Vermont Living

Well, two weeks have passed since I moved to Vermont, and I am settling in quite well. It has snowed two or three times since I've been here, and the ski resorts are open for the season. I am definitely under estimating the winter. I keep telling myself it won't be so bad, but I know I'm just fooling myself. However, everyone is so nice, and they are more than willing to help me with the transition.

My first week at Lake Region went very well. I work with two teachers in the Academic Achievement Center at the high school, and I am really enjoying my job so far. There is just something about teaching that I love, and helping students understand concepts they are struggling with makes my day. The education system in Vermont is a lot different than in Tennessee, so I have a lot more lee way teaching a particular concept the way I think will be most effective. Right now, my job title is "Math Interventionist." Anyone who knows me knows that I prefer writing and reading over math, but I'm actually really enjoying teaching math. It's nothing extremely complicated- pre-Algebra thru Algebra 2 and Geometry/Trig- but it's a subject I've definitely lost touch with. I make sure to get a list of concepts that I need to know at the beginning of the week so I can reacquaint myself before it's time to help a student.

The AAC is a room that kids are assigned to, but students are also free to come and go as they please if they need help with something or need a quiet place to read/study. Lake Region students are required to attend two study halls a day. The AAC is a structured study hall for freshmen and sophomore, so I rarely see juniors and seniors. Everything is online at Lake Region, and teachers do not give zeros, so students have to do the assignments whether they want to or not. The teachers in the AAC have access to grades for every student, so we make sure assignments are getting turned in. At the end of every grading period, students are actually assigned to AAC if they need a more structured study hall, but they can be reassigned to a less structured study hall if they show success after that particular quarter. Lake Region students are given a lot of free time if they have good grades, so the AAC is kind of in the middle of that. I am still getting used to how things work because Cumberland Gap operated so much differently. I always see kids in the hallways, and at first it freaked me out because I just assumed they were getting into trouble. However, Lake Region is so good about letting the kids have free time if they deserve it, and it seems to be working very well.

Since I've been at the school a week, the kids are still getting used to me. I have a few students I work with on a daily basis, but the majority will be students I only work with because they aren't quite understanding a certain math concept or they need help with a couple problems versus an entire lesson. However, I do have students who I have to work with an entire class period because they learn better one on one versus in the classroom where they can't get as much attention and be walked through a step by step math procedure for every single problem. I know I'm playing a valuable role, and that makes me happy.

Life in Vermont is a lot like TN, but it's also a lot different. I am not any more bored here than I was at home. I read and watch Netflix with all my free time, which is exactly what I did back home. It is definitely a lot more rural, though. The town I live in is considered less rural, so there is a pharmacy and a grocery store, but it's still nothing like Middlesboro or even Harrogate. Most people think Harrogate is a tiny little town with nothing in it, but come to Derby, VT, and you will think differently. However, I like small town living. It's a lot different than living in DC, and I wasn't sure I would like it because I loved the hustle and bustle of DC so much, but I like what I'm doing here, I like my room mates, I like the people I've met, so the adjustment has been a lot easier than what I thought.

I am slowly but surely teaching people here about Appalachian living. We played Appalachian hang man in homeroom the other day, and the students really got a kick out of that. I used bless your heart, mess of beans, and fixin dinner as my words, and no one could tell me what they meant after they guessed the letters. They got pretty close, but no one ever hit the nail on the head. However, I won the round with kyarn and quare. I told them the meanings of both words and challenged them to use them in their conversations today. As two boys were walking out the door, one said, "Man, you are so kyarn." They didn't understand why I was laughing; they still probably don't realize they mixed the meanings up.

No one knows what pop is, no one has ever drank Peach Nehi, people who live back in the hollers didn't even realize it. No one knows that Daniel Boone blazed a trail through the Cumberland Gap. C'mon, that's basic history. I thought for sure they would know that, haha. No one eats corn bread, no one knows what pone bread is, no one has ever had a fritter. They do have crappi fish though, so I'm definitely having me some of that this summer.

To summarize everything you just spent forever reading: I've adjusted to Vermont, and I love my job.

The End!