Friday through Monday!

The past few days have been quite eventful and I've just been too busy to update everyone with what's going on. So...thank you for staying interested and patient!

Friday: My second day in my field placement (Friday) was much easier than my first day (Thursday). So far I've been able to get a feel for how the day works at North Elementary. On Friday they had a dance party with snacks for the whole school. It was a fundraiser for a student in 4th grade who is fighting with cancer right now. They rose over $500! It's been pretty cool to see how the school acts as a community. They rally behind each other and there is so much school spirit.

Saturday: On Saturday we had a jam packed day. In the morning we woke up to a sewage back up and the kitchen and part of the dining area was flooded... It was all sewage water (thankfully) and we had to shut the water off for most of the day. We ended up traveling to the local reservation college and use their student center showers. Going to the local college was my first time seeing prairie dogs! If you've ever been to Hope College, they're equivalent to all the squirrels.

Later that day we met up with Lynn la Pointe to talk about life on the res. He showed us a grave yard and some other places. We made a stop by the local hospital and talked about how it's very understaffed and looks much nicer then it is. He mentioned how a lot of places on the res look nice on the outside but are poorly ran on the inside. There seems to be a lot of potential but the poverty is a vicious cycle. In the evening we met up with Leland Little Dog and he shared Native stories with us. It was really interesting hearing his thoughts on creation and where his people came from. He had so much insight on Native religion/beliefs and Christianity. The way world religions interact with one another and have similarities has come to fascinate over the past couple of days—I will look forward to exploring this in the future.

Sunday: Sunday was another travel and exploration day spent with Leland and Lynn. We visited some more places on the Res and also Niobrara State Park in Nebraska. There we saw some Buffalo and hiked for a few hours. So much fun! We ended up having dinner at Pizza Hut where I picked Leland’s brain some more about Native beliefs and his insight on Native religion. It is such a cool culture and belief system.

Monday: Today (Monday) for dinner we were invited over to a teacher’s house for dinner. We met up with a bunch of Teach for America teachers and enjoyed being able to talk with them. The school district offers housing for those that work for the Todd County School District and it’s really interesting to see teachers and administrators living together. The housing and location are prime. It almost feels like a college atmospheres for educators.

It’s hard to believe that I have a week left on the reservation. Time continues to fly. This weekend we get to visit the Black Hills! If you have any questions please email me: collin.mcgran@hope.edu or leave a comment below!


Thanks for staying interested and blessings from the Res!


(Please forgive any errors…I haven’t really taken time to proof read because of time…if it’s too distracting let me know and I can be more careful next time)

Pictures!!!

The bridge I cross on my walk home

Some Tepee logs in Leland Little Dog's backyard 

The local hospital in Rosebud

Our stop just outside the cemetery

Us men have to stick together!

Our view while we heard Native stories from Medicine Man Leland Little Dog

Another beautiful sunset 

Out stop at the buffalo farm

Niobrara State Park in Nebraska

The guys once again...but plus 1 more!

The river we came across on our hike.

Found a deer skull in the tree...

...didn't know which pic I liked more

Another group pic with some amazing people!

Such a cool waterfall at the state park.

Getting into the schools!

So the last two days have been eventful.  The growing pains are strong, emotions are fluctuating, and my mind is racing.  I hope you have enjoyed the blog so far as it has served as a way to gather my thoughts from day to day.  I've decided to split this post up into 2 sections.  The first part I’ll just lay down the facts of my placement and time here, while the second portion will be my personal thoughts to everything that has happened.  Enjoy! ---Oh and leave comments below if you choose!

The Facts of My Placement:

So on Wednesday I met my field placement teacher.  I am located at North Elementary School part of Todd County Schools.  The school is K-3^rd —and 4^th-5^th is located at South Elementary.  Here on the reservation/in Todd County Schools they don’t call it Special Education, they call it Exceptional Education.  It was a change they made several years ago because they felt Special Education had become too strong of a label—one that went with them where every the student went. 

The Exceptional Education Room I’m in serves as a resource room and a self-contained room.  There are a group of students with severe downs syndrome while 60+ third grade students rotate in daily with a wide range of learning disabilities in Math and English.  The classroom is a portable trailer filled with 5 staff members—all teachers and paraprofessionals.  And add me to the mix and it is a packed classroom filled with adventures.

My Reactions & Experiences

My first full day at North Elementary left me raddled, torn, excited, high on life, shaken up, and so many other emotions that I didn't expect.  I arrived at 8:30 to the school and jumped right into introduction with all the staff in my Exceptional Ed room.  I spent most of my day with 3 students who are severely impaired.  This is my first time in a resource room-type placement and students with severely impaired, so I am ready to learn a lot.  We went on a field trip to the middle school to see their play production A Glass Slipper.  I was amazed at how well all the students behaved during the 2 hour show.  Once we got back to school I spent time with another student working on his behavior strategies, teaching him how to sit still with his hands on his knees and feet on the ground (after a prompt is given).  A lot of what I saw with the severely impaired students was difficult.  It’s a new experience for me working with this population.  It was difficult seeing these kids go through what they do day in and day out.  While eating lunch it was a lot to process, I almost broke down.  The spirit of these kids is incredible.  They smile when their happy, laugh when things are funny, and cry when their sad—the same as every child anywhere.  It just takes so much more work to do the most basic of things. 

The latter part of the day was incredible.  I helped run two groups through their Reading Mastery program.  During one of the groups I talked with a young girl.  We finished the activity early and we just chatted up a storm—it is amazing how much kids will say.  We started talking and she told me how she’s nervous for 4^th grade because it’s a new school and she heard they have big expectations for them.  It was precious.  I then asked her what it takes to be a good teacher, and I received the best advice I've ever gotten to date—all I need to do is bring cookies.  That’s it, all my worries of teaching have been solved!  I need to bring cookies…sounds like I need to brush up on my cooking skills more than my teaching skills. 

The kids are bright, I’m surrounded by hardworking educators, and the culture is rich.  I've been stretched a lot this first day and I pray that it’s been done to leave me with room to learn.  Hope you enjoyed my post! 

Blessings from the Res.

St. Francis Church

Located next to the St. Francis Mission School

Never thought something this beautiful would be on the inside

The Church works with the Lakota to create a service and 

Church community  that encompass both Catholic and Native beliefs.

The welcoming sign to our barracks for the week 

A look at the sunset from our backyard!

The Church right outside our rooms.

Love the colors

Gotta' Love nature

Day 1 & 2: Travel Days!

We might be going crazy from the packed van...

We made it to the reservation!  Days one and two have been filled with a lot of traveling, filled with naps in awkward positions, cramped legs, a Jolly Green Giant, The world's only Corn Palace, Indian Tacos, a stop at the Akta Lakota Museum at St. Joseph's Mission School in Mitchel SD, and so much more.  The first day we logged 13 hours in the van and stayed the night at the Comfort Inn in Souix Falls, SD.  Today we left the hotel at 8:30 and stopped every couple of hours for sight seeing and food.  Finally at about 5:30 we made it to our final destination on the reservation!  There is so much land here with rolling hills in every direction.  The scenery is beautiful.  It is definitely going to be difficult to leave. There are only 5 guys on the trip and we filled our down time throwing the frisbee and tossing the baseball around- we just needed to soak up the time  outside of the van.  Spirits are high and it will be a fun first night!  The last hour of the drive we watched a storm roll in on the horizon...such a cool sight.  My bags are unpacked, bed is made, groceries purchased, and pics are uploaded/being uploaded.

   

All us men on the tractor...

Tomorrow we get to meet our mentor teachers and Dr. Roger Bordeaux- superintendent of schools here in Mission, SD.  If you have any questions about my trip so far or want to see any other pics email me at collin.mcgran@hope.edu.  I'd love to answer any questions I can.

This is Hope's 23rd year spending May on the reservation!  Professor Cherup has been on the trip every year!  And this is Professor Piers' 7th!  There are some pretty sweet people on this trip too, we have grown pretty close rather quickly- two days in the van will do that...

Thanks for checking in and please feel free to contact me!
Blessing from the Res.

...and on the bank of the Missouri River 

The Worlds Only Corn Palace

We found a Jolly Green Giant on
our stop in Blue Earth, MN

Side view of The Corn Palace...

The newly renovated Akta Lakota Museum.

Our Dorm for the next weeks

Yes...it's all made out of corn...
and it's as exciting as it sounds..

The mighty Missouri River from
St. Joseph's Mission School

...and a rainbow.  It is their first rain
in over a year.

We brought the rain with us...

Bill & may humble abode for the coming weeks! 

Getting ready to leave!

Junior year has come and gone...  A lot of learning has taken place-life,educational, spiritually, socially, and on and on.  So many experiences to reflect on, and doors continue to be opened in front of me with every step I take towards graduation a year from now (still trying not to look that far down the line but after sitting through graduation today it's hard not to think about how I will be walking across that stage sooner rather than later).

Day 1 Travel Time=12hrs
Day 2 Travel Time=4hrs

The next step for me begins bright and early- hours from the time I post this.  At 8 am I will be cramming myself into one of two vans filled with other Hope students (all Education and Social Work Majors- 21 Students and 2 professors) on our way to Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota!  From Monday, May 6th through Thursday, May 23rd I will be emerged in a culture I know very little about.  For 7 of the 17 days I will be working at North Elementary, Mission, SD in an Elementary level resource room.  All the other days are filled with travel and immersion experiences.

I am thrilled for this experience of a life time!  The internet availability on this trip is unknown but I will try to maintain this blog as often as I can to keep everyone in the loop.  My camera is ready for some beautiful scenery and my mind is ready to be swept away by the people I meet along the way.  Thank you for your curiosity in my trip and I can't wait to keep you updated!

Here's a look at where Rosebud Indian Reservation is.