Module 7

“The traditional characteristics affect what you eat, your soul as people”

Explain:

 I enjoyed this quote from the Inuit video and thought it was both insightful and meaningful. There is such an interconnectedness here that can not even be described. 

This module was filled with tons of new information for me.  I was able to think about how much things have changed in the past years and how they continue to change due to the Earth’s climate and changes that take place.  I liked how it talked about the climate in Alaska having implications for climate worldwide.  I think it is important to talk about changes openly and with the community to see if there is anything locally that could be done.

I liked in the Inuit observations video where it talked about the big changes that have been made.  It makes me think about changes that we probably never even consider. The Inuit people have such a strong connection to that land where they live and the changes impact them greatly. I wonder with things changing to much how people will survive down the road.

Extend:

I think the video about Le’ona DeWilde would be great to show students. I think it will teach them that they can be successful as scientists no matter where they are from. In the video it talked about having children interview natives. Currently in my school we are using native stories to create a digital story, using traditional stories. I think it would be interesting to tie stories in with the science we teach children.  I was thinking we could interview elders about how they remember the land years ago and then we could talk about the changes they see today and how things are different. You could use this idea when thinking about a particular topic in science like climate or the other module topics.

The video also suggested having children record what they are seeing with the water and the temperature of the water. Since I teach math, this would be a great concept and something to think about in my classroom.

The information about the stars and the Big Bang Theory I am not sure I will use as much because it is not relevant to my teaching this year. It was insightful though as a learner myself.

Evaluate:

This resources were informational and help validate different things I notice as I am here in Alaska. I think it is important as a new teacher to explore as much as I can. I feel like being here is helping to validate and explain things I learned about in high school and college that I never quite understood until now when I see the bigger picture.

After reading the module I tried to find information on Yupik stories that dealt with climate and Alaska. While searching I found an article on CNN about another  village Newtok. Newtok is nearby and faced issues due to climate change. I thought this was especially interesting since Newtok is another village in my district and not too far away.  

I also found another article (Alaskan village stands on leading edge of climate change) on the same topic which was also interesting and with good pictures. It makes this modules mean more when you can connect it to familiar places around you.

A picture of Newtok

Colleagues:

I read Kathy’s blog. She has some great pictures and really connects to the climate change that is happening around us. It was interesting to see how she will use this week’s module in her own classroom. 

Next I read Kevin’s blog. He had a lot of connections to his own life with stories. He also went very detailed talking about microbes which I thought was interesting. It is interesting to read people’s ideas about things I don’t necessarily pick up on.

 Amy’s blog

We both really liked the video on the scientist and saw how it would be interesting to share with children. I also liked her ideas of how she could use the resources in her classroom.

The Atmosphere

"Everything is Beautiful"

Explain: 

I selected this quote from the module because I feel it sums up my experience thus far. Everything is beautiful and everyone native or not has something to offer. Whether it is a story, advice, or simply a smile these things help explain the land, culture, and environment where I am currently living.

After reading this week’s module, I have a better understanding of atmosphere and how it impacts the place I am living. When I first started the blog I used Google to look up information on atmosphere, just so I had a better idea before I dove right in. This website, helped to explain some things to me. I feel like a lot of this information is like a foreign language to me, so I wanted to give myself some background knowledge. I think this is also important to do with students.

I find it so interesting the pollution that is impacting the land and water in Alaska. When I think of a big city I see obvious signs of pollution, but I was wondering how it would affect the land here. We have no big factories, few cars, and not many other things I saw that could be causing pollution. After reading the module I am walking away with a better understanding of where this pollution is coming from and how it affects where we live. 

The pollution impacts our animals which are essential for subsistence living. It is interesting to see how the pollution is a change reaction. It impacts our animals, which impacts our environment, us, and generations to come. I am also able to tie this module into the first one when we talked about western civilization and how this impacts our villages and the land.

I really am leaving this module with a better understanding of weather and how much it influences things around here. Back home I didn’t think of how weather impacts our lives. Only being here three months though, I see how airplanes are extremely affected by the weather and the atmosphere.  Just this year I have had to wait for hours for the weather to clear so I could leave the village or come back home. Food supply and other variables are also impacted by the weather almost daily. 

Arctic haze was also a new term to me. I never realized how the particles can be visible in the air but a orangish tint.

This is at the Bering Sea

Extend:

I am not sure how much I will use these resources in my own classroom. I do they will are helpful in my understanding of the land and resources out there. One of my colleagues found a weather website which I plan to incorporate in my daily calendar. We currently do a weather activity, so I think looking at images would enhance the experience for my students. 

Evaluate:

This resrouces were helpful in my understanding of the connectedness of everything around us. After reading I tried to look for my own examples. I found the video on The Mystery in Alaska, which was extremely interesting. It talked about the animals that are disappearing and what might be happening. I think this would be an excellent thing to think about with children.

This week I also saw how the standards are on teacher’s domain. That is very helpful when planning a unit and thinking of the importance of showing videos to students. 

Colleagues:

Janet’s blog  

She explored with Google Earth and used the webcam feature which I thought was interesting. I also liked how she thought of many ways to use the resources in the module.

  

Tyler’s blog

Tyler links the weather and atmosphere to where we live nicely. I was able to connect with understand the different aspects of his module.

Kevin’s blog 

This blog had some good pictures that helped make things a bit clearer for me personally. A lot of times I find that pictures make the modules more clear to me. 

Module 5

Explain: 

This week I was able to learn more about Alaska and how everything is interconnected.

I liked in the module how it said, “For millennia, cultures have relied on the oceans for transportation, food and other vital resources. It's no wonder more than 50% of all people on Earth live within 50 miles of a coast.” I can see is apparent where I live. We rely on bodies of water for food as well as transportation. Even in the winter we wait until the rivers freeze so we can get across.

Along with this, the Ocean Facts website said that fish supply the greatest percentage of the world’s protein consumed by humans. Right there is a great example of how culture and oceans go hand in hand. Never eating fish myself until this year, it is interesting to see how these two things rely on one another.

A lot of the more scientific things go right over my head and has never been something I have gotten into. Living in rural Alaska I have a better understanding of how these things work together.

Extend: 

I could see how the math in this module could be used for math in my class. My students do not quite understand temperature yet so I might use this in a different capacity. We live right by the Bering Sea so I think it would be interesting to chart the temperature of the water.

With such a great resource as this (Bering Sea) less then a mile away, I think it will be essential to incorporate both math and science

The science aspect doesn’t relate to me as much as a math teacher, but if another teacher was to do the science aspect I could help children with the math and to figure out the differences. I am interested in collaborating with other teachers’ in my school to see how we could all utilize the information from this module.

Evaluate:

The resources will be useful and insightful to use once I figure out exactly how I want to incorporate them. It is a lot of information, so I am still in the processing phase. It is important to think about how the climate and oceans will impact the culture. It is also interesting to look at how temperature varies from village to village which are relatively close to each other. Weather and climate are such a big part of being in Alaska; I think it is interesting to see how this module will relate to that perspective.

Colleagues: 

Amy’s blog. Her blog is very imformation and allowed me to better understand some of the context from this week’s module.

Tyler’s blog was interesting because he talked about a study that his father was a part of which is interesting to read about.

Martha’s blog.  I liked her opening line about how everything is connected. She also added a beautiful picture on her blog.

module four

Explain

This module was helpful because I do not have much experience using Google Earth. It allowed me to play around and think of how I can use this in my classroom. I was able to learn about the physical, geological, and cultural changes that can occur because of earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. The physical changes are evident because these things will destroy they come into contact with. I then started to think about the other two: geological and cultural. The geological changes become more apparent after reviewing the resources and thinking about the land changing and moving. It is now clearer to me how the land as a whole is impacted.

I then started to think about how it would impact the culture. I looked at the video on the 1964 earthquake and thought about how a natural disaster such as one of these would destroy an entire village. I thought how about you would adapt to so many deaths in a small community. It talked about how some people left and never came back—that would have a great impact on any land.

 from Google images

Extend

I was really thinking of how I could incorporate these resources into my classroom because I teach math and reading. I began to think how I could use the ruler feature on Google Earth. We are learning about measurement right now so I figured it would help put things into perspective. I am going to use the ruler feature for us to measure different things where we live or to figure out the distance between different villages. I plan on also sharing these resources with my colleagues who do teach science because I think it is important to think about how these things impact our land and where we live in Alaska.

The stories were also pretty interesting. I liked the story of the storm in Maui and believe stories are essential to use in the classroom. In my classroom I am going to use stories to engage students. I also thought of inviting elders in to tell their stories.

Evaluate

The content and resources were both helpful. It helps me to see how these resources relate to me. Being in a village that is so small, the impact of one of these would be greater than I could ever imagine. I really liked the quote from Living on the Coast  “We were chose to live in one of the hardest places to live” To me it means that by cooperating and using one another we will be able to live anywhere. A natural disaster would impact food supply, houses, and materials. Villages are so close knit though, I believe that the people would rely on each other to make it through and adapt to the best of their abilities.


Colleagues:
I visited Tommy’s blog. I liked how he connected his reason for coming to Alaska to this module. It helps me to see how these resources and modules can relate to me.

Next I visited Alison’s blog. She shared so many new things that she has been learning, and I felt that I could relate to it all.

Esther’s blog was very interesting. I too live in a village so I felt I understand the things she was talking about. It made things clearer to me. She also had a part where she said "I struggle with this so much because there is not a personal connection. Just like our students in order to be successful learners we need to make that personal connection" I think this is a great thought and really made me think.

Module III--Landscapes

Explain:

“The joy of the journey is in the ride”

This is a quote that is on my keychain I carry with me everyday and one that I try to embrace here in Alaska. Being here and enjoying the landscape, learning new things, enjoying life is all part of the ride. This module really helped me to understand the importance of the land where I live. It helped me to understand once again the interconnectedness between our land and the people that live here.  Before I moved to Alaska, I don’t think I realized the interconnectedness between things like water, landscape, and the people who inhabit the land. Back in Ohio it was unclear to me how people rely on resources to live. Here in Alaska walking around the village you see fish and animals drying out and you realize that is what you do to survive. Things like sticks and animal hid mean so much more to me now then before village life. Before I moved here I never imagined I would be berry picking for my source of fruit and fishing for my dinner. I loved the quote from the Yukon River video that said that the word for fish is the same as the word for food. It showed the importance of resources here in Alaska.

Plate tectonics was not a new concept to me, but it was interesting to look up close at the different videos. It is so interesting to see how the movements affect our land, and that in turn affects the people who inhabit the land.

berry picking in the tundra

Extend:

I can use these resources to teach students about the difference between landscapes and living. For me it is interesting to learn about different cultures and different ways of life in Alaska. I also believe that my students would find it interesting to learn about living in Ohio and other parts of the world. While completing this module I found a video on Teacher’s Domain called  Living On The Coast. This video compares living in Alaska (Nanwalek) where they rely heavily on the water, to other part of the United States where they also rely on water. This video compares how to have to adapt no matter where you live.

I liked this quote from the module, “For economic reasons, landscapes are called upon to sustain the lives of the people living there. And for ecological reasons, every landscape is connected to its human economy, its culture” I think this is an essential thing to teach students about. I would be interesting to look at how the landscape and economy coincide. I also think it would be interesting to take a group out fishing or berry picking and talk about how it is different then in other parts of the world.

3. Evaluate—

These resources were very insightful. The science aspect and looking at plate tectonics is interesting to me. I remember learning about it in college, but being in Alaska and being close  to the mountains help make this more meaningful. I feel that until you experience the things you learn about they just become back knowledge. I was back at home looking at these videos on subsistence living they would have not meant as much to me. Being here and actually experiencing it is enlightening and I can understand how this resources are valuable. To some people a fish is just a fish but here they use it for so much more. A fish is a source of food and every part is used.

 “While rivers supply food, water, transportation and other resources, they also flood, erode and meander. Cultures living along rivers and relying on them must also understand their dynamics and how to respond. “ Adapting is such a big part of my life now. As the people here adapt to running out of fish and other changes with the resources we to must adapt to something that is different. They rely on one another and the landscape which I am realizing here living the village life. 

I end with a question I was pondering. When I was watching the plate tectonics video and it talked about the earth shifting, what impact could  that continue to have on the landscapes and living? How does the movement affect where we live today?


3 colleagues:

 Cultural Connections in Earth Science

The pictures on this blog were beautiful. I also liked how she mentioned teacher’s domain because I also feel it will be a valuable resource this year.

  Explore Palmer

I chose this blog because  I may visit Palmer and I was interested in her thoughts about it. I liked her views about landscaped and they proved to be interesting.

 Doug’s Explore Alaska blog

This blog made a reference to a book which I felt was powerful and interesting. I also liked how he talked about how to respond when a student asks how can I use this science? 

 

Module II

One of the most powerful ways in which the integration of diverse worlds can be seen is in the lives of indigenous people taking on the mantle of modern sciences while also embracing their traditional ways” (Module Two) 

Explain:
   Learning, Growing, Reflecting, Adapting—these are four words that I associate with being in Alaska. This week I was able to examine the differences between western perspectives and the native perspectives. The biggest aspect I learned about views was being holistic. Before this module I was partly confused. When I began reading this was a new term. I looked it up on the web and that did not fully explain my questions. I decided to talk to the resources around me in my community and my fellow colleagues. I am now walking away with an understanding that holistic means the connectedness between ourselves, the environment, and spirits.  I thoroughly enjoyed the subsistence video at the end when the gentleman said that everything had a spirit and that spirit was nurturing. It really gave me an understanding that by being here we should appreciate the different views and learn from them. I liked how the teachers were out exploring the resources. I myself have already taken part in some of the cultural traditions here along with been on walks to explore the land.

I also like the Venn diagram that compared Western and Native views. The similarities I noted were that we are both have perseverance and are open-minded. I also found it interesting how things are passed on from generation to generation in the Native perspective. 

Extend:
 I will use this module when thinking about learning from different perspectives. In a place like Alaska where there are so many great things the land has to offer, it is important to realize the connections. Subsistence living and using everything around you is a new concept to me. I am really learning to appreciate the interesting views and connectedness of my village. I feel it is essential to embrace all the new things here. Before I came here I did not necessarily think about all the new experiences that would be placed upon me. It is impossible to be in a place like this without recognizing and honoring the different perspectives.

Evaluate: I plan on introducing my students to both western ideas as well as discussing their native perspectives. Google earth will be interesting to use so we can learn about their land as well as mine. We are all connected to everything around us so I will use this module to work to better understand how I am connected to my current home in Quinhagak, Alaska.

I was also brainstorming things I could do to learn about different views and to educate my students. I came up with having elders come into the classroom to help or do a project. I also thought of ways we could learn about the animals around us and utilize the resources from the river, animals, etc.

 These resources I feel are helping me to learn about my land. Teachers are never done learning, so I am interested in any resources that will assist in that. I really enjoyed watching videos from the natives and the video on Chevak. Chevak is a village so I felt I could connect to the video and understand their way of living and the different things they do to survive. Overall I feel this module helped me to understand how we should embrace both the similarities and differences so we may learn from one another.

3 colleagues blogs:

I visited Alaska Native and Western Views. I liked this blog because she really explains the information presented in the module and it helped me to understand. She is also a veteran teacher, and being a new teacher I felt I could learn new insights.

I also visited Alaska Wisdom.I decided to visit this one because I was interested in the name of the blog. I also felt that I could offer him a good suggestion on how to balance preparing students for tests and incorporating Native perspectives.

The third website I visited Amy's Explore Alaska. I chose to go to comment on hers because we had similar thoughts. 

My favorite place

My favorite place is in Monticello, New York. It is called Camp Kennybrook and is a sleep away camp for children. This is where I spent four summers as a camp counselor. Here I was able to learn more about my passion for teaching and the outdoors. I was able to teach various ages of children rock climbing. Here I was able to truly appreciate nature and the resources the earth had to offer. I was able to camp out, rock climb, and hike. All of these experiences helped to build the teacher and person I am today.

Special assignment: I used google earth to look at the landscape of where I was born. I was born in Asheville, North Carolina. The land is hilly with many mountains. There are a lot of different trees. I do see a few rivers around the surrounding areas. There are trees on both sides of the roads throughout the city. The elevation of the area is around 700.