cerebral odd jobs

[updated] 2008-03-20

At one point there were few teachers from the tundra regions writing blogs. Few enough I could put them all into one RSS feed mix in the sidebar as I came across them.

• [Kangirsuk, Nunivik] Not Obscure (John Higham from Nunavik, Canada) http://notobscure.com/
• [Kongiganak, Toksook Bay, Tununak] Alaska The View From Up Here, (Brett Stirling who also writes for the Anchorage Daily News) http://alaskatheviewfromuphere.blogspot.com/

This year there are quite a few new teachers writing about their experience teaching in rural Alaska. All the blogs are different in their approach and frequency of posting. Some are interested in hearing from readers; others are not. Margaret Avugiak and Kendra Krenz have unique perspectives.

I haven’t run across anyone using blogs in the classroom, yet. The Shageluk school is using their website, instead.

• Shageluk school of birds

I wish more schools would use a blogging, especially WordPress.com and Edublogs.org, platform as that enables more communication between classrooms and between writers and readers. Plus, all the blogging platforms offer RSS feeds for subscribing; some offer comment feeds such as WordPress and Edublogs. (Blogspot.com or Blogger has too many hoops for ordinary folks who wish to interact with the authors. However, just about all the major blogging hosts are represented. MSN Live tends to be used more by missionaries. Xanga has too few representatives and TypePad tends to have Alaska journalists.)

Take a look at all and suggest others. The community names are in brackets [ ]. To view information about the Alaska communities, simply put the village or city name where the Xxxx are (case sensitive) in your browser address bar when you get to this link

http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/commdb/CIS.cfm?Comm_Boro_Name=Xxxx For example, information about Bethel is located here: http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/commdb/CIS.cfm?Comm_Boro_Name=Bethel

• [Alakanuk] Diane in Alaska http://dianneinalaska.livejournal.com/
• [Atmautluak] Jerry’s Dream Come True, http://alaskajerry.blogspot.com/
• [Atmautlauk], Alaska Place Based http://aan1atmau.blogspot.com/
• [Oscarville, Atmautluak] Tundra Teacher Tales, (Kip Layton, Jr also writes for the Delta Discovery newspaper) http://tundrateachertales.blogspot.com/
• [Bethel] Art Teacher in Alaska, http://alaskanteacher.blogspot.com/
• [Bethel] Tom & Andrea Go to Bethel Postcards from Bethel, (they also have a sidebar blogroll list of Tundra Teachers and resources for teaching science) http://learnscape.org/bethel
• [Bethel] Andrea’s Virtual Science Teaching Adventure http://learnscape.org/blog/
• [Bethel] Alisha’s Bethel Blog, http://alishaadventures.blogspot.com/
• [Chefornak] The world of the Chicken Avenger (a Xanga user) http://www.xanga.com/wcbpolish
• Margaret Avugiak, (raised in the Village of Chefornak) http://avugiak.blogspot.com/ [Chefornak]
• Alaska = Home http://hikecamppaddle.wordpress.com/ [Elim]
• Emmonak, Alaska http://richalaska.blogspot.com/ Richard Brisco [Emmonak]
• Katielong’s Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/members/katielong [Emmonak]
• Kristen in AK http://kristeninak.wordpress.com/ [Huslia, Norton Sound]
• My Adventures http://victoriasjourneys.blogspot.com/ Victoria [Kasigluk] I will be teaching 4th-6th grade and living in a house with no plumbing.
  Classroom Tag http://classroomtag.blogspot.com/ Victoria [Kasigluk] … Exchanging traditions, customs, beliefs, and other cultural identities. … Bringing together two classrooms that are separated by thousands of miles.
• Out There(teacher, spouse) http://indefinitely.wordpress.com/ Peter Schneidler [Kasigluk]
• Rural Alaskan (Kendra Krenz raised in the Village of Kongiganak), http://ruralalaskan.blogspot.com/ [Kongiganak]
• Native Woman Educator http://nativeducator.blogspot.com/ Noel Strick [McGrath]
• Radiate Warmth, welcome home to the fireplace of thought (Kale Iverson) http://kaleiverson.blogspot.com/ [Mekoryuk]
• Fervent Verve {aka Ramblings} http://careyalaska.blogspot.com/ [Nunapitchuk]
• The Middle of Somewhere Teaching, living, and now gestating a baby in Nunapitchuk, Alaska http://smaccalaska.blogspot.com/ [Nunapitchuk]
• Shibby’s Kinda-Public Alaska Journal, http://shibbyalaska.blogspot.com/ [Nunapitchuk]
• Palmer Teacher-Librarian, http://robint.edublogs.org/ [Palmer]
• The Williamson-Logas in Alaska, http://otisandben.blogspot.com/ [Toksook Bay]
• Teaching in Toksook, http://dirksan.blogspot.com/ [Toksook Bay]
• Jimmy and Kerri in Toksook Bay, Alaska, http://jimmyandkerri.blogspot.com/ [Toksook Bay]
• fouldsy.com (teacher spouse) http://www.fouldsy.com/ [Tuntutuliak]
• AK Memories http://mariechristianson.blogspot.com/ [Tuntutuliak]
• Monica in Alaska, http://monicainalaska.livejournal.com/ [Tununak]
• The great white hype, (Jesuit Volunteers) http://sarahjones-thegreatwhitehype.blogspot.com/

• Alaska Mentor Pat http://alaskamentorpat.blogspot.com/ I work around the state of Alaska as a mentor teacher. I travel monthly to 8 different rural communities as well as working in Fairbanks. My job is to collaborate with first and second year teachers on their classroom practice.
• Alaska Professor http://alaskaprofessor.blogspot.com/

And there is this school, not exactly of children, but definitely learning and interesting.

• Nushagak Kennels http://nushagakkennels.blogspot.com/ [Nushagak]

2007-12-27 Bringing the work dog back into mushing APRN.org news story from Dillingham

[revised 2008-03-17]

For another idea of what life in a remote school is like check out this news story. Be sure to read the comments posted at APRN as well.

Teaching in small rural schools presents unique challenges (mp3)

The Lake & Penninsula Borough has 14 schools but only 370 students. The smallest school has 10 students K-12. The largest has 75 students. Small schools in secluded parts of the state resent unique challenges to teachers who have to teach multiple subjects to multiple grade levels. Anne Hillman, KDLG - Dillingham 3/14/2008 06:17