Entry 2: Before Travel, Expectations and Goals

Flying Era to Buckland in three days! I am getting a lesson together (comprised of pictures about my classes), thinking about what books I want to take, reading about the history of Buckland, and creating a survey for my fellow classmates about their expectations. I have many pre-conceptions and ideas about Bush Alaska. I have many connections to the State Troopers and have heard several stories about the underbelly of rural life. However, no such stories originate from Buckland, so that is encouraging. I have this strange expectation that students and the school will be "behind" the students and school here, meaning the 8th grade study of US History probably hasn't gotten through the Civil War yet, or middle grade English classes are still working on sentence structure instead of essay writing. I know these are probably ignorant and biased assumptions. But I am interested to see how far Buckland classrooms have gotten in the curriculum at this point in the year. I guess these assumptions spur from what I think I know about Native culture - that it is paced more slowly and seasonally than white urban life (fast and busy all the time!). Perhaps the rural classroom focuses on quality instead of quantity. I also expect that rural teachers direct lessons to Alaska Natives and their culture specifically, and use more hands on and place based teaching than urban teachers. However, I will be interested to see how often teachers actually have a chance to connect lessons, say, on "pronouns," to Native culture.

My overall professional goal during this trip will be to come away with documented first-hand experience in alternative ways of knowing and learning, including a focus on teaching Native language, culture and environment knowledge. I want to have a realistic view and understanding of rural life so I can better help Alaska Native students contribute to and succeed in the urban setting.