We have been reading about and discussing some powerful and uncomfortable topics in our classes over the past week. It isn’t the first time I have been introduced to thinking and talking about things such as privilege and ‘isms’, but what strikes me as powerful is that we are discussing these difficult topics- as required by the State of Alaska. The fact that the State of Alaska recognizes that these conversations need to be had, deems them important- and believes that educators need to have spent time hearing classmates stories and thinking about things such as racism and privilege before teaching in a classroom, is powerful and I believe a step in the right direction. We have a long ways to go, but this seems a positive step.
In the section of reading that my group of four was assigned to dive deeper into today, one take-home learning for me as an educator was that ‘everyone’s story is O.K.’ It sounds simple, but through our own biases and perceptions, it is easy to forget that simple lesson. No matter how difficult a students life-story, how seemingly easy a story, how boring a student thinks their story is, or how challenging a particular personality or students story is for me to hear, all life stories and perspectives should be heard, validated and recognized. From listening comes understanding. From understanding comes tolerance. From tolerance comes transformation.
I have spent many years helping to facilitate study abroad programs for U.S. high school youth. If you don’t yet know that about me, it is time I put this in a blog– because it is something I am passionate about. One particular company I have worked for, which I believe does amazing work, has at its’ programatic goal getting groups of diverse U.S. students together into small groups (12 students) and then send them to a foreign country for the summer where they live with families. What is brilliant, to me, about this design is that the students meet up on almost a daily basis and become each others support group. Students from all over the U.S., with different languages, religions, colors, living arrangements and abilities begin to learn about and rely on other students– whom they may have never met or chosen to befriend without being put into this intense learning environment. I have had many amazing student transformations occur on these programs. But one sticks out. The learning came from a white male student that was from somewhere in the midwest. During our closing ceremony, when we were all given the time to say what we wanted and reflect on our 7 week experience together, he thanked the program and told me and the other students that he had been racist before this experience, and that after having spent time with our group, he now realized that. He was around 16 years old. Our trip had been the first time he had ever talked to someone with a different color skin than himself and the learning had been profound. I just wanted to share the story. His story is O.K.
Thank you for facilitating the space for these conversations, Angie. I still have and always will have a lot to learn.
I thoroughly enjoyed each of the master teachers that provided us with lessons on Friday. Tina Pasteris did a brilliant job in the creation of her ‘math trails’ activity that we participated in. The activity was more fun than I remember ever having in any of my math classes growing up, and it was fun for the students around me who said that math “isn’t their thing.” There were many layers to this activity, but as a whole, it required small groups of students to work together, have choices as to who performed what role in the group, play a game of sorts, get to know their surroundings, be introduced to different culturally relevant items and figure out some math skills all the while. We looked at art pieces, we went outside, we went into the library, we visited the coffee shop. By having many different types of math problems and exploring them through a moving trail, Tina allowed each of us to learn math and some important local cultural knowledge through our own cultural references. I was drawn to the art pieces- and learning math through the symmetry of one piece, the height of the totem pole and the hidden images in another piece. Other students commented on how lovely it was to find salmonberries while outside. Some students really got into the exact lengths and equations to find the length of a whale. It was a great activity.
“Look! Math can be fun!” Tina Pasteris ‘math trails’ lesson, UAS campus.
Paula Savikko introduced our class to how deep an educational experience can become when you use the community around you and really focus on place-based education. Although through the lens of a science teacher, she creates ways to engage her students that allow students to not only learn about science, but utilize other disciplines and think about where they are. I love that she has her students not only learn about an invasive plant, for example, but take a field-trip to see it, interview people to learn about its’ history, create a presentation to present to panels, make flyers to entice the public to attend presentations, write poetry, etc. In this way she reaches different learning types in a culturally responsive way- allowing students to see the connection that ‘science’ has with their own lives and the community around them.
What I really appreciated about the lesson introduced to us by Angie Lunda was how she really allowed each group to own their experiment. My memory of science and science labs in school was that basically, you got a lab sheet, you did an experiment exactly as you were told to do, and then you hoped that you ended up with the ‘correct’ results. Angie taught through the objective of ‘teaching students how to think’ and in doing so, allowed each group to experiment and try different things. And how culturally relevant to look at something that through history, and still in present day, can be used as a ‘diaper’ or other use (moss) and compare its’ ability to absorb liquids with that of a modern diaper. It gets all students thinking about not only the science behind the lesson, but about the history and people who used this method as well as think about present day choices of modern technology vs. using what is offered and sustainable to harvest around us.
“Science can be fun, too!” Angie Lunda CRT science lesson, UAS campus.
Although each of the above lessons we were introduced to focused on math and science, I couldn’t help (through my social studies lens) seeing in how many ways all of these lessons could be expanded and overlap into a history or sociology or Alaskan Studies classroom, for example. The history of living off the land and using things like moss, the impact of invasive species and the history of the communities (like Douglas) that they exist in and the stories behind and history of the totem pole and art pieces, for example, are all ways I could tie these lessons into my classroom.
Although I have not yet mentioned it in my post, probably the most profound experience I had this week was listening to a panel of Tlingit Elders speak to our class and a group of youth on Friday. I learned and felt so much from each voice and lesson told. I loved how the youth listened, said thank you, and really seemed to take in what was being said. I didn’t grow up having experiences like this- where my Elders sat me down and told me stories, taught me lessons. I also didn’t have any experience learning from Tlingit or other Alaskan Native cultures- in my schools or outside of my school experience. For many of the Elders that spoke to us, their voices were not heard for many years during times when they were not allowed to speak their language, they were removed from their homes and they were discouraged from being themselves. Through my teaching, I hope to make sure that their voices are heard and their wisdom passed on. From the heart, I thank each Elder, the master teachers and our professors for the learning over this past week. “Gunalcheesh.”
FURTHER THOUGHTS ON CRT:
I loved the lesson taught by Michelle Snyder on Attu and Kiska- and WWII history. As a teacher who will be focused on Social Studies, this was a very helpful lesson. And even better yet, it was a subject I am fascinated about– and incorporated a region of Alaska and movie (The Aleut Story) that I already was planning on using in the future! What I loved about Michelle’s lesson was the combination of visuals, movies, talking in small groups and then talking as a group. It wasn’t a lecture– rather, it involved the class learning on their own through material given them. And it wasn’t too much information- rather, it focused on a small amount of information.
I also really enjoyed Scott Christian’s lesson- which also gave me plenty of ideas for this upcoming year. He really showed how you can get students excited about learning about their backyards- and really make a difference in the community. I like the reminder that history lessons can begin out the backdoor.
In a different post, I already spoke of how much fun it was to use children’s picture books in designing secondary curriculum. Kathy Nielson introduced not only a large collection of Alaska-themed books, but showed us how to look at these books through a multicultural lens and think about the who, what, where, when, why’s of intent of these stories.
Our day ended with Ernestine Hayes doing a reading for our class, followed by powerful words from her heart. The personal experiences she shared as well as her tips and reminders for us as educators were powerful, and is something I will keep with me for a long time.
To be honest, I am really struggling with this particular assignment and which direction I want to proceed with it. I have found lots of interesting material and have too many ideas at the moment. The things I find of particular interest and would like to focus on will be something to do with one or all of the following:
My audience will be 9-12 grade students from all over Alaska. It will be either a US History or AK History course.
1)WWII and the forced transfer of the people’s of the Aleutian Islands to SE Alaska. The impact of this forced transfer on the communities and peoples of the area. I would like students to not only learn the history of this transfer and the conditions that people lived in while in SE at various internment camps, but also how upon returning to their homes, things changed. Using this to more broadly to look the essential question of ‘why do people move?’ as well as the impacts of current day movement/globalization on people.
2) Adak. Adak fascinates me as it is just a funky place that I think students (or anyone) would be interested in learning about. It has a HUGE abandoned U.S. military base that was deserted after the Cold War era. It is almost a ghost town, but with a small population and a large caribou population that was introduced to the island during the U.S. military years. Looking at different aspects of history, through a case study of Adak, could be interesting. Looking at the essential questions of ‘why is that there?’ and ‘what is worth fighting for?’ would be easily obtained studying Adak.
3) Maps. On most maps, the Aleutians, especially, are put into a few boxes in the corner. I would love to talk about maps– and who makes them. Giving examples of different maps throughout history– where Alaska is placed on these maps, how things are labeled, what was seen as important on the maps.
These are obviously very rough ideas. I had a few solid lessons thought out, but I don’t really like them. So I am back to the brainstorming phase. I look forward to more clarity and a little more focus.
Here we are today in Juneau, Alaska, looking at places and peoples that adapt, change, grow and are part of a very interconnected world. I thoroughly enjoyed spending the morning at the SLAM! There were so many items that caught my eye. I actually had a hard time focusing on one object of interest as the whole exhibit was great and i have so much to learn and go back to explore. So many different places, cultures and times to research. And through looking at various classmates posts, I realize I didn’t even see the entire museum…
The item I chose to focus on caught my eye because, well, I love beads. And these beads were presented as ‘either from Italy or China that had been traded in Alaska for centuries.’ WHAT?!
The exact date or artist of these Alaskan pieces, or whereabouts of where the pieces were found were not given, or was the political climate around these trading of goods. They are not from thousands of years ago, but only centuries ago. But the entire history of Alaska is rich. What I love about these beads are the stories they must tell. They came from far away lands and must have been popular and worth a lot (in their time) where they came from if they were to be traded in Alaska for rich furs and oils. They made their way to Alaska and these beads impacted the artistic and cultural landscape here. Fashion continued to change- as it does now.
These beads were brought over the Silk Road and the tea trade routes of Asia.. Many people of Tibet and western China love the use of beads as well and I am fascinated as to how, before airplanes and telephones, this trade, as well as a common trend, so easily happened from so far away! Here is a picture of a woman from Eastern China this past summer adorning her beads:
The beaded jewelry in the museum caught my eye and has perked my interest in the continued study of the areas of the Pacific Rim.
I was thrilled for the opportunity to listen to the lived experiences of three Tlingit Elders today. As a product of the Anchorage School District, this had not been an opportunity I had ever had growing up. In fact, I have no recollection of ever learning anything about Alaska– or Alaskans– during my educational experiences in Anchorage (besides a unit in elementary school.) It is something I have longed for since that time and am so happy to know that all students (and teachers) in Alaska are now learning about Alaska and the people that have lived here for thousands of years. It is about time.
Hearing from Selina, Linda and David today was both moving for myself, as well as a great inspiration in some directions I hope to push my role as an educator in the future. I enjoyed the whole talk and at times I had tears in my eyes. Something that stood out to me and that I will carry with me into this next year was the passion and love that I could feel exuding from each of them as they spoke of their culture and language. After years of being forced to not speak their language or live in the way that was their tradition, I could sense the pain that had been caused to each of them. But through that pain has come a strength in moving forward. As David said, his people have survived for 10,000 years and will continue to do so. As an educator and as an Alaskan, I have joined their cause. I am excited to push my students in promoting and nurturing and being proud of their traditions, languages and cultures. And I look forward to learning about Alaska from each of their unique perspectives.
My Alaska – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires
I have learned that… I have a lot to learn in terms of utilizing tools such as this for my classroom! I am someone steers away from technology when possible.;) It was fun, it has kept the entire class occupied for over two hours and I can see how this is an amazing learning opportunity and activity for the classroom. Allowing students a few different options to choose a way to creatively address a subject, giving them a set amount of time to accomplish the task and then providing a space to view their peers work in order to get ideas for the next activity. Brilliant.
