This is another picture of Pam with her dogs. Check out that winter wonderland!
This is a picture from one of Pam’s training runs. It looks like so much fun!! That is until the temperatures drop..then I think I would be hanging up my sled. Dog sled racing is not for whimps!
I heard from Pam about her training and what she is up to preparing for the upcoming racing season. She is still training her dogs with a 4-wheeler instead of a sled because there is not enough snow for the sleds. The temperatures are beginning to cooperate though -10 f to help the lakes and rivers freeze. Once these freeze she will be able to do more long training runs with the dogs. She is all signed up for the qualifying races; her first one is December 14-15 provided they have enough snow to race. (Think SNOW for Alaska!) And she races up through the last weekend in January. As long as she finishes each of the qualifying races she will be able to race the Iditarod in March. (Fingers and toes crossed for Pam!) Planning to run the race she will attend the Rookie Meeting in December so that she has all the needed information for March.
One of the challenges facing Pam and other rookie mushers in her position is that at some point the entrance fee for Iditarod goes from $3000 to $7000 which is a big jump and a lot of money to raise. Many mushers, including Pam, need to find sponsors to help offset the cost of the race. In addition to the race fees there is also the cost of dog and human food for the race, sleds, and other equipment for the race. It is an expensive hobby or career if you choose to make it yours.
We are sending Pam good thoughts and wishes for the upcoming race season! Keep us posted Pam!!!!
She sent a picture from a training run that I will get up here too.
Hello Everyone!
It has been too long and I wanted to share what has been going on in my classroom. Iditarod continues to be threaded into Math class whenever I can find a spot.
I have found that the Character Traits of the Iditarod are the same traits we need to use to do well on our state tests.
Innovation- Sometimes we need to look at a problem from a new perspective to get to the answer.
Diligence- Giving our best efforts every day and doing our work diligently will improve our skills.
Integrity- Doing our work with integrity. It should be our own work, so that we can own our learning.
Team Work- If everyone does our best our school (as a team) will be its best. Everyone has to give 100%.
Attitude- A positive attitude even when we are not enjoying what we are studying makes a big difference.
Respect- Your hard work and effort shows the respect you have for yourself, your family, your teachers, and your school.
Optimism- I know I can! I know I can!
Determination- Dig deep to do your best and give it all you have!
Today was just plain fun for me. I have a group of students that see me for Enrichment and today they worked on the Morning Math Meal problems written by the Exxon Mobile Teacher on the Trail Jen Reiter. Students worked in groups to solve the problems. It was amazing to see how they organized their ideas and work. They will continue to work on them for a few days and then we will share ideas and thoughts. I loved seeing the teamwork and the ideas just flowing. Unlike Mrs. Reiter, we will not be debriefing over doughnuts, but we will share the ideas. Maybe I will remember my camera to share some fabulous pictures with you.
I have also noticed on facebook that many mushers are deep into training and signing up for races. I just checked in with our rookie musher and hope to have an update soon!!!
Mush on!
We finally got started! I was determined to start the 8 Traits of the Iditarod today and it happened! We read the short story by Sanka W. Dog about what innovation is and how both Libby Riddles and Martin Buser used it to get their teams through difficult conditions on the trail. The kids started to get a little excited. Next is reading the two chapters in Iditarod Classics that Sanka referred to in his story. I hope to have the kids share times when they were innovative and how we can use the lesson in school. Big plans!
The best part of course was seeing the kids get into it! Yay!
Hello Everyone!
I wanted to make a quick introduction to my followers. This year my classes will be “adopting” a rookie musher. We will be adopting Pam Aviza. Below is short introduction to Pam. We are looking forward to following her training and answering a little trivia she has given me. Go get’em Pam!!!
Rookie musher Pam Aviza is a native of upstate New York and currently lives in Alaska. She graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication and Business Administration. Pam is new to the Iditarod Race, but not to mushing. She is entering her seventh year of mushing and racing. Solos Kennel, Pam’s kennel, has 26 dogs. Two of her dogs are veterans of the Iditarod. She has trained with Ramey Smyth and has 4 dogs from his bloodline. She will be competing in at least three races this season before the Iditarod. Her work with Smyth’s kennel has given her opportunities to work races like the Yukon Quest and gain knowledge for her own racing. One of the many things she knows to keep in mind is that she needs to take care of her dogs and herself; rest and hydration for everyone is important for the musher and the dogs.
When she is not thinking about racing, Pam has varied interests including history, the movie Les Miserables, and music by Michael Jackson and Dolly Parton.
This isn’t exactly Iditarod related, but it will make a connection in the coming months. Over the years I have found that I need to get my students to own their knowledge, but so far have not found the vehicle to make that happen. So this year I am going to commit to using Math journals. I have combed through Pinterest to see if I could become inspired, but not overwhelmed.
So here is the plan. I am going to have the students write in their journals a minimum of once a week. This means 32ish prompts for the year. I figure that there will be more, but this sounds manageable to start. I saw a ton of ideas that mixed notebooks with journals. I am hoping to make this somewhat reflective in nature. Again, we will see what happens.
Here are my first few ideas for journal prompts:
Here is hoping that this plan will work. Feel free to share any ideas you may have to share. *I hope this makes it to the lesson plans page!*
I know. I thought I was done too. I was sorting through all of my Alaskan treasures and found a bag of rocks. For about a half a second I thought I had lost my mind bringing home rocks. Then I remembered these were not just any old rocks; these are circle rocks. While we were hiking to the Matinuska Glacier Sarah picked up a rock that was black/dark gray with a white circle of quartz (?). She told us the story of the circle rocks. Some children had found them and were selling them to tourist because these rocks were special. That circle is the Arctic Circle which we are very close to in Alaska ( and really close in some of those places!). You can make a wish on these rocks and it will come true. So, I picked up a bunch of these circle rocks. They are pretty neat looking!
I believe I have completed the trip part of the blog. Now what next? Is the blog done? Will I abandon it? The blog is not done. It will have a new job. I plan to use it to store my Iditarod lesson ideas. This way I know where to find them. Anyone who has seen my desk at work, knows that this is the best idea. I hope to develop a page for the students to use when they are working on their Iditarod projects. I will be posting a bit about our adopted Iditarod Rookie and as things happen in the classroom, I hope to post some of those pictures too. Especially, since my classroom got a fresh coat of paint this summer.
Stay tuned to see where we go from here!!!!
Our last day with our new friends was sweet sorrow. We were sad to see our time together come to an end and at the same time excited to be getting home to our families. We gathered at the Grand View Inn and Suites to wrap things up and then head back to Anchorage. Sara brought us back to the Millenium and we enjoyed our time together. Then we caught up with Jansen and Stacy and the Ohio contingency. Of course, our first stop was at the Adventure Desk to see Hadley. Then it was off to the Sourdough Mining Company for lunch. YUMMY corn fritters and ice cream! It was such a cool restaurant. Then we walked across the way to the Wild Berry Chocolate Company. Great gift shop, like we needed to buy more stuff! then we went out to see the resident reindeer. Did you know they eat dandylion greens? They really like them. It was neat to hear them walk. Their legs actually make a clicking sound when they walk. Now you know the truth behind the line “Up on the roof top reindeers paws, ‘click, click, click'”. Then the last of the tourist photo op’s with the rock man!
Inside the Sourdough Mining Company
The story behind the gian chocolate waterfall.
The largest chocolate waterfall.
Mrs. Siefert and our new friend Jan from Ohio and their moose friend.
Alaska Chocolate!
A bear!
A yummy treat!
Yummm!
The Rock Man and me!
We spent our evening in downtown Anchorage with a visit to the Ulu factory. Our final day in Alaska ended with a great surprise we got to eat dinner with Diane, Terrie, Jen and Linda who were hanging out at the Fancy Moose for dinner and waiting for their flights. The perfect end to a perfect trip!
A last shot of those beautiful Alaskan mountains.
Our departure gate..homeward bound!
 | paviza on Another training picture |
 | Kayla on And the count down begins… |
 | Mily and Nakeyra Ort… on Introducing CC Kennel |
 | Glenn Hartzell on Another training picture |
 | jenreiter on The Iditarod is alive and well… |
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