Creating the web

The integration of technology into a bush education classroom isn't always the easiest thing to do.  With so many levels and standards to ensure the kids are able to achieve during their time at school, despair sometimes sets in when there are so many cool things to show them and not enough time in the day.

As a teacher of everything, the first few (I was going to say days but that doesn't even come close!) weeks are completely overwhelming.  Trying to learn the standards, understand where all the kids are at and then plan for the year with so many different levels with all the different kids in class could simply break you if you choose to let it.  The trick is to find the balance between planning and sanity while learning how to live in a completely new place.

Yes, there is a technology standard in there but honestly it's not one that can't be reached simply by doing a few projects during the school year.  I want to go above that though.  My kids will be ready for living a technology life and ready for online classes when I get done with them.  Knowing how to correctly access information online, what creative commons means and how to respond well to forum posts are crucial in college classes.  They will be in my class too!

What did I decide to do then?  Create a website for my class of course.  Which to use though?  I created one for my husband last year to use with his art class.  It has it's good parts and it's downfalls.  I know how it works and he's had great success with it but I wanted to try something new.  It's almost like having two classrooms to try things in.  A valuable thing when dealing with different forms of technology because the kids aren't being tossed from one kind to another.  My husband's classroom uses wikispaces of which we are both admins on.  As he starts to learn how to utilize it more and more, I grow more proud of his integration in his Art class.  The kids seem to really like it and the site has worked well for him.  It has allowed the both of us to grow as he becomes more comfortable with the technology and I begin to learn some HTML for things he wants to do that are not just text and an uploaded picture file.

I've decided to use Weebly for my classroom.  It has an education feature that gives educators greater tools than the average free user.  It's a drop and drag creation tool that is customizable.  I really like the assignment submission tool because it eliminates the need for so much paperwork in the classroom.  It does have a place for student sites that I will begin to use next that will allow for each of them to create sort of a digital portfolio.  This is the next step in my learning as I utilize the website to it's fullest potential.  Right now I'm focusing on making sure the student's assignments are on the different tabs for each week.  Keeping up with this will not only keep me in order but will allow them to keep up with their classes.

For now, I must say goodnight as I have a website to update.  If you are so curious to see what my students are up to and what the site looks like right now, please note that it's a work in progress and is only a week old.  The link is to the right of the blog and is named Egegik Bears School.

Stock that freezer!

Gone fishin'

Most people do it.  Down home, you put a pole in the water and hope for the best.  Maybe it's a bobber, a fly or just the old cast and drag.  Father-in-law likes to tell us it's "skill" that gets him the hits.  I think it's because he gets up earlier.  When we go, it's really to spend time together.  We love it when the fish bite and if we are really itching for a bite, we'll hit up the barrel (maybe). 

Sustenance fishing is a whole different world.  It's not really fishing, it's catching.  No bones about it, you're going to get fish.

Out in the water holding onto a fish

I was lucky enough to be invited by a local Native family to enjoy a BEAUTIFUL day out on the beach catching fish on their license.  They showed me the ropes once and I was out in the water by the time I could shimmy into the "preens"  I felt like a vacuumed pack fillet!   You set out a net and the fish can't see in the murky water, the swim right in, get caught and you gotta go and pick them out.  Some do a pretty darn good job of getting very caught.  Other's just kinda bite at it and you walk right up, unhook them and it takes only a few seconds.  *I like those kind!  They were impressed by my picking abilities and that was to be my main job for the day.

The student of mine that was with me, his main job was helping me out if I got a fish I just couldn't pick and watching for seals.  He held his .22 and made sure they didn't get to close.  They see the net and know there's an easy meal to be had so they get warning shots if they start coming our way.  If they get to close, he yells out seal which means I get out of the water and he starts shooting at it while I'm out of harms way.

Picking fish from the net

While waiting to pick, I was also helping clean slime off of the fish, clots out of the gills and watching for whales swimming up the river from the ocean.  We saw a pod of Beluga Whales cresting at one point but I was in the water and didn't get the camera in time.

The haul for the day was 50 Silver Salmon and 1 Red Salmon.  Only one of the Silvers had been up and started to spawn.  He still had half of his milk sac left but he looked to be a bit older as well.  That one was still cut into fillets and was cooked up for their hard working dogs.  Sorry Ciqu!

The half-spawned old guy.  Look at those teeth!

There are really 3 fish on each hand!  Each weighed about 10-15 lbs.

We filled the freezer of the Native family and my freezer is looking pretty good!  20 fish, 40 fillets.  It's amazing how much fish that really is!  I can't even imagine how much that would cost back home.  All this cost me was a beautiful day out on the river, 8 hours of hard work and a bit of a sunburn on the face.  Oh yeah, and some goofy looking glove tan lines.