Teaching In Alaska

There is just so very much to catch up on, realizing my last post was the day before school began in August. My only hope is to briefly state that there were rough patches in the beginning weeks/ first two months, but there have also been delightful adventures and memories and things to laugh in memory of. Instead of wading through, and poorly recalling. significant moments from the past, I’ll share some shiny new tales from the last two weeks.

This past weekend I took a fairly impromptu jump over to Unalakleet (flying over with Doug and peppering him with questions about sights he’s seen from above, like whales, walrus, seals, and polar bear) for an Iditarod lesson planning work weekend. We spent the day Saturday digging through BSSD wiki resources and pooling together ideas for lessons in all subject areas come the time of the Iditarod beginning March 7, 2009. For me, this was a golden opportunity to fully appreciate the sources at my fingertips through the BSSD wiki pages and to just sit and spend time exploring. Many folks put together great plans and units even within the short time we were together, that are easily available to every teacher in the district. It is all just so smart.

And with such a sweet group coming together from all over the district, we had a blast outside of the office too. Saturday night was spent sardined into Jon and Rebecca’s nicely sized living-room with three guitars, a mandalay, and a fiddle: an unbeatable combination for a toe-tapping time.

There is more to smile about and share, but unfortunately my time is cut short by the necessity to do these things called work and preparation, and I am struggling to upload a photo.  Alas, there will be more to come; no guarantees on when that may be, but more to come all the same.