AEIN

UAA Faculty Present at CIES Conference

Dr. Tim Jester and Dr. Letitia Fickel from the College of Education (COE) presented at the Comparative and International Education Association (CIES) Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, February 26-March 1, 2007. Their presentation, "Preparing Culturally Responsive Educators: Case Study of the Alaska Educational Innovations Network", provided an overview of the COE's culturally responsive teaching (CRT) study group and initial learning from the process. Their examination of the study group indicates that, through their participation, the faculty have deepened their understanding of CRT, engaged in collective reflection on their own practices and how they prepare K-12 educators to implement CRT, and are using culturally responsive practices to get to know their students better.

Drs. Jester and Fickel further noted that the study group was an example of a professional learning community in action.

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In March 2007, the Alaska Educational Innovations Network (AEIN) in Professional Development Symposium II attendees organize a Professional Development Program where they represent different activities.

Professional Development Symposium II attendees organize a Professional Development Program where they represent different activities.

partnership with the Alaska Comprehensive Center (ACC) and the College of Education (COE) Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) brought together a diverse group of educators from across Alaska for continuing dialogue on highly effective professional development. Representing a broad array of educational perspectives and experiences, the participants continued conversations initiated at the first state-wide Professional Development Symposium (PDS) in September 2006.

During two days of intensive discussions, worksessions, and planning, participants of the Professional Development Symposium II focused on the connection between professional development and student achievement. Discussions included the importance of basing professional development on student data, district/school context, and educator learning needs. Worksessions provided participants opportunities to identify and devise appropriate theories of change to guide programs.

Next steps include development of a graduate level program evaluation course through the College of Education’s Educational Leadership Department as well as finding a way to connect Staff Development specialists throughout the state.

AEIN would like to thank the ACC, COE PACE, and the members of the PDS II Planning Committee for their continuing partnership and focus of professional development.

Above right, Professional Development Symposium II attendees organize a Professional Development Program where they represent different activities. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Harty.

My trip to Toksook Bay, Alaska was truly a learning experience. I have now done more Alaskan things than I ever anticipated.

Carey Bunker at a Toksook Bay dance festival

Over the course of the two weeks, we did some amazing things. While in Toksook, we had a cultural guide who arranged all sorts of things for us to do, her name is Katie Curtis, and she helped make sure that our trip was an awesome experience.

The first thing Katie arranged for us to do was to make a qaspeq. A qaspeq is a traditional Yup'ik shirt for people. It can be made with a variety of fabrics, from cotton to fur depending on it's use; our qaspeqs were made from a cotton lineny material that we got at one of the two local general stores ($8.50 a yard, milk was $8/gallon, and 6 eggs was $3.29). It has a hood, and a large pocket that is traditionally used to collect berries. It also holds keys and a wallet really well.

Katie also arranged for us to learn an Alaska Native dance with the school's dance group. It was sung in Yup'ik and involved a lot of knee bouncing. Most of the Yup'ik dance is completed in a small amount of room, reflecting the need to allow many people to dance at once in a small area. Also, most of the dancing is done through hand gestures and it tells a story, similar to the Hula dance.

Our weekend involved a lot of dancing. It was the village's turn to host the annual dance festival. The dancing went on from 1 pm to at least midnight on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It was a very noisy, festive, event. While I found the dancing mildly repetitive, I really enjoyed the people watching related to it. The Yup'ik culture is a much quieter culture than ours, they didn't use any microphones, and everything was more relaxed than your typical American dance festival. There was no stage, just an area kept clear at one side of the gym. The kids just ran around during the festival, they would sit up close to the dancers, and gradually scoot towards the dance area. Every now and then, an adult would come by and make all the kids scoot back. All of the songs were in Yup'ik, and the only instrument used was the drum. It was very rhythmic and pulsing. As the weekend wore on, the dances got funnier and funnier. The people were very cool and answered all of my questions with patience. There were several nice adults and kids who were willing to translate the dances for us.

A non-dance thing that we did was to go jigging. Jigging is the Alaskan term for ice fishing. When we originally set off on the ice fishing adventure, I had pictured Minnesota ice fishing—you know, a hut, with a seat, a TV, some beer, and a hole—Alaskan ice fishing isn't even remotely like my imaginings. There is no house, no seat, no TV, and no beer. However, there is a hole, but first, you have to get to the holes. A gal named Jamie Lee Sipary was our guide for jigging. She and two friends picked us up from the school on ATVs and we started off across the ice. We literally drove ON the bay right out to the middle. The ice was approximately three feet thick and had big cracks running through it. We drove until we got to a big chunk of ice turned on its side. That was the marker for us. The ice holes were around the ice chunk.

After breaking through the layers of ice, we were given our poles, two sticks held together by a piece of line that is wrapped around about a thousand times. Jamie baited our hooks the first time and dropped the line to the appropriate length (the bottom of the bay). After you drop the line, you just bounce the line every little while, so the line looks like it is dancing a jig. I caught a fish about every ten minutes or so. Jamie de-hooked my fish the first few times, then she made me learn how to do it. It wasn't so bad once I figured out that you club the fish with the two sticks and knock it out, then you try to de-hook it.

By the end of the fishing trip, I was even touching the fish with my bare hands. I caught twelve fish in all; I was told that they were Ling Cod.

In addition, to jigging, we also went on another Alaskan animal adventure, - a dog sled ride. One of our drivers from the first day, Brett Stirling,was a dog sledder, and he had just finished building a new supply sled. He took us out two at a time and we rode for a bit. Siobhan O'Hara, one of my fellow interns, and I were the first two to go out. I slid down into the basket, and was thankful for the pillow that was sitting in the bottom, that is the only padding between you and the ice ridges that leap up from the ground while sledding. Siobhan slid in next and was the blocker of most of the wind, which was good, because it was negative degrees and the wind chill was dangerously cold.

After we had drove out onto the ice a bit, we went to go back to the village, but the dogs had different ideas. The winds had started to pick up, and the dogs did not want to head toward the village into the wind. I was pretty sure that we were going to have to get out and walk, but Brett was finally able to get the dogs turned after switching out the lead dog. I got a little frostbite on a section of my arm (it looks like a reverse watch tan line).

Also, Katie arranged with her sister for us to have a traditional steam about a week into our visit, which was very nice considering we hadn't been able to shower since Tuesday and this was Sunday. Darlene Lincoln showed up at the school and told us to get ready. We would need a towel, a rag, body wash, shampoo, and our water bottles. We bundled up in all of our snow gear and walked approximately "a block" to Darlene's house. She was waiting for us there. She pointed to the steam house and told us to go on in. She was getting a bucket of water for us.

The steam house is built with three rooms. The outermost room was the arctic porch, you shed your outer layers in this room (snow pants, gloves, coats, etc) and the bucket of water is held out there. In the second room, you remove the rest of your clothes and hang up your towel on the hooks provided, you leave your body wash, shampoo, and water on the bench in room two and go into room three, the steam room.

The steam room is interesting. There is a wooden platform that can hold up to six females comfortably. At the front of the platform are basins of cold water slowly being heated up in the steam room. Beyond the edge of the platform is a metal wood stove covered in lava rocks, with a large basin attached. The large basin in filled with hot water. In addition to the platform, the stove, and the basins, there is also a water dipper to pour water over the rocks on the stove. When we entered the steam room itself, Darlene gave us each a piece of loofah-ey fabric to wrap around our ears (apparently ears can get burnt in the steam). She taught the appropriate way to sit in the steam room (cross legged) and told us that we shouldn't move during a pour because it would make the steam hotter on our bodies. If we got hot, we could fold over our legs so that we were closer to the bottom of the steam where it was cooler. If we got too hot, we could leave at ay time into room two.

During the first round, Darlene took it easy on us by pouring three separate dippers full of water. She allowed the steam to settle each time before the next pour. After the third pour, we all exited to room two and sat on the floor. When we originally came into room two, it was a little on the cold side, but after coming out of the steam room, the coldness was very appreciated. While in the steam room, there is no talking because it is too steamy to breathe in. So, all the talking goes on in room two. We stayed out there drinking cold water and letting the steam rise off of us. It was very cool.

Then we went back into the steam room. The second pouring session, Darlene wanted to demonstrate how hot the Natives typically take a steam. She poured five times in a row, without letting the steam settle each time. I thought I was going to die, it was so hot, I left on pour number 4. We repeated the in and out of the steam room a couple more times, then Darlene announced that it was time to scrub. We all went back into the steam room, but we didn't pour this time. This was the washing time. When we were all seated, Darlene passed us each a basin from the front of the platform. We started by washing our hair by using the water from the basins and scooping it up over our heads. Each time we ran out of water, more was brought in from the water buckets and heated by water from the basin attached to the stove.

After our hair was washed, we used the hair wrappers as scrubbers. We squirted body wash all over the fabric and scrubbed our whole bodies. I have never been so exfoliated in my life. After the scrubbing was completed, we rinsed with more and more water from the bucket and basin. Then, we went into room two and slowly got dressed. We were so incredibly relaxed, that even though it was about 5pm, I think we all could have gone to bed right then.

Instead, we went over to our cultural guide's house for dinner. She was serving Musk ox pot roast and wanted us to try to meat. Talk about a good spread! The pot roast was fantastic. The meat was incredibly tender and was comparable to beef. While technically a member of the goat family, the musk ox looks like a longhaired cow. We had been eating ramen and the like for a week, so the dinner was even better than it would have been otherwise. We had potatoes that were buttery from the fat it was cooked in, with equally buttery carrots. It was served with corn and some dinner rolls. It was great!!!!!

I also tried whale while I was in Toksook. It took a lot of mental arguing with myself to try it. I really didn't want to, but I knew that this would probably be my one opportunity to try whale ever. It was a very fatty, very salty meat. The best description that I can give it is to say that it tasted like the sea, only smoky. Not something I would ever order at a restaurant, but a definite experience.

Overall, I would say that this trip was a wonderful experience. It is like no other experience in my past, and it is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. In addition, it is an event that will influence how I teach students from an Alaskan-Native community. By being out there, I was able to learn more about the influences on Alaska Native students and what some of the issues that students encounter are. I had learned in school about some of the issues, but seeing it first hand made the cerebral understanding more real.

Above, Intern Carey Bunker with headdress and dance fans in Toksook Bay. Photo courtesy of Ynez Slaymaker.

My trip to Akiachak, Alaska started and ended with a bush plane jump between Bethel and Akiachak. If you have never ridden in one of these you are missing out. If you have a great pilot you do not feel the landing or the take-off, it seems effortless. By contrast, my visit to Akiachak allowed me a view of the effort the teacher and community members give at school.
Former UAA/COE Intern Talia Wiacek and Traci Harris in Akiachak

Former UAA/COE Intern Talia Wiacek and Traci Harris in Akiachak

The first weekend in Akiachak, our school hosted the regional basketball tournament. Every teacher helped out in some capacity and we threw in our help at the school store and helped with the hospitality room. Eleven of the school classrooms were occupied during the three days as makeshift rooms for the five boys and girls teams (and the refs). The entire town and surrounding villages showed up for the games to cheer on the hometown heroes. And there were excellent ball games played.

When I first arrived I got a ride to the school on the mail ATV. The first few days were a wind/cold mix I had never felt before. It seemed to whip through the layers I had on with nary a mind. However, by the time my two weeks were ending I was down to snowpants and jacket, no inner liners besides my regular clothes. I had made it, or the weather warmed up!

The hospitality with which the teachers received us into their community was a welcome surprise!! Almost every night we were invited into someone’s home for a meal and conversation and a look at their experiences. This was insightful and what I saw was a functioning community of teachers.

Each day I would visit a different classroom. The immersion program of the first graders and kindergarteners was delightful. I got flashbacks of my elementary years as I became a reading buddy in second and third grades and during kickball with the sixth graders. I was very impressed with some of the high school teachers I observed. My mentor, especially, and the math teacher, really seemed to be teaching well and challenging the students. The students who showed up seemed to be up for the challenge.

The community of Akiachak seemed welcoming, though I think they would’ve liked if we were visiting longer. You could tell they were proud of their village as they asked, “How do you find Akiachak?” My most fond experiences, besides the time in the classroom, were steaming, going to a Moravian service, driving on the river, and shooting guns.

This experience has opened my eyes to rural teaching and living. It is a possibility for me now and I realize the most important thing is finding a great fit with the community, community of teachers, and administration.

Above right, Former UAA/COE Intern Talia Wiacek (left) and Traci Harris in Akiachak. Above left, Traci Harris in the housing area in Akiachak.

My trip to Perryville School, part of the Lake and Peninsula School District, was incredible. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to visit this school, this community, and to experience rural village life in general. I can’t thank AEIN enough for the grant that made this possible. I’ve decided to cut and paste parts of the journal entries I wrote while I was there for the newsletter:

Mandy Morell teaching a Perryville student

Here I am, on another adventure. I arrived safely in Perryville, Alaska today with my friend, and fellow MAT intern Meghan Mahoney. The ride was stunning. It was hard not to be in complete awe as we flew over the volcanic mountains that comprise the backside of this peninsula, and the immense sunny ocean below.

I was nervous for the flight, only because we have been having gusts up to 50mph in Anchorage (which thankfully stopped for the kickoff of the Iditarod this weekend!) and had heard from a teacher here that the ride in would be gusty, bumpy, and that Dramamine would be a smart idea to take. King Salmon solidified my fears as it was 50 below with wind chill this morning, and Meghan and I felt it in our bones as we walked the short road from the airport to Eddie’s Café for a warm-up while we waited for our connecting flight. Coming into Perryville we dipped and swooped once or twice, but our pilot knew what he was doing on the landing; circling twice with a wide berth he brought us in tamely without a stutter.

And here I am. 11 days here to be exact and I couldn’t be more elated. This place is unspeakably beautiful. Black sand beaches, cliffs all around, a backdrop of starkly snow-capped peaks, and looking out into the ocean a spotting of little islands, two of which are called “The two brothers,” Perryville is incredibly striking. The wind is fierce at the moment, but even if it was docile my breath would still be sucked out of me by the surroundings. This is the Alaska I have always wanted to see: raw.

Meghan and I were gratefully surprised to learn that we were not going to sleep on gym mats on the floor of the school, as we had been told, but instead were getting to stay in the “itinerant housing;” a two bedroom apartment with a kitchen, living room, and bathroom in the same building as Katy Jurney-Davey, Mike Russell (the Math teacher), and Adam Mokelke (the principal). There is a fridge, a TV, a shower, and two beds, so much more than we had expected! In addition to being shocked at our housing, Meghan and I were stunned by the amount of technology in this school! There are two “Smartboards,” (cutting edge technology that schools in Anchorage are fighting to get), a laptop for every kid, a copier, and an exercise room complete with weight benches, treadmills, and three Bowflex machines! The technology is from one grant, while the exercise equipment is from a Diabetes grant.

Additionally, Katy mentioned getting the “DDR”s set up that were still in boxes, and I asked what they were. “Dance Dance Revolution!” she replied. I thought she was kidding. I have only seen those machines in movies and movie theatres lit up with kids addictively stomping from square to square to a beat as fast as they can. I thought she was being sarcastic. Nope, in fact, they are those same machines, and were also part of the diabetes grant. We will surely set these up while we are here!

The wind is angry, or maybe just selfish. It doesn’t want anyone else to enjoy the beauty of Perryville. Those black sand beaches are not being sat on or enjoyed. The mountains long for someone to spend some time looking at them. But the 50-100mph winds are making sure no one is doing those things. And I’m taking it personally.

We’ve been wanting to get outside since day one. Our first walk was short and we wanted more. Our apartment, also incredibly more than we had expected, has one major flaw: no windows facing the ocean. Katy told us that none of the teachers would live in this apartment for a year, and I couldn’t understand it. It’s a great apartment: two bedrooms, a nice living room, spacious kitchen, a bathroom with a shower, complete with hot water, and a laundry room right inside the arctic entryway. However, having been here for two days now, and much of that has been relaxing on the cozy chair reading a book (actually, hiding from the wind, but pretending to enjoy our forced captivity) we long for a window, so that we could at least enjoy the scenery whilst being inside. It is torture to feel like you are in the most beautiful place you have ever been to, and not be able to take pleasure in it. It’s not raining or snowing, it’s just blowing, and gusting hard enough that it’s a struggle to stand upright; too much of a struggle to walk along the ocean Perryville, Alaska

border or gaze up at the stars at night.

We just got back from our first dinner invite. Victoria and Justine’s mom invited us over for dinner. Meghan and I were so excited to finally be asked to do something by a community member and see someone’s house. Victoria showed up at our place after school to invite us, and we gratefully accepted. We showed up right at 7pm with a Tupperware filled with a fruit salad we made and walked into a huge spread of food! She had made: mac&cheese, rice, carrots, moose, creamed corn in a can, fry bread, coffee cake, akutaq (a version of Eskimo ice cream-this time with crow berries, and Crisco?), chips, juice, coffee, and she had ordered a pizza! It was so generous of her to make all of that; she obviously wanted to make sure there was something we liked to eat. I felt embarrassed by the amount of food and so honored that she went to all the trouble. The girls were quite excited to have us over and Justine was all sugared up and giggly. We talked somewhat, but it was mainly a quiet dinner.

Afterwards, I asked their mom if she needed help cleaning up, and I offered to help, but the girls wanted us to play Nintendo. I tried my best to no avail and retreated to the kitchen to make conversation. She mentioned the book I had let Victoria borrow – the day before Meghan and I had found a book in the library (one of our current projects is organizing the books into alphabetical piles in the library and we are continually uncovering incredible treasures, just stacked away not being used) called "Making History: Alutiiq/Sugpiaq Life on the Alaska Peninsula" by Patricia H. Partnow. We flipped through it and read about a famous storyteller from Perryville by the name of Ignatius Kosbruk. I recognized that one of the students here has that same last name. We brought it downstairs at the end of the day and were showing it to Jaylon and Victoria who were extremely interested in it. They told us that Ignatius was their great-grandfather and that his wife, Frieda, was still alive and is the oldest person in the village. We asked about his storytelling skills and they affirmed his gift. Victoria disappeared with the book that night and I guess she showed her mom, and her mom showed it to her grandmother (Frieda).

Tonight she brought this up to me and I asked her if she remembered when Patricia, the author, came. She did, in fact, and I was surprised to hear that she had not seen a copy of this book before. I promised to look for another in the library and if there isn’t one, to find her one in Anchorage and send it to her. This is important.

Pizza, "Lost", and SmartBoards. Expect the unexpected? My expectations have definitely been exceeded coming to Perryville and it isn’t solely due to the amenities, but they are definitely a bonus. Two nights after we arrived, Wednesday, we were invited over to Adam’s house to watch the next episode of "Lost" and have pizza for dinner. Chad, who runs the local store with his girlfriend Jackie, (the store is a room inside their home), just started cooking pizzas a couple of months ago.

It felt downright odd to sit on Adam’s couch with a piece of freshly cooked pizza, and Annie’s Goddess Dressing (thanks to Katy), to dip my pizza in; I might add, a luxury I only indulge in while in my own home. Adam had "TiVoed" the "Lost" episode, but the wind got the better of technology and mocked us with only 15 minutes of the indulgence. So, we acquiesced to Mother Nature and, instead, watched portions of "American Idol" with our own harsh commentary and quips rivaling Simon Cowell himself, and a long ago "TiVoed" episode of "The Office." Having no cable at home in Anchorage this was an unforeseen treat.

We have to come all the way to Bush Alaska to get training in SmartBoards and watch the latest "Lost" TV episode; interesting conundrum.

Two beautiful days in a row. Saturday and Sunday in Perryville, and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. Yesterday morning Meghan and I slept in until 9:30am or so and leisurely had coffee and made banana pancakes. We read for a little while and then showered and decided to get outside. There was barely any breeze, only a small whisper moving the alder bushes every so slightly side to side, like a timid greeting. We knocked on Katy’s door, and then Carol’s but they didn’t answer, so we headed to the beach. The sun was bright enough to make us squint and even though it didn’t feel bitter cold, the icy layer on the sand told us that it was. We walked almost to “Second Point” and we saw a couple of dogs we knew (even from far away). One was Luka: the big pointy ears were a giveaway. Sure enough, Katy and Carol were walking towards us and we greeted each other with great swings of arms and giant smiles. They had turned around because the breeze had picked up beyond the point and were headed back in the direction of town.

The bright sun makes me smile. Heading away from the wind we decided to climb the hill up to the tsunami shelter and beyond. The volcano was smoking and we wanted a better view. From up there the town looked picturesque; colorful homes dotted the shore of an incredible seascape. Dogs ambled, kids on Hondas scooted here and there, smoke from the town generator puffed towards the cumulous clouds above, and behind us the volcano smoked its pipe.

It’s Wednesday and we only have two more nights here in Perryville. Yesterday after school Becky, Victoria and Justine’s mom, invited Meghan and I out clamming. On Monday there was a village birthday party. Jizelle turned one, and birthdays are a big event in villages. Meghan Mahoney with Perryville Students

Birthday parties in the village are like Thanksgiving feasts: a gluttonous amount of food is prepared and the spread is impressive. We were officially invited right after school on Monday. The way it works is that a few people are called at a time; as many seats as there are at the dining table. The four or so people come, eat, and, when they finish, get up to make room for the next three or four. It was comical walking to the party: I felt like I was part of a white parade. Katy, Carole, Meghan, Mike, Natalie (the visiting reading specialist), and I walked over together. It was as if I was back in Africa again; we stuck out like sore thumbs. In Africa, I hated traveling with the other volunteers because we were so painfully obvious. At least alone I could attempt being inconspicuous. Nonetheless, this similarity was expected.

When we walked in the door I was immediately impressed with the decorations. There were balloons everywhere, and a curtain of sparkly streamers hanging in the kitchen. Before we left Becky invited us into the kitchen where she had a pot of interesting sea creatures. There were white clams, badarkes, and ooducks. This was a specialty and an honor that she had invited us to eat them. I was a bit wary; she cut open an ooduck and offered us the orange eggs from it, I only took a tiny bite, but Justine was standing by licking her lips and ready to finish it off. The badarke was hard and tasted of salt, and the clam had a buttery after taste but I almost choked initially. I don’t do well with raw seafood, but I knew I had to try. It was then that Becky told Meghan we could go collecting with her the following day and we excitedly accepted.

Fifteen thousand feet will heal an aching heart. Perspective is everything and as we flew up and out of Perryville my heart seemed to be left behind for a moment; caught in the lag between the altitude and the equilibrium, like clearing your ears. Veniaminof was smoking again and the sun was shimmering over the ocean, an intricate dance involving all her rays, pirouetting effortlessly from one surface to another. Waltzing over the frozen land, pausing in the cracks to flaunt a fractal of herself, leaping from peak to pinnacle, skipping over the reflective plane of the ocean, the sun’s performance was the perfect distraction for my mind. Filled with uncertainty, “What should I do this fall?” I was content to be a spectator in the performance out my small plane window. Below I gazed intently as mountains, rivers, frozen lakes, calderas, islands, and clouds became a body. I was no longer seeing elements of the earth singularly; I could see the earth as a body. The rivers, crowned with ice, were carrying the blood in her veins, the structure of the land elaborate patterns of capillaries, valves, vertebra, organs, muscles.

As we flew into King Salmon I laughed aloud at a river below us that couldn’t make up its mind. Running in one direction only to change its course a few yards later; east to west, the frozen water must have been tricked or tantalized from one side of the compass to the other, very possibly the raven’s doing. Smiling from ear to ear, I couldn’t help myself, I saw humor and history from my perch and gave thanks for this trip.

Top Left, Mandy Morell teaching a Perryville student. Above right, Perryville, Alaska. Above left, Meghan Mahoney with Perryville Students.

"Are you a grandmother," Nikki, a kindergartner, asked, running her fingers through my white strands that pop out from my black hair. "No, I'm only twenty-seven," I answer.
"Then you must be a mother."
"I'm not even a mother."
"Then why do you have white hair?" She says, touching my earrings.
"I guess I'm wise," I pause, aware that white hairs also come from stress. I decide not to tell Nikki about college, work, bank accounts, or graduate school, a more likely cause for my white hair. Nikki didn't care how I got my white hair. She squeezed my shoulders. "Carry me!"

Fortunately for both of us, I enjoy giving piggy-back rides and carried her through the school, following the sage blessing the elders gave.

I felt honored to be welcomed into the Toksook Bay community by both children and adults. I never felt alone or without help. So many people wanted to share with me, and I was never bored in Toksook. When I was working on my qaspeq, Sharon offered me her sewing machine. When I didn't have warm enough boots, Joe lent me a beautiful pair of hand-made mukluks. Even though I was born and raised in Alaska, I have never been as cold as I was in Toksook.

Katie Curtis answered so many of my questions. Cathy Moses allowed me to observe and photograph her classroom. Even though I had no idea what she was saying to the kids in Yup'ik, I loved listening to the conversations.

When the three day dance festival began, so many people waved or made eye contact as I sat on the floor. The gym was alive with the vibrations of voice and drum. I loved watching people of all ages dancing together, elders with the youth. The expression of movement was beautiful to witness.
I spent my time in Nelson Island High School observing the Yup'ik Immersion elementary students and working with the high school students. Sometimes, I think, I was more of a distraction than a help in the elementary school. Students wanted to swarm me, wanted to touch my clothes, ask me questions about my life, see my almost-completed qaspeq.

At the middle school and high school level, I did both reading and writing activities. For reading, I copied "Those who have ears through the Ground," a story about hunting from "Stories for Future Generations: The Oratory of Yup'ik Eskimo Elder Paul John." I met Paul John, and although most of the students had read parts of the book, few had actually read the entire book. After reading, I asked them to talk about what they read and write down their thoughts. I loved reading their comments. One student was hesitant to write his comments because he needed to use a Yup'ik word. I encouraged him to use it, and I learned a new concept. "When I read this," he wrote, "I thought about my fist seals and the next morning, my parents told me not to be 'qaciqteq' because we won't catch a seal again. But I did and I didn't catch a seal for awhile."
"What is 'qaciqteq'?" I asked.
"It's like being lazy. Like if you think it's too easy to go hunting," a girl answered.
"So, the closest word I can think of in English is bragging. If you brag, then you won't get seals again. I love that I have a new way of looking at things."
Another student wrote that she didn't believe the story, but she believed "the lesson. Don't assume anything that would be obvious." Another student wrote, "What does Westernized mean?" I didn't get to discuss this answer, but I was intrigued by the question.

While in Toksook, I rode a dogsled, sewed a qaspeq, listened to stories, ate Beluga, tried on traditional clothes (including a fur parka, mukluks, a headdress, and hand fans), rode on a snow machine, practiced dancing with the high school dancers, performed a dance in front of the school, attempted a few Native Youth Olympic activities, and was beaten by fifth graders in basket ball. I was delighted to hear the elders speak to the students, infusing Native Alaskan values into a school system that historically does not encourage the self-reflection to the degree I heard.

"Respect your family. Respect your elders. Respect your teachers; they are like your parents in school," Charlie Moses, visiting elder, told all the students, kindergartners through seniors, sitting on the floor. He talked about life during his youth, when the culture was less influenced by outside sources. He spoke for fifteen or twenty minutes, but I could have listened to him for much longer. I loved the fact that he was sharing his wisdom and perspective with us. "Follow your heart. If you follow your heart, you will be right in the head. If you are not following your heart, you won't be right thinking. Listen to yourself."

Above right, Siobhan O'Hara with Toksook Bay children. Above left, Siobhan at a Toksook Bay fishcamp.

On a clear, cold, and sunny day I boarded an eight passenger Iliamna Air charter flight bound for Iliamna/Newhalen. A beautiful hour long flight brought us done in Iliamna, where it was extremely windy. After a half an hour wait we boarded a three passenger plane and headed for Nondalton which is about 20 miles Northeast of Iliamna The flight was short and smooth and before long we had landed to an empty air field in Nondalton with no ride. Luckily, everyone uses radios and the pilot radioed our “cultural guide” (a.k.a. the school secretary) to come and get us.Soon she was there and taking us to the school.

Nondalton is a beautiful, quiet, and peaceful community. Located on Six Mile Lake which is a smaller offshoot lake south of Lake Clark and north of Iliamna Lake it is an ideal setting. The area is the base of large recreational fishing industry of western Alaska and there is quite a bit of controversy over Pebble Creek Mine. The community feel towards Nondalton, Alaska

this project was generally negative, although through word of mouth we learned that some of the community members were employed by mining venues. Ironic, but people need to work. I enjoyed the slow paced quiet life style immensely and felt relaxed after only one week. After my time there I felt how much stuff do we have to have and do to make our lives complete?

The students were wonderfully sweet and thoughtful when not being required to do work. They worked much better and more efficiently in the elementary grades than in High School. There was a huge change in attitude between the younger kids and the older kids towards school. The elementary students were very involved, positive, and active learners. They seemed to highly value their teachers and each other. The lower grades levels exhibited a very positive community feel.

Erin Pilgreen and LA Piper in Nondalton School

The high school students on a one on one basis were great. They were full of life, interesting stories, jokes, and advice from us non-villagers. They always stopped on the streets with their four-wheelers and offered us rides, showed us their pets, and told us what they were going to do after school. They always let us participate in their gym games at lunch and didn’t make fun of us too bad when we couldn’t shoot ball. They also were fairly receptive of us helping them out with their assignments and seemed to appreciate the extra help from someone other than the teacher.

The teachers were also very hospitable and invited us over for some gourmet meals several nights throughout our stay there. They told us their experience and opinions on teaching in rural Alaska which helped formulate our own ideas about it. We played games with the other teachers and they lent us videos to pass the time in the evenings. The principal even went so far as to offer us recommendations if we needed them. They were all wonderful and we LA Piper and Erin Pilgreen redesign Nondalton school entrance

LA Piper and Erin Pilgreen redesign Nondalton school entrance

appreciated their hospitality.

Overall, the experience was mixed; there were both positive and negative aspects of the visit. However, I am glad that I went on this trip and value the lessons that I learned. It has piqued my interest in rural Alaska and I would love to travel to more villages to see the similarities and differences.

I am grateful for this opportunity and want to give a big thanks to everyone who helped me go on this trip and for everyone I met on the trip.

Nondalton, Alaska pictured above right. Above left, Erin Pilgreen (left) and LA Piper in Nondalton School. At right, Erin and LA redesign the entrance area at the Nondalton School.

Nondalton sits on Six Mile Lake about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage. The town’s population ranges from two hundred to three hundred residents, and the school houses approximately fifty K-12 students. To get to Nondalton one flies to Iliamna (about 15 miles south), and either arrives via plane or a four-wheeler driven across the frozen lake. There is a road built to the edge of the Newhalen River and continues on the Nondalton side, but Nondalton residents have repeatedly voted against building a bridge to link the to two communities. The residents of Nondalton enjoy and protect their autonomy (as is also demonstrated by their active participation to stop the development of the Pebble Mine, which would sit in the community’s backyard).

The school is a part of the Lake and Peninsula School District and was switched over from a standard grade system to a standards based system. For the standards based system students check off skills in eight categories: Social Studies, Math, Science, English, Service Learning, Career Development, Personal & Social Health, and LA Piper decorates a thank you cake for the Nondalton School and students

LA Piper decorates a thank you cake for the Nondalton School and students

Culture. There are seven or eight levels to each of these categories and then there are between five and twelve standards that need to be met for each level. (Confused? Yeah, I was too for the first ten days.)

For example, level 4 English would correspond to about a fourth to fifth grader. Under level 4 students would have a series of tasks or “standards” that they would have to meet before they could move onto the next level.

These standards could include having the student demonstrate an understanding of mood and voice or identifying themes in fictional pieces. To finally pass level 4 the student would have to submit a piece of writing to be graded by teachers outside of the school but within the district. This final step serves as an objective check and balance system for making sure the student’s writing is up to par.

An advantage of the standards based system is that it allows students to individually mange their educational progress. It is not uncommon for students to be still be in school at the age of 20 and 21, and the standards based system ensures that students are not graduating without being able to read and write (as was the case in years past). As an English teacher I like the idea of having my students submit their writing to other to teachers to be scored. Students often feel that they have to write to please their teacher’s taste; this system allows for objective scoring.

The cons of the system as it currently stands is that it is a bit clunky for the students, especially for the “soft standards;” those outside of the traditional education subjects. In addition, a lack of assessment criteria creates confusion for the students and the teachers. Plus the sheer number of standards that need to be passed leaves the students feeling like a hoop jumper as opposed to an active engaged learner. Luckily the Lake and Peninsula District plans on collapsing the soft standards to help alleviate this problem.

Erin Pilgreen, my fellow intern, and I spent many hours discussing the pros and cons of the standards based system. It is a difficult animal to dissect. I feel that the issues surrounding the standards based system are a direct reflection of the issues surrounding life in the Bush.

One of the most important things I learned in discussing the issues of education for students in Nondalton is to refrain from immediate judgments. I believe that the white educated and dominant culture repeatedly tries to fix education problems with solutions that have worked in theory in white classrooms. However, when examining how to address educational issues in the Bush we drop this ethnocentric lens and adopt an ecological approach; we need to look at the system of the village; and we need to approach the school as just on component of this system that cannot be “fixed” independently or in isolation.

Above right, La Piper decorates a "thank you" cake for the Nondalton School and students. Nondalton School pictured above left.

White, white, white
No trees
No roads
No fences
Small cluster of buildings - dull grey weathered wood
No malls
No movies
No quick stops

Yup'ik language, long words, hard to pronounce
K through third reading, writing and talking from the heart
Little winter coats hang leisurely in the school entry way
Calico cotton print on the outside,
Beaver lining on the inside and wolf ruff around the hood

Inside Outside
Different perspectives
How much of the inside are we willing to see?
Don’t stop with the outside you'll miss what really matters.

Out building no bigger than your backyard tool shed
The fire is lit and warmth fills the tiny room.
Outside snow drifts all around.
Inside tension evaporates, skin is renewed
Internal toxins escape through my sweat
The snow is an endless water source
A time to bond with family and friends
My first true steam

The beat of the drums and dances tell stories -
Picking blueberries, hunting seal
I want to understand
The gym is filled with families and friends from far away
All ages dance and feel the beat from the inside out
Cotton fabric, rick rack, needle and thread
Beaded head dresses crowned in wolf ruff

Musk ox roast – ummmm good
A piece of whale - maybe not
My life is richer

Four days of Spanish
¿Cómo te llamas?
Hola, ¿Cómo estás?
How do you say,
…walrus?
…great grandfather?
…I love you?
Me llamo Quayak

Fish camp via snow machine
Lonely and quiet
Boats in snow
A cabin with bunk beds
Coffee mugs on the table
Someone left hastily, or was it reluctantly?
Frost on the inside
Gill nets neatly hung on a rack draped in white

Never forget who you are
Learn all you can
What matters is on the inside
The Outside will learn

Above, Ynez Slaymaker teaches Toksook Bay class. Photo courtesy of Katie Curtis.

Our stay in Akiachak was warm and welcoming, although the wind outside was whipping at 20 mph! Each night, different teachers invited us into their homes and cooked us dinner; it was insightful to listen to their stories and ask them how they became teachers and moved to Akiachak. We were impressed with the staff's desire to make this small community on the Kuskokwim River their long-term home.
Temperance Taylor standing next to the place where the pipes for teacher housing burst

Temperance Taylor standing next to the place where the pipes for teacher housing burst

Akiachak School hosted the regional basketball tournament while we visiting and we got to see, first-hand, how a teacher's job in a village is a full-time affair.

The school has a Yup'ik immersion program through first grade, and nearly all of the students speak Yup'ik fluently. The smallness of the school means that each teacher knows nearly all the students. I was encouraged because I really got the feeling that one person can make a difference in the community.

I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to experience rural Alaska for two weeks, and suggest to everyone to take advantage of this great opportunity provided by AEIN.

Above right, Temperance Taylor stands next to the place where the pipes for teacher housing burst. Akiachak School is pictured above left.

This past February, I was lucky enough to embark on a journey that was academically, personally, and spiritually enlightening. The AEIN grant provided me with the means to travel to the Pribilof Islands. I spent my first week in St. Paul and the second in St. George. My objective was to observe and participate in school, as well as community, events, which is exactly what I did. I saw many new things and experienced two separate rural Alaskan communities.

As we were descending on St. Paul, the clouds broke and I got my first view of the island. My first thought was, “no trees…barren.” The landscape was beautiful because of its natural, rugged quality.

Once we landed, I was taken to my accommodations at the district office. I had some free time at this point to walk around the island and take pictures. The school was about a two minute walk from where I was staying; it is a single level structure that houses grades K-12. There is a playground outside, and all of the classrooms have emergency doors to the outside.

The wind did not stop blowing my entire stay, which makes sense because there are no mountain or structures to block the cold air that whooshes unchallenged across the Bering Sea.

On the first day of school, I was introduced to all of the students, and I walked around the building to meet others. There were few high school-aged kids, so I was able to observe several middle and elementary classes. Technology was evident in every aspect of the educational process – there were enough laptops for students to check out individually for daily work. There were smart boards, projectors, and the science lab had some great resources.

I found the social scene interesting on St. Paul. The kids there were similar to the students at PHS with regards to dress, cliques, and interactions.

Outside of the school, I was able to walk around the island, see many sights, and learn a bit about the history of the Pribilofs. Overall, the week in St. Paul was amazing. I met many students, teachers, faculty, and community. I was able to come into a community and observe, as well as participate in, the culture of the place. For this, I am grateful because it gave me added perspective to pull from when teaching and living in general.

Wait! The journey is only half fulfilled; I traveled to St. George for another week after St. Paul. This island is about a twenty minute hop by plane from St. Paul. The cliffs of St. George are much more jagged and defined. The island and town are smaller, but still have the ability to stagger newcomers who have never seen such a raw place. Even arriving from St. Paul, I was captivated by the sheer cliffs streaming with basalt columns 1000 feet up from the violent sea. Here is my first view of the village:
St. George Island

The school was small – twenty-two students from K-12. The five high school students were all boys, and their classes were teleconferenced from the classes being held in St. Paul. There was an acting principal who held things together there and tried to motivate the five boys to the best of her abilities, but many challenges are faced with the medium through which these students were receiving their education.

One plus was that a temporary math teacher was brought into the school to help the older kids with math and the younger students with science. I was pretty pumped to see that! I was able to help a first grade class dissect snowy owl pellets (see picture below) that we had collected near the airport the day before. They were riddled with lemming bones – awesome!

Jake Templin helps St, Paul 1st grades dissect owl pellets

Plus, in the middle of this lesson, a student’s dad pulled up outside and gave us the hind leg of a reindeer he had just taken from the island’s herd. He just handed it to us in a trash bag, so we put it in the school fridge. Totally random event, but exciting because I got to carve it up after school into steaks to take home. The meat was still warm when I began to skin it, and it tasted delicious with stir fry vegetables!

Another plus to visiting St. George was the opportunity to teach some students of the teacher I was paired with. I met him and he went to St. Paul the next day with some students for a basketball tournament, so I was able to present three days of science lessons to his middle school students. We discussed evolution, ecology, genetic diversity of the arctic fox, fluid dynamics, Newton’s third law with regards to flight, and creative writing.

After the week was over in St. George, I was scheduled to leave the next Saturday; however, this did not happen on account of menacing crosswinds and low visibility at the airport. Fortunately I was able to hop on a plane that carried freight Sunday afternoon. My arrival in Anchorage was happy because I had the chance to hug my wife and 3-year-old son for the first time in over two weeks. Plus, I was coming back with memories that will stick in my mind through old age.

I was educated on the history and practices of a proud but dwindling Aleut culture. I feel lucky to have been able to see for myself the good and bad of a different community in a different part of the world. The Aleut culture is remarkable, and I hope that my children will be able to experience the pieces of it that are still found today because it speaks of the enduring nature of human beings when faced with daunting challenges in an ever changing world. Utilizing and sharing insight from this visit with my current, and future, students is something I feel would benefit all that participate.

St Paul School pictured top left. St George Island pictured top right. Above left, Jake Templin dissects owl pellets with St. George first graders. Above right, Jake carves a deer leg.

Intern Amazed by Creativity and Flexibility in the Rural Districts
by Chaz Vaughn

Chaz Vaughn with shop students showing their handiwork

I’m amazed at the creativity and flexibility of teachers in the rural districts, and the ties that form between teacher and student. Imagine you’re a Math teacher; let me rephrase that; imagine you are THE Math teacher. Now prepare lessons for all your students, 6-12th grade. That means you are teaching five or six simultaneous lessons from pre-algebra to trigonometry and calculus. And, you know that since you are also THE science teacher, you have two to three more lessons to develop and deliver. Yeah, flexibility is a key word in this process.

Chaz Vaughn assisting Port Lions students with their Math

The rewards seemed infinite in response to this workload however. Continuous contact with students throughout their middle and high school careers, the ability to watch them grow, develop, and mature into the adults you had a strong influence on. The ties between student and teacher are well beyond what can be expected and achieved in an urban mainstream setting.

My sincere thanks to the staff and students at Port Lions school. After a day is over, all you have is the experience and memories you gained from it. You filled the days of my visit with wonderful memories and invaluable experiences.

Thank you also to the gracious community that quickly made us feel like Port Lions was a second home.

Above right, Chaz Vaughn with Port Lions shop students (displaying their handiwork). Above left, Chaz assists Port Lions students with their Math.

“We’re only gonna use half the runway on this takeoff… it usually scares the crap out of passengers if I don’t tell ‘em, just wanted to give you guys a heads up,” muttered Bob, our pilot as he pulled the two passenger puddle jumper around and began accelerating down the bumpy gravel runway. At the end of the strip, after a steep drop-off, the icy Kodiak waters gently lapped at the base of the cliff.

Caleb Weaver teaching in Port Lions class

Chaz Vaughn, the other intern traveling with me on this two-week rural visit to Port Lions, looked at me, and I looked at him, questioning each other silently. “Is this standard procedure?” we seemed to be saying. The bobble-headed hula girl on the instrument panel smiled and nodded reassuringly…she, being the most seasoned traveler among us, was reliable above all others in our little plane. I nodded back at her, sensing the wisdom packed into her frail, ragged grass-skirted, lightly tanned frame. “Aloha,” and we were off.

The plane rattled down the runway, picking up speed as we neared the edge. Our nose tipped slightly upward as we sailed off the cliff and out over the ocean.

We must have picked up a strong headwind. With a sudden, dramatic movement the plane jerked upwards suddenly. Stomachs in our feet, and knees crammed to our chests, Chaz and I watched as the white tips of the waves grew smaller and smaller beneath us…but not too small. We stopped climbing and leveled out, and with the exception of a few jerks and bumps (which I think Bob did on purpose, because they always seemed to occur right when I stopped bracing myself for them) the rest of our flight was uneventful.

The landing wasn’t nearly as exciting as the takeoff, and we smoothly taxied Main Entance of Port Lions School

to the end of a dirt runway. There, a few faces stared out of beat-up trucks eagerly watching to see who and what was coming to their village. The welcome was un-ceremonial. No one approached us as we awkwardly climbed out of the plane, but right away the people started unloading cargo.

No one knew who we were. “So you’re the maintenance guys?” said a friendly man in an accent that reminded me of Minnesota. “Um no… were teachers” I said. “Ohhhhhh great, great. Hop in!” I climbed in the back seat of his truck and looked for a seatbelt. “You’re in the village now” he chuckled. “We don’t wear seatbelts here.”

In the weeks that followed, I felt like a welcome guest in Port Lions. The Language Arts teacher was leaving for a basketball trip the day we arrived, so I got to take over his classes and his wrestling coaching duties. Another highlight of the trip was when I dressed up in a giant Lion suit and played the mascot for an assembly.

A few things I learned:
Village life (at least in Port Lions) is hugely influenced by the weather. All plans must be made flexibly to allow for the small charter planes, which control pretty much everything.
Sports are HUGE. All the kids… every last one of them, played basketball. The entire village’s recreational scene revolved around it.

Top left, Caleb Weaver teaching in Port Lions class. Above right, the main entrance to the Port Lions School. Above left, Caleb coaches a Port Lions wrestler.

AEIN recently sponsored Dean Mary Snyder and four faculty members from the College of Education to attend the "Making an Impact: Best Practices to Enhance Achievement, Assessment, and Accountability for P-12 Learning" conference held in Atlanta, Georgia. AEIN Network Director, Pat Chesbro joined the group. Conference attendees share some of their insights below.

Pictured at right, the "Making an Impact UAA attendees." From left to right, Dean Konopasek, Carolyn Coe, Ed McLain, Pat Chesbro, Mary Snyder and Jim Powell.

Institutions of Higher Learning are struggling with ways to assess candidates in regards to their dispositions for teaching and their impact on student learning during their internships. Various Universities made presentations on how their Universities are in the process of meeting those assessment goals. It's a relatively new area and recent research, some of which is still in progress, was presented.

The "Making an Impact" conference was designed to bring together university faculty as well as school district personnel to address the issue of how teacher training programs are making a difference in the achievement of P-12 students. The breakout sessions, although few in number, were interesting and provided information and ideas we can use to improve the impact our teacher training programs have on P-12 education.

I hope that as the conference grows in the coming years, more institutions of higher education and local school districts will become involved.

I was fortunate to be part of a group from the college that recently attended the "Making an Impact: Best Practices to Enhance Achievement, Assessment, and Accountability for P-12 Learning." The conference reinforced the importance of each program being able to demonstrate the impact that our interns have on their students' learning. Perhaps, one of the best outcomes from the conference was the time the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) group spent talking about the sessions they attended and what these different perspectives were allowing us to see in our programs.

As with every conference there were opportunities to compare and contrast programs with colleagues from around the country. In many ways these discussions highlighted how much we have right in our current program, while also providing some things we might want to try.

Professional Development Schools attendees: from left to right, front row, Kelly Schnese, Brian Thompson, Teresa Johnson and Gwen Houck. From left to right, back row, Fran Talbott, Lisa Prince-Smith and Gale O'Connell-Smith.

AEIN sponsored seven network partners to attend the Professional Development Schools Conference (PDS) held recently in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kelly Schnese and Lisa Prince-Smith from Wonder Park Elementary, Teresa Johnson, Brian Thompson and Fran Talbott from the UAA College of Education, and Gale O'Connell-Smith and Gwen Houck from Taku Elementary were the seven network partners who attended the Institute. Read what they had to say about their experience.

Pictured above, Professional Development Schools attendees: from left to right, front row, Kelly Schnese, Brian Thompson, Teresa Johnson and Gwen Houck. From left to right, back row, Fran Talbott, Lisa Prince-Smith and Gale O'Connell-Smith.

I enjoyed picking up some helpful tips on how other Professional Development Schools run their internship programs.

For example, when mentoring student interns try to meet in the summer to get to know each other before school starts; fill out a checklist together on the expectations for the intern during the teaching process. Before teaching begins have the intern observe several different classrooms on specific routines: transitions, behavior modification, beginning of class strategies and then reflect. This will help to include more staff to be connected with the intern. Keep a daily/weekly mentor-intern reflection journal for documentation.

It is refreshing to attend a professional conference and see the excitement of the presenters for their ideas. It helps give me a new enthusiasm for my work with mentors and interns. After two days of sessions, I felt we should share some of the great things we are doing in Alaska through the partnership of the Anchorage School District (ASD) and the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) at the next conference.

I attended a session presented by the partnership of Paradise Elementary School and University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I was especially intrigued by the fact that every teacher in Paradise school is a mentor candidate. This fact put more interns into the school and they expounded upon the benefits of a partnership like this. They were able to have more interaction from university folks in the building, university classes were held in the building, math and reading specialists were readily available, and they were able to offer parents more opportunity due to more student coverage.

The session presented by staff from Notre Dame gave me information to assist with induction of interns in the beginning of the year, intern expectation, observation and reflection guides, and a handbook idea for interns. This was a presentation that passed on useful ideas by an experienced mentor team.

Finally, I attended a session promoting global partnerships. There was the building of relationship across the miles, investigating and comparing education and building portfolios of specific concepts. The presentation showed a focus on at risk youth, the connection between sports and academics and how the sports connection improved attendance and academics.

This Professional Development Schools Conference was excellent because we were encouraged to attend as a school team and pair up with our University Coordinators. Learning and working, with time in between to discuss the topics we were exposed to, allowed for us to make plans. We were very excited every day with the information we gained.

Some topics that were of particular interest related to communication and innovative programs from around the country. It was great to see how different schools tackled similar issues and we were encouraged by the morning speakers who talked about issues such as how to get more involved politically and how important the right attitude is. This month we will all meet again to set further goals now that we’re all back in Anchorage. I am very excited to work with everyone again and continue building relationships.

We are looking at expanding our internship/practicum program with the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and have offered our UAA Contact, Brian Thompson, an office space if he is interested in being more hands-on at Wonder Park Elementary. We want to keep the momentum going and really want to find ways to demonstrate our commitment between our school and the university.

I am taking some ideas back to the Anchorage School District relating to the hiring and interviewing of interns and I will continue to be a strong advocate for the partnership.

Another important note regarding this conference came in the way of a discussion between myself and Teresa Johnson over the concept of mentoring. Teresa was the mentor for Denise Greene-Wilkinson (Polaris K-12 School Principal) who mentored me as a new principal. I pointed out to Teresa what a huge impact one can make as a mentor, not just for the mentee but for future people they have contact with because Denise frequently passed on advice to me that she had learned from Teresa. It was a great reminder for me that we cannot really put a value upon the true worth of taking the time to invest in the career and life of someone new to a profession because of the lives they could touch as well.

I aspire to follow in the footsteps of Teresa and Denise as a mentor by making sure that our university interns and practicum students have the very best resources around them and a caring staff to offer support in the most important profession: education!

Thank you for the opportunity to attend this conference; it was one of the best learning experiences I have taken part in.

I found the conference exciting because we found that UAA was right in the mainstream of what is happening at other universities across the nation. All our growing pains have been felt by others and it was reassuring to just talk that over.

We did learn a few new ideas and last evening we all met and talked about what we thought could be possibilities for our own program. This is a process and each year along with conferences like these we learn how to improve and make the intern's program more meaningful.

The Professional Development Schools (PDS) conference in Las Vegas, Nevada provided two benefits for me: firstly, it served to verify that what UAA is doing in our current program is on track with what others are doing, and in some cases, further ahead in development. Secondly, there were ideas gleaned which would be of benefit to our program in the College of Education if they were tailored to meet our specific needs.

Some of the issues regarding dispositions were of interest to me as we are working on dispositions for our program here in Anchorage, and it was no surprise to hear that others are facing the same challenges in dealing with student behavior, decorum and presence as we are facing. Issues around creating environments of deep, meaningful communication between all of the many members of the Professional Development School (PDS) team were addressed in some of the sessions, and some helpful strategies were shared which would encourage not only closer but more honest, meaningful discussions between mentors, interns, principals and the University faculty.

Tidbits to keep us smiling were always present as were chuckles and nods of assent as we heard and shared the same experiences as others from vastly scattered regions. It was suggested by some in our group that we "present" next year in Orlando, and I think we have great things to share, especially with our distance and rural experience components.

The conference was an expansive, and, with some picking and choosing, a very enlightening experience.

On April 5th, 2007 I had the privilege to visit and to facilitate a workshop with the teachers of the Pribilof Islands. This experience has been one of the highlights of my year and a half of service to the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and the Alaska community.

The central topic of the workshop focused on how to assist learners through a learning cycle using chemistry content and a collaborative team-based learning environment. The important feature in the workshop was showing how to implement a teaching model that is culturally responsive to the learner. The teaching approach I encourage is a “process-oriented” approach that embeds the learning process into the experiences, knowledge and background of the learner. Some teachers and faculty refer to it as “inquiry” but we emphasize that this inquiry is a process guided by the teacher that begins with a phase of exploration of what the learner already knows.

The next stage of the learning cycle leads to concept development and the last stage is concept application. What I discovered when I arrived in the Pribilofs, is that, like any facilitator of learning, I too had my own lessons to learn and thus embarked on my own learning cycle.

The majority of the community children in the Pribilof schools are Aleut who have a poignant history as part of their heritage in these islands. What impressed me was how important this history is not only to their elders but to the teachers who seek to instill appreciation among their visitors such as myself. Thus, not too long after I arrived, the superintendent, Jamie Stacks, gave me my first homework assignment, watching the documentary called the “Aleut Story”. This documentary film presented the stories of the experiences of the community before, during and after World War II, when the Pribilof communities were removed from their island homes and kept in dilapidated fish processing camps on the Alaskan east coast. This homework assignment was a fortuitous beginning of my own learning cycle, exploring the cultural history of this steadfast community.

Residential Area above the Pribilof School District Housing

Next came the concept development phase. The workshop took place in the St. Paul School library. Everywhere I looked I saw artifacts, pictures and books about the Aleuts and other Alaskan Native communities. Here was a place where using a culturally responsive approach wasn’t just a novel way of teaching but had been a regular practice and necessary way of life. As I began the workshop, I reflected on my own experiences and feelings I had as a young student in schools, feelings of separation and alienation. My immediate reaction was to express gratitude to the teachers participating that I felt comfortable and welcome in their school environment.

Last came the application phase. The hallmark of successful progress through the learning cycle is when the learner can transfer their newly constructed concept to a new situation. In my own concept application phase, I learned how to conduct and facilitate the workshop using their video conferencing equipment. St. George School is on St. George Island. And while the island of St George is much closer to St Paul Island relative to the Alaskan mainland, it is still about a 45 minute plane ride across the ocean from St Paul’s library where the workshop was being conducted.

Here I realized that to conduct a class on the Pribilofs, a teacher must engage responsively not only to learners in her immediate environment but simultaneously with learners engaged with the activity on another island. To facilitate learning activities in both environments, she must be able to manipulate the remote to ‘zoom-in’ on the learners’ task, to track their progress and their team dynamic without losing the engagement of her learners in her immediate vicinity—an interesting and challenging variation of implementing a “process-oriented” approach.

Therefore I learned how teachers must engage their students in learning activities on the Pribilofs. It is not as simple as just getting the right materials together and learning how to implement them. Rather, it is getting the right people together who will live on a remote island, and to be committed to the learning community and culture of two islands. It is the willingness to take the extra initiative to understand where your students are regarding their learning needs and how to engage them responsively into the learning process whether they are in the same room or visible only on a monitor.

My goal is to continue to learn from the teachers of this community and General Store Downtown St. Paul

their community elders, and to bring and integrate what I have learned from this community into the process oriented guided inquiry model of teaching chemistry. And if there is community interest I will be delighted to work with the community to facilitate development of their science program.

I want to give my thanks to AEIN for funding and coordinating this workshop, to Ilka Paniptchuk the AEIN Rural Liaison who first introduced me to Jamie and encouraged my involvement with science programming in rural schools, to Jo LaFurney for her work in the coordination, to Jamie Stacks, superintendent of the Pribilof schools, and the teachers of St. Paul and St. George schools for this wonderful opportunity and experience.

Top right, Beverly Barker (far left, first row) with the St. Paul staff. Above left, a St. Paul residential area above the School District housing. Above right, the General Store in downtown St. Paul.

UAA Assistant Professor Beverly Barker recently visited St. Paul School and conducted a full day's inservice on Friday, April 6, 2007. She then spent time working with teachers one-to-one on Saturday, April 7. She presented an inservice that focused on " implementing a student-focused pedagogy in chemistry" to teachers on both St. Paul and St. George via video-conferencing.

The "teaching approach" involves a "discovery-based team environment" emphasizing learning as an "interactive process", drawing on the learner's background and experience "to understand new material." This approach is often described as "constructivist", where the instructor facilitates the learner's process "of constructing and applying their own models and analogies in chemistry."

She started off with a "yummy" activity involving the making of smores with graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows. She then moved to discussions of tying chemistry to the environment of the Pribilofs and the Aleut culture.

We thank Bev for making the long journey to the Pribilofs and sharing her knowledge of chemistry with us. A big thank you to AEIN and the funding to connect these two networks to improve the teaching of science.

The flight was fine, though I kept waiting for us to just drop from the sky with each little bump. The view was wonderful. I was amazed by how wet this area is. I had heard about how flat it was, but it surprised me how many lakes, ponds, and rivers covered the landscape. I was also surprised by how much the Kuskokwim River meanders. We saw fish camps along the still frozen banks of the river. There was virtually no snow left, but there was still a fair amount of ice. We could see Akiachak and Kwethluk as we started to descend into Akiak. The flight was a total of about 15 minutes and the landing couldn’t have been smoother (on a gravel runway). Riding in that tiny little plane was not the horror that I imagined, and the view was priceless.

Diane Gilila’s sister-in-law and Jane Parrish, the High School math teacher and Math teacher leader for the school, greeted our plane. Diane and Cleo Burgett rode in the school Suburban and I got to ride with Jane on the 4-wheeler! There is a lot of mud and puddles here this time of year, but Jane delivered me nearly spotless to the front of the school, a beautiful new building that recently won an architecture award.

We walked into the entry area of the school and were awed by the overhead mural that goes around the entire room. The mural is a collage of photos of villagers, young and old, in modern times and from long ago. It is a wonderful tribute to the people of the community and their cultural heritage. The entry area also doubles as the lunch/breakfast room.

Jane took us on a quick tour of the building and introduced us to the staff. We also meet several students who were still working in the building, though school had been out for nearly ½ an hour. It struck me that the building functioned as a community center where the children felt comfortable staying around well after school was out. This is not something you see in Anchorage.

Jane Parrish and Arthur on four wheeler in Akiak

Jane got the keys to the school Suburban and took us on a tour of the community. Almost all of the houses are up on pilings because of the water and they are mostly all the same shape, varying only in color and state of repair (neat and tidy to weathered and cluttered). Many have four wheelers, snow machines, and/or boats. There are few cars. The village has a new clinic and a new post office, a store, and a church.

After our tour Jane brought us to the teacher housing—duplexes connected by boardwalks, to keep you out of the mud. We were staying in an empty teacher apartment. We got settled into our lodging while Jane went home to tidy up before hosting us all for a potluck dinner at her home. The potluck was a mix of modern foods (hot wings, deviled eggs, etc.) and traditional Yup'ik foods (fish soup, smoked salmon, salmon spread, akutaq (Eskimo ice cream). The food and conversation were great.

The next day we walked to school and had breakfast with the students. Then I went to Bede Demantle's’s 5-6-7 grade class to teach a lesson on fractions. There were ten children in class for the lesson and the students were attentive and responsive. I really connected with one of the students whom I had met at breakfast and she spent much of the day by my side. After my lesson I spent the day observing in Bede’s classroom and working with students. I saw some awesome stories read aloud—where she connected the story to the theme of caring which they have been learning about, and she also connected the story to the children’s lives in Akiak. She modeled reading strategies, and talked about vocabulary as she read the story. It was a fabulous example of why we need to read to our children.

After the story the children practiced presenting poetry to the class and Akiak student displays her artwork

then we went to lunch, where I met the mayor of the town, who also happens to be a fiddle player and the lead singer/guitarist for the local band (more on this later). Lunches have REAL food! We had sloppy joes, french fries that were actually cooked, fruit cocktail, and some kind of yummy pudding cake for desert.

After lunch the class did some more poetry presentations until it was time for Yup'ik studies. Today the class worked on the qaspeqs they have been making. Each student had made their own pattern, cut the fabric out themselves, and today several of them were sewing the pieces together on sewing machines. On other days, during Yup'ik studies, they learn Yup'ik words or about a variety of other cultural activities.

Next the class did reading workshop. Pairs of students were reading various children’s literature, discussing the meaning and journaling about what they had read. I joined in with two boys who were reading "Brian’s Winter" and I enjoyed seeing the level of engagement. Watching this activity gave me some good ideas that I can incorporate into my own classroom reading.

Bede Demantle and Kristina in Bede's 5-7 grade class

The end of the school day involved finishing up the morning math and then Bede took the kids to gym class, which she taught—there is no gym, art, or music teacher. I stayed behind and helped a girl and boy work on some math.

After school we got together with Jane to plan the next day’s math training for the teachers. Jeannie Carpenter, the Building Plant Operator, prepared dinner for us in the school kitchen. After dinner we all went back to our quarters where Cleo and I hung out until it was time for the fiddlin’. We went back to school around 8:15pm and instead of fiddlin’ the mayor and his band were playing country western. The mayor is the lead singer and lead guitarist for the band. Annie Nicolai , a village elder, came and sat next to me and was energetically keeping rhythm to the music. She grabbed my hand and said, “dance”, so of course I did. She was a good dancer and I did my best to keep up. She danced with Cleo and the mayor next. She danced more than anyone there, she is 89 years old, and she always has a smile on her face!

We spent the next day teaching math strategies to the teachers. It was a small group just nine of us in all, but we covered a lot of territory and everyone was engaged in great academic dialogue. I learned a lot from the experience. It was so awesome to be able to collaborate with other educators. It is something we rarely have time to do in the regular school day, but something we all highly value.

We ended the workshop around 4:00 and then went home to pack. While we were getting ready, Jane came over and told us the principal had called. We were invited to come to a celebration feast for a village boy who had just turned 18. The mother was one of the ladies who had come in to class for the Yup'ik studies. She is a wonderful cook. We sampled beaver, smoked caribou, and a delicious pie made from blueberries picked in the fall, as well as other more modern foods like spaghetti and barbecued chicken. It was an honor to be invited into their home for such a special event.
Cleo Burgett guides workshop using manipulatives to build conceptual understanding of place value.

Cleo Burgett guides workshop using manipulatives to build conceptual understanding of place value.

We flew home shortly after the meal and had an adventure at the airport in Bethel. Diane was supposed to bring her husband his hunting gun (his family lives in Akiak), but the gun case has to have a lock in order to fly on the airplane. So, Cleo and I went looking for a place to buy a lock, but couldn’t find one.

We went into a local air taxi business to ask for directions, and the owner offered to give us one he had, if he could find it. He couldn’t, but knew where one was, so he drove to get it while we waited with his partner. After a delightful conversation about various Alaskan topics, the owner returned with the lock. Needless to say, all of the people we came in contact with were extremely friendly, helpful, and generous. We are so lucky to live in a place where kindness still exists.

Did I tell you that Cleo forgot her sleeping bag and towel?! Of course, our hosts were only too happy to share what they had.

I truly enjoyed my trip to Akiak. My traveling companions were fantastic. The teacher collaboration was valuable. And getting a glimpse of what life is like in an Alaskan village was a great experience that I can use to be a better teacher to my Alaska Native students.

Pictured above: Top Right, Kristina Vlahovich dances with Elder Annie Nicolai. Top left, Jane Parrish and Arthur on a four wheeler. Above right, Akiak student, Shirley, presents her artwork. Above left, Bede Demantle and Kristina Vlahovich in Bede's 5-7th grade class. Bottom right, Cleo Burgett guides workshop using manipulatives to build conceptual understanding of place value.

The 2007 AEIN Induction and Mentoring Institute meets June 11-14, 2007 at the University of Alaska Anchorage Consortium Library, Room 307. AEIN has asked partner school districts to select a district team including three to five members to send to the June institute.

The purpose of this institute is to develop a cadre of teams from partner districts and related organizations to facilitate professional learning to support induction and mentoring. This two-credit institute will focus on providing resources, support, and time for district teams to work on a plan to supplement/complement their current district’s induction and mentoring efforts.

Teams will have the opportunity to network, learn, and collaborate with colleagues from partner school districts in supporting continuous development of induction and mentoring programs in their districts. Additionally, teams can work together to organize ongoing networked support to enhance district programs, such as offering exchanges around specific professional learning opportunities.

For information of the Institute, contact Alice Hisamoto. For funding information contact Anna Bryant.

Don't Miss Out! Register before May 5th, 2007 to take advantage of special prices on the following courses! From climate change to ethnonavigation to utilizing dance as a learning tool, Alaska Educational Innovations Network (AEIN) and the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) have developed several courses for the Anchorage School District Summer Academy (ASDSA).

From climate change to ethnonavigation to utilizing dance as a learning tool, Alaska Educational Innovations Network (AEIN) and the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) have developed several exciting courses to Anchorage School District Summer Academy (ASDSA). These partners strive to bring current topics and learning methods to Alaska’s educators. Just click on the links below for more information and registration.

Global Climate Change for the K-12 Classroom
Description: Explores ways of integrating concepts of global climate change into the curricula of multiple disciplines and grade levels. Course content will address ways of adapting climate change issues and concepts into social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities. June 4-5, 2007

Learning Chemistry through Activities: A 'Student-focused' Paradigm
Description: This course explores strategies for implementing a discovery-based team environment for learning chemistry at the middle school and high school levels. This form of teaching emphasizes that learning is not a solitary task of memorizing information, but an interactive process of refining one's understanding and developing one's skills, drawing on one’s background and experience to understand new material. June 4-5, 2007

Ethnonavigation: Tools for Diversity in Science and History
Description: This four-day course will incorporate knowledge of Alaska Native cultures and theories of cartography and navigation with specific applications in the Yup’ik and Dena’ina Athabascan regions. June 6-9, 2007

Teach Geography!
Description: “Teach Geography!” is as much a workshop on how not to teach geography as it is a dynamic approach to engage students and to reinvigorate teaching. For educators working to meet national standards, “The Five Fundamental Themes” of Geography is nothing new. Themes are an important organizing tool for a teacher, but a geography teacher does not have to use the same words, number of themes, capitalized letters, punctuation, or reverence when it comes to using themes in the classroom. June 8-9, 2007.

Improving Teaching and Learning through Dance
Description: This course will focus on methods and techniques for incorporating dance as a vehicle to improve learning experiences in K-12 classrooms. It will include a study of various forms of social dance such as Merengue, Swing, Waltz, Cha-Cha-Cha, and Salsa, as well as examine ways educators could introduce these forms as part of their curriculum. June 8-9, 2007

Critical Factors for Transforming Educators’ Attitudes and Beliefs about Diversity
AEIN Newsletter Research Corner
By: Timothy E. Jester, Ed.D.

In the May/June 2004 issue of Journal of Teacher Education, M. Arthur Garmon presented his case study about factors that could help educators develop multicultural awareness. The findings pointed to three dispositional factors and three experiential factors as having played significant roles:

Although the study was focused on preservice teachers, as I read the article I also found myself making connections to professional development (PD) for inservice teachers. For example, consider these questions:

I would be interested in hearing about your experiences with PD that incorporated one or more of the above areas. I would also enjoy reading your ideas for how this work could be accomplished. You may reach me at aftej@uaa.alaska.edu. All responders would be kept confidential.

CITATION:
Garmon, M. A. (2004). Changing preservice teachers’ attitudes/beliefs about diversity:
What are the critical factors? Journal of Teacher Education, 55(3), 201-213.