock Point, where we were from and what we were doing, and then the father proceeded to share some photos of the family pets - newborn Chihuahua puppies - with me. It was really nice to converse so casually.

Today was an eventful day at school. Testing was finally done, so we did a lot of work in each class with graphic organizers/pre-writing strategies and we continued talking about similes and metaphors. The students were split into groups again (my teacher commented that she's found that it's the only way she can get them to talk), and I was busy all day helping them through their work. I LOVED IT. I think my teacher does a really great job of guiding the students, many of whom are struggling in her classes, through some difficult material. I also noticed today that although my teacher does all of her instruction in English, when she is making an off-handed comment or gently reprimanding a student, she does so in Navajo. She noted later that most of the students can comprehend Navajo, but they have a hard time speaking it (exactly like me with Spanish!!), so she tries to expose them to it in little ways at often as possible.

Both the school's principal and the executive director of the school popped into the classroom today, to say hello and see how things are going. The principal gave the students a beginning of the semester "pep talk." My teacher said that the administration is very present in the school, which I think is really cool. I never would have gone to my principal, or any other administrative member, for help in high school. They stayed in their office and didn't have a lot of contact with students unless they were in trouble. It's really nice to see an environment in which the administration knows and cares about every student.

I got the chance to talk candidly with my teacher during her free period today, and I learned a lot about Rock Point and its students. The vast majority of graduating seniors go on to either a 4-year or a community college. Very few students stick around after graduation. In fact, very few people stick around Rock Point as adults. My teacher said she is one of a relatively small number of people from Rock Point who are now raising their own families here. Out of the 13 children in her family, only she and four other siblings returned here after college. Many residents move to larger cities, such as Phoenix or Tempe, and many others move to other reservation towns. There is a great deal of mobility here, which also contributes to academic and behavioral problems. It is hard to teach a group of junior high or high school students who have attended several other schools, picking up different skills along the way and missing others in the process. Rarely are two students at the same level with the same knowledge because they've experienced so many different curricula. However, on the plus side, the drop-out and truancy rates are virtually non-existant. My teacher has noticed a large drop in the number of students who fluently speak Navajo. She said that three years ago, every high school senior was fluent, while now the rate is less than half. Interestingly, the last tenth grade class to pass the AIMS test was also the last class who spoke Navajo fluently. It supports research that suggests that students with fluency in their native language, rather than proficiency in two "native" languages (i.e. Navajo and English, Spanish and English), ultimately perform better academically.

I also had the opportunity to observe a junior high history class taught by a white teacher who has been at Rock Point for five years. He found a really neat interactive website all about Shay's Rebellion, and he created a guided activity for the students to explore the site and find out more about the event. In between helping them research, we chatted a little about where I was planning on going with my career. I mentioned that I was looking to go into urban ed., and he compared the reservation schools to inner-city schools in a way I definitely see now but hadn't thought of before. The reservation offers all of the academic challenges of the inner-city - displaced students, low literacy levels, English language learners, etc. - but without any of the behavioral issues. He said he thought that it's a great place to get your footing as a teacher before you enter the big, bad inner-city...true? Food for thought. (Mom and Dad, don't freak out, I probably won't move to a small town in Arizona with no cell phone service. But I have to weigh my options, you know...)