My Kids (Well, not really mine)

I was asked to write a little something about the students I am teaching this year. To tell you the truth, the difference between this year's bunch and last year's bunch is tremendous. How I go about teaching this bunch is different too.

In regards to language, this year's class of 6th. Graders is hugely diverse. Some of the kids have language just like kids in the lower 48. They speak conventional English without much of any trace of an accent. Some kids speak regular English with a hint of the Alaskan accent that evolved from the Canadian, Russian, Scandinavian, and Alaska Native influences on speech. Then we have the kids who came in from the village. Their speech patterns are very much the same as the kids I had from last year. They use a language that is almost like a pigeon language. It uses the mechanics of language used by the Yupiit (Yup'ik people), with it's succinctness of words and it's lack of gender assignment, and an almost village-specific dialect that has been passed down from the time of the Russian colonization of Alaska. Surprisingly, these village kids adapt very quickly with their new environment. Most of my village kids are already using Town-Speak as their primary language. We still have a Yup'ik class too. All of the students here get 40 minutes a week of Yup'ik language education.

The cultural make up of my classroom is pretty diverse too. I have a student who is a Muslim that was born in Jordan; a Mexican from Texas; four white kids that represent the lower 48 states; and a whole bunch of mixed race and full-blooded Yup'ik Eskimos. In the village, most of the parents did not have jobs. They lived on various welfare systems and from subsistence hunting and fishing. This year, most of my parents are working people. Their occupations range from doctors, nurses, lawyers, and teachers to mechanics, telecommunications technicians, and store clerks. We also have a few that use the welfare system. Even though we have a wide socio-economic spread, there doesn't seem to be much class-generated conflict among the kids.

One of the things that my town students have in common with my village students is dysfunctional families. This is the most heartbreaking part of my job, dealing with deadbeat parents. I have kids coming to school in sweatshirts in -35 degree temperatures and howling wind conditions. The kids will say I have a coat, but I don't want to wear it. When I call the parents, they say that they will be sure to make their kids wear their coat to school. The problem is that they aren't out of bed when the kid is getting ready for school. The kid wakes him or herself, gets dressed and on the bus while the parents are in bed. This is not a wide-spread problem, but I really feel for the couple of kids who have to suffer this.

For the most part these kids are like kids everywhere. They want to enjoy life and be accepted by others. I really enjoy teaching these kids. I don't really like the teaching model that I'm forced to use, but oh well. The optimism and enthusiasm of youth makes up for the less pleasant parts of the job.